What's going on in your winery today..

[Cellar_Rat]

I found a medium setting in a microwave helps and then like you say a little water.

[fatbloke]

I found a medium setting in a microwave helps and then like you say a little water.

But the microwave will still heat part, if not all the honey, which, if you're trying to preserve aromatics and more subtle flavourings in a nice (expensive) varietal, it defeats the object of the exercise.

Crystalised honey is hygroscopic. So if you needed the 3.5lb that a JAO uses, you could just put it in half a gallon of water (in a bucket) over night and most, if not all of the crystalised honey will have reverted to type, just needing a little whizz from a stick blender the morning after.......

[lockwood1956]

Racking the olorosso sherry, madeira and christmas pudding wines

happy days

[goldseal]

Processing a huge amount of rhubarb which some kind soul donated. 18lb in the freezer, frustratingly slightly less than I'd ideally use for a full 5 gals.

[RTPFUN]

The Cellarcraft trio red finished. Added all the usual chemicals very little gas so in went the finings and the Hungarian oak cubes for twenty days it says in the instructions. Two wine number ones still need to ferment a little more both at .999 there’s a bit of fizz so they’re not stuck and the wine number one that I had the filtering “issue” looks clear enough to filter and bottle over the week end. Sorry Spritzer just noticed your comment It was a standard Harris filter pad

[goldseal]

Monster Port fermentation has been extremely sluggish since I racked to DJs and sugar-fed it. Suspect I waited too long before racking, and most of the yeast settled out in the lees, which were left behind. I have poured it from DJ to DJ in an attempt to stir up any remaining yeast which might be lurking, but i nthe meantime I have a K1V starter on the go, just in case I need to restart.

I SHOULD be degassing and stabilising a Luna Rossa kit, but it's a bit hot at the mo. Maybe 6am tomorrow .

[robwrx]

Today I managed to do a spot of bottling during lunch. I realised I have insufficient empty 5 gallon carboys for this years Grapefest so I need to bottle 15 DJs and then transfer last years Grapefest wines into the empty DJs. I guess I could bottle some of it but then I might be tempted to drink it

[goldseal]

Bottling during lunch?? How long is your lunchtime?

My normal bottling sessions last hours.

[robwrx]

18 bottles in an hour and a bit. It was my first attempt at using a vacuum setup to bottle and I had hoped to be faster. That didn't include cleaning the empties.

[Cellar_Rat]

I SHOULD be degassing and stabilising a Luna Rossa kit, but it's a bit hot at the mo. Maybe 6am tomorrow .

Thanks for a good idea!

[goldseal]

Building up my Monster Part restart bottle. I have a wine bottle full, and it is bubbling slowly but steadily, so almost ready to add back to the main batch.

[RTPFUN]

Filtered and bottled a wine number one, racked de-gassed stabilised etc two wine number 1’s a better one made with good all pressed juice from Asda and the ooops one with mixed white and red grape juice from Lidl not sure what that will be like or what we’re going to do with it yet but looks like I have a rose to sort out. Oh Pete/Gollseal the Luna Rossa kit you said that it's an early drinker, how fast is early 3,6,9 months?

[goldseal]

... the Luna Rossa kit you said that it's an early drinker, how fast is early 3,6,9 months?

I reckon it's drinkable at 6, decent at 9 and pretty good at 12.

[RTPFUN]

Thanks Pete I'll get one on now for next year. They're not cheap so I'll leave it for a full year

[RTPFUN]

A quick stock take in the cellar and there will be shortage of good white early next year if I don’t get some brewed so it’s off to the HBS got a couple of Kenridge Classic Viognier. Tesco's for water and they're in the warm cupboard within the hour.