Kit Winemaking Tutorial

[vintner]

Homegrow3r: Only really expensive "kit wines" come w/packs of grape skins. They all just come w/concentrated juice. Some have oak chips, some w/packs of sweetener, elder flowers... That plumb wine sounds good!
DiscoBiscuit: Thanks for stopin by Bro Be for warned that this hobby can be just as addicting as growing LOL.

 

[Homegrow3r]

This hobby is definitely as addictive as growing, but they go hand in hand I can even use the same room cos the temps are good
I hope to get onto all grain at some point, but that's a long way away and funds permitting, it's not the cheapest hobby, yet it saves a regular drinker quite a bit of cash and just like growin yer own there's the added satisfaction of consuming stuff that's all your own work

I have a cider press and press my own apples, it only does six litres of pommace at a time, I get the apples free from my parents orchard so that's the easy bit. I have just bottled a gallon and have a mixed cyser in secondary with fruit and stuff added, that should be the bomb when it's done.
That and some beautiful ladies in their 4th week of flower, my buzz is sorted for a while hehe

 

[vintner]

That's a fine lookin' garden Homegrow3r! Looks well tended What you got bloomin' there? No grow here at the moment. Too cold. Hope to be able to incorporate the 2 hobbies as you've done soon. It's good to have goals. Eventually I want to plant my own vineyard. Like you say, there's a certain satisfaction from consumin/sharin what you made yourself.

 

[Weezard]

Be for warned that this hobby can be just as addicting as growing LOL.

Aloha Vintner,
Mahalo fo' da rep, brah!

Just put 6 gallons of concord grape must in the fermenter.
It's bubblin' up a storm. I'm hooked

Down to my last 3 bottles of Pomegranite/Blueberry wine.
from the first batch.

Can't afford "kits".
No got grapes. So...
Came up with "bubba-brewed" wine.
Be happy to share it with me "boat mates" here.

Cheap and easy are my various middle names.
So hadda figure out how to simplify n beat da budget.

The KEY? Costco.
They sell 96 oz. bottles of fruit juice that has no preservatives.
The P-B juice has Pomegranite, Blueberry, pear, white grape, etc. blended for taste and, no doubt, economy.
Buy 4 gallons of it and just pour it into your fermenter.

Sterilize everything that will contact the must of course.
I washed everything down with Vodka.

The only vodka I had at hand was a large bottle of Skyy that I keep a large vanilla bean soaking in.
Then dissolve 8 cups of corn sugar in a gallon of boiling water.
(I actually used cane sugar 'cause it was at hand)
Add the sugar water to the juice and the temperature will be perfect for pitching yeast. As will the PH. Mine was 5.4., or 4.5, been a while. (I gotta start writing things down)
Aerate Well! Pour, shake, stir, whatever works for you.

Did not do a S.G. on the first batch. Didn't have the means.
Pitched with 2 packs of Lavlin K1B dry yeast.
Left it pooting in the cool room at 68 F.
after 30 days, racked to another carbouy.
Let 'er fizz for another month and bottled with still live yeast into champagne bottles and wired the corks.

I was afraid that the cane sugar would produce colored Zima.
Not so! Best wine I've had in 30 years!
Took some to the Kona brew club and poured samples for the judges.
Geeze, you could see their eyes light up!
(Little did they know!)
These boys weren't just being polite either, they wanted seconds, n thirds! Must be the super subtle hint of vanilla from the vodka wash.

Had I known it could be this easy, I'd have 3 cellars full by now!

So, that's the Bubba method from Carmine Cervical LLC.
A holy owned minion of the Hawai'ian Inebriatti.

Vint 'til ya cain't vint no mo'
Weezard

 

[vintner]

Hey Weezard: That recipe sounds like a lot of fun! I'm still not brave enough to try a sparkling wine LOL. I cut way down on the kits I'm buyin'. As you've shown, there are much cheeper ways to make wine. Thanks for stopin' by Man

 

[Homegrow3r]

The weed is big bang from Greenhouse, I have a grow diary going in the GHS forum
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=104810

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

vintner, I let a couple of friends raid my cherry tree last summer. They gave me a bottle of the wine they made. They said they didn't use much sugar and hoped it would be dry. They got the dry part down but it turned out to be "fortified", like Richard's or MD 20/20. I'll bet this stuff was 20% alcohol. Did they let it ferment too long? It had a pretty nasty (as in, overpowering) after taste.

