Recent content by James beckford

I have just gone back to my brewing cabinet after a week to discover that a load of mould is growing on top of the barrel where the wine has overflowed through the airlock. See attached picture. Will this have affected the wine in the barrel ? I haven't opened the lid as I don't want to risk...

Hi Klaus, yes I took readings, no change for 5 days, no bubbling through the airlock. Have tried adding another yeast but doesn't seem to have made any difference 😕

Hi all, just making a wine workshop superior riocca, in the barrel in the warm cupboard for 2 days and the brew frothy up so much it blew the top of the barrel. Now 5 days on it appears to have stalled. Is it worth popping another yeast in or should I just write this one off ?

Hi all, just made a chateau de roi 30 bottle kit but managed to spill 1/4 of the yeast opening the sachet ( I know should have used scissors) will I still get a decent brew out of this or do I need to go and get another yeast sachet from wilkos ?

After some opinions / advice. Are their any benefits other than aesthetic to using shrink caps on wine bottles? Wine is stored on its side in a cellar, building up stocks so these will sit for at least 6 months to a year. Are they worth the expense or would a wax coat work just as well?

Thanks for that. I was going to ditch the whole brew but thought it was worth asking the question.

Thanks for that. Most appreciated. I'll look at alternatives.

I have just made a 7 day rose kit but got a bit Co fused and put the yeast into the hot mix of sugar and water before adding the cold water. Will this have killed the yeast? If so is there anything I can do to bring this back? Add another yeast packet?

I did not know that. Would the tile under the barrel stop the light?

I have made mine using a standard kitchen cabinet with two 35w halogen downlighters in the floor wired through a standard heating thermostat. Lined the cabinet with 25mm polystyrene. Wire basket lifts the barrel and I have put a floor tile under the barrel to spread the heat evenly.

Thanks everybody for the advice. Waited a couple more days and all good.

Hi Dutto , thanks for that. Will watch it for another day.

After my first brew exploded through the airlock, I only filled to 15 l this time and then added upto 23 l halfway through, but the wine has now stopped bubbling. When I took a reading it's still just over the 1000 mark. Is there anything I can do to get it going again. It's a Solomon grundy 7...

Magnus t thanks for that. Will try that on the next batch.

Thanks for the answers. Will the wine still be drinkable or have I ruined it? Secondly, I actually have 2 barrels, in future would I be better off splitting the brew so that each brew is less than half a barrel and then can't overfill ?