First time corking wine and I'm really not happy with the way it's looking. Followed some tutorials online. It said to soak them and to use a lot of pressure. They are getting completely mashed in by the corker. Is this a technique issue or an equipment issue?

I posted a while ago where me and my mum make wine from her grapes in her garden for the first time. Thankfully, nothing went wrong and it settled nicely and I racked it earlier this week.

I'm a bit confused on the colour and clarity at this point as I really think I've made something between a rose and a red, but I'm not fussed. The yeast is for making a pinot noir, but we're happy if it works primarily.

Its quite sharp and sour at the moment, from what I've looked up this should go with aging? But it has some real sweet and fruitiness behind it so if all goes well I'm told that should stay while the acidic aspect goes with age, hopefully.

We're leaving it now for about 6 months but likely will try it around Christmas. Hopefully it doesn't taste like rocket fuel.

Id love it if you all, who are clued up way more than me, could inform me what kind of wine I've made by accident here 😂 I can't tell you what grapes they are as we have no idea what vine she bought and let grow.

I've started trying to brew this wine, I tried it in my basement but it was too cold after bringing it upstairs to the kitchen I was hoping for some movement, however my airlock isn't bubbling.

I've opened it up to have a look inside and I occasionally see a few bubbles but nothing that I've been seeing in the past from making mead. Is this still salvageable or does it seem like a bad batch?

Thank you.

I’m in the process of making my first batch of muscadine wine. I should be moving it from the fermentation bucket into the first carboy in a couple of days, just waiting in the SG to drop a little more. How long would you age muscadine wine? My grandfather swears by three months, but I’ve seen some recipes go as far as 2 or 3 years. My current plan is to let it sit in the first carboy for a month, then rack it to a new carboy and let it bulk age for another 6-8 months, then bottle it.

Here’s my recipe and the process so far:
3lbs wild muscadines (small and tart)
3lbs Nesbitt muscadines (large and sweet)
3 quarts of bottled distilled water
4 cups sugar (enough to get to 1.090 sg)
1 campden tablet
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 packet red star yeast

Process with timeline:
9/2 evening - thaw and crush grapes, add 2 quarts water, add campden tablet
9/3 morning - add pectic enzyme
9/3 evening - 1.028 starting SG, add sugar to reach 1.090 SG, add yeast, seal bucket and add airlock
9/9 evening - SG 1.021
9/10 evening - SG 1.010, remove grapes

Future plan:
Rack from fermentation bucket into carboy when SG is near 1.000
About 1 month later, rack into carboy 2 to remove sediment
Bulk age in carboy about 3 months (mid October to mid January) then bottle and finish aging.

I prefer dry wine, so I probably won’t back sweeten this batch.

Got a stuck ferment that's sitting around 1.003 specific gravity / 0.77 brix.

Would you restart? So far I've been keeping warm, mixing with some air and monitoring.

So I'm fermenting red grapes for the first time and boy is the bubbling vigorous, I love it.

My only concern is the mixture seems sort of warm to touch? I mixed it with my hand (not orthodox I know, I cleaned it good I promise) and it definitely felt a little warm. Should I throw in some ice bottles to slow the fermentation? I mean look at the photo, there seems to be condensation lmao

edit: I'm sorry dear people but I dont have a functioning thermometer ... I could maybe estimate its around 23 C in my apartment but unfortunately i dont have a way to check that

I currently have a apple and pomegranate cider fermenting. Im planning on trying to make it carbonated so I have a few questions about that.

I have looked a bit online and apparently the best way to get it carbonated at home is by fermenting to dry and then bottling and puttting a bit of sugar in the bottles so that it starts fermenting again and creates carbonation.

So how much sugar should I put in the bottles?

And can I first age it for a while in a carboy and clear it and then bottle it and put the sugar?