The couple that made the wine asked me what I thought. I didn't feel like insulting them and lied when I said it was good. I didn't want to admit I gave it to a bum.

 

[Homegrow3r]

It probably needed to sit a lot longer, but I've also read recently that sweet cherries can produce a medicinal type brew. The hotness of alcohol might have needed a year or two to mellow out, I think you had it too young as a wine made from real fruit.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

It probably needed to sit a lot longer, but I've also read recently that sweet cherries can produce a medicinal type brew. The hotness of alcohol might have needed a year or two to mellow out, I think you had it too young as a wine made from real fruit.

If it sat too long I think it would burn a hole.

 

[vintner]

Did they let it ferment too?

There's no such thing as fermenting too long. Yeast change the fruit/sugar into wine (ferment it) till either there's no more sugar, or the alcohol content is too high for them too survive. Your friends started out w/way too much fruit or sugar. Like Homegrow3r said, a wine w/a alcolhol content that high needs to sit and mellow out for a LONG time.

 

[Homegrow3r]

Made up a gallon of black tea wine today, letting it cool now and will pitch the yeast tomorrow.

Recipe if you're interested, was kinda just taken off some here and there.
1kg sugar
about 2oz of loose black tea leaf.
Juice of one lemon
Juice of one orange
I added a campden tablet, will let that sit overnight as it cools.
Tomorrow while pitching I'll add some yeast nutrient.

Made strong tea added ingredients and sugar and made up to 5 litres.
That'll sit in primary for a few weeks, then I'll rack it off and secondary it with a pound of raisins added.
Should turn out good, Lalvin wine yeast to be used, should be all good.

 

[vintner]

Sounds good Homegrow3r I've made several tea wines myself. Never been disappointed. Great on ice w/7-UP or Sprite in the summer

 

[Tolpan]

Hey vintner my old winebrother, lol!

You're doing great work my friend! Even for me as a winemaker it's great to read and learn!

Thanks and cheers

Tolpan

 

[vintner]

Tolpan: Thank you VERY much my friend. That means a lot coming from you! How's your business venture pannin' out for ya? I'm still in contact w/DonCotyle. I'll let him know you stopped by :friends: Thanks again

 

[mjcuresall]

Lot's of good stuff here!

Lot's of good stuff here!

Just lurking in the background... Of course, I wish I had something to contribute here, vintner. Very glad to see this thread's full of some really good info!

 

[vintner]

Thanks for stoppin by my friend

 

[Endo]

Vin i need a kick in the ass! i still have not started the pineapple highproof summer mead!!! one kick.. square in the bum! i keep looking at the supplies.. and never have enough time to put it together!!!

 

[vintner]

Endo: Here you go my friend Any time you need some help, just let me know LOL. On a serious note, I'm sure by now that you've learned that there's a time line to making mead/wine. Don't put so much on your plate that things get left to sit longer than they should. I've found that I can keep a handle on 2-3 batches in the winter, but sometimes even 1 is too much in the summer months when things are busier.
Pic update: Here's the welches wine after a week or so into secondary fermentation. If you look close enough, you'll see a huge crack I found in the carboy when I moved it to take this pic. So I'm down one carboy

I immediately placed it in my primary bucket, and will rack it as soon as it starts to clear.
So what does one do w/a trashed carboy?

 

[Homegrow3r]

Some would say that the best solution to a broken carboy is a better bottle

I was lucky recently and spoke to a guy at work and was able to get some of the 5 gallon water bottles from the coolers.
These ones even have a handle which isn't great for sanitation but is good for handling.

 

[vintner]

I've heard it's hard to find bungs for those water bottles. ?