How many wine makers do we have here?

[kuntrygirl]

preparing two 5 gallon buckets of Niagra grapes (look like greenish- white concords) for wine, was an epic year

 

[kuntrygirl]

For wine supplies, one of the best things to do (if you make a lot of wine!) is to do an online search. There are a lot of chemical supply companies that will sell in  bulk, for what a small amount at your local home-brew place costs. That's where the home-brew place gets it, then bags it up in small bags or bottles and sells it to you at exorbitant costs (Yeah, he's got to make a profit too, but. . . )

And as far as the K-meta (Potassium metabisulfite) you can never have too much. I use it to sterilise my bottles, buckets, tubes, filters etc. I even add some into the airlocks.

I collect old jars (mayo, mustard, anything that's glass) and use them for chemical storage. Make sure to label them

We are thinking of getting a variable capacity fermentor this year (holds up to 65 gallons I think). It would be so much nicer to have a large vat instead of all these small ones. Luckily we really like peach wine a lot, so a big amount would not be a problem.

On a side note, I just started a batch of Rhubarb/Strawberry - I figure if it makes good pies, why not wine eh!

 

[kuntrygirl]

I started (2) 5 gallon batches of muscadine last night and also started (an experiment) with (1) 1 gallon container of muscadine (wine). I will be following this recipe that I found on You Tube with this 1 gallon experiment. I did this same experiment with peaches (wine) and it was absolutely delicious. A few people told me that there is no way to make this wine in 21 and argued the fact. The thing is, they never tried it and I did. So, I know it can be done. And this peach wine was DELICIOUS !!!!!!!!

They made pineapple wine. I changed it to peach and now I am trying muscadine. We'll see how it comes out.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Is anyone lucky enough to have a wooden wine barrel?

Or

One of these?

If so, how do you like them? I am looking at buying a 5 gallon bucket with the spigot. Not sure I can afford the wooden wine barrel.

 

[Totalcolour]

kuntrygirl - we have a couple of iak barrels, and yes, they were expensive, also hard to maintain as you have to keep them wet all the time so they don't shrink.

Just in case anyone's interested, I thought this could be useful for determining yeast to use for different types of wine.

 

[kuntrygirl]

[COLOR=FF0000]kuntrygirl[/COLOR] - we have a couple of iak barrels, and yes, they were expensive, also hard to maintain as you have to keep them wet all the time so they don't shrink. [rule] Just in case anyone's interested, I thought this could be useful for determining yeast to use for different types of wine.

You have to keep them wet all the time? Looks like I won't ever own one them. Thanks for the chart.

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote: Yes, once the wine has aged and it's bottled, the barrel has to be cleaned and then filled with water and a sterilant (K-meta in our case). If the water level isn't kept topped up, the staves of the barrel dry out and shrink, causing it to leak! We lost one barrel, so now it's a very expensive planter.

 

[kuntrygirl]

[COLOR=FF0000]kuntrygirl[/COLOR] - we have a couple of iak barrels, and yes, they were expensive, also hard to maintain as you have to keep them wet all the time so they don't shrink.
[rule]

You have to keep them wet all the time? Looks like I won't ever own one them.


Thanks for the chart.

Yes, once the wine has aged and it's bottled, the barrel has to be cleaned and then filled with water and a sterilant (K-meta in our case). If the water level isn't kept topped up, the staves of the barrel dry out and shrink, causing it to leak! We lost one barrel, so now it's a very expensive planter.

Not good at all. I don't think that I can keep up with the maintenance on it. It sounds like you would have to keep it filled with wine in order for it to remain in tack?

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have 4 different muscadine wine batches going ((2) 5 gallon buckets and (2) 1 gallon batches. The (2) 1 gallons are experiments from different recipes. Someone gave me a a bunch of pears but I'm not too excited about making pear wine. Anyone every made pear wine before? How did it turn out? Those pears are HARD!!!

 

[Totalcolour]

I have 4 different muscadine wine batches going ((2) 5 gallon buckets and (2) 1 gallon batches. The (2) 1 gallons are experiments from different recipes. Someone gave me a a bunch of pears but I'm not too excited about making pear wine. Anyone every made pear wine before? How did it turn out? Those pears are HARD!!!

Pear wine is my Fave! Actually, most of it is combination with a small amount of cranberries to make a blush wine and add some tannin and acid. It's not sweet, but I've made a sweet one for dessert. It's a delicate wine but has nice fruit and it's great either on it's own, or guess what, TURKEY! Think Thanksgiving

But, you need RIPE fruit, the hard ones make horrible wine. I just racked this batch, I'll post pics later.