Final Specific Gravity
updated 06/09/2026 A common topic of discussion is, “how do I know when my wine is ‘done’?”. The commonly accepted answer on WMT is, “When the SG is less than or equal to 0.998...
Category: White Papers
This type of blog post is a technical paper regarding wine or beer making.
What Is One-Third Sugar Depletion?
updated 12/12/2025 A common recommendation for the addition of yeast nutrient is to add two-thirds at yeast inoculation time, and to add the remaining one-third at “one-third sugar depletion”. This provides a boost to...
Basic Kit Making Process
NOTE: This post is in beta, and is being reviewed for accuracy and completeness. updated 02/22/2025 The internet is wonderful, because there is so much information freely available. Simultaneously, the internet is horrible because...
Making A Second Run Wine
updated 02/22/2025 After pressing a wine, about 20% of the original grape weight is “pomace”, the solids which will include skin, seeds, pulp, and stems. This is typically discarded, and may be composted. The...
Potassium Metabisulfite in Winemaking
updated 02/17/2025 Periodically newcomers to WineMakingTalk who state they: Want to make wine “naturally” Don’t want to use “chemicals” Don’t want to use “sulfite” There’s a lot of folks proselytizing ideas regarding back to...
Degassing Wine
updated 10/10/2024 Is degassing necessary, and if so, how does one do it? To Degas, or not Degas, that is the Question! This is a highly important question — is it necessary to degas...
Chromatography Test for Malic Acid
updated 01/20/2025 In October I tried something new to me – inoculating with MaloLactic Bacteria (MLB) to induce MaloLactic Fermentation (MLF). The MLB eats harsher malic acid and emits milder lactic acid. The only...
Homogenizing a Must
updated 01/17/2025 This post is in response to yet another common question among new winemakers: Why does my SG change from day 1 to day 2 with no fermentation? This has been asked by...
Handling Hydrogen Sulfide in Wine
updated 12/22/2024 Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a major fault in wine, and is typically caused by yeast being stressed due to lack of nutrients. It is one of the few things in winemaking that...
Primary Fermenter Size
updated 07/30/2024 A new member on WMT asked about container size, e.g., how big should the primary fermenter be? Overflow This question is a great one — if a primary is too full, a...