|
 automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 6,819
|
 Starting Wine Making 
#15210591 - 10/11/11 06:27 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
So I want to start making wine. I see all these kits out there, but want to get out as cheaply as possible to start.
Other than a bucket with lid, juice, sugar, yeast, carboy, siphon tube, and airlock... what is absolutely required? I have plenty of old mason jars to use as bottles.
--------------------
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
|
 AnonO
Cultivator
Registered: 09/02/11
Posts: 541
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15210603 - 10/11/11 06:31 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
i was actually just thinking about making a post about this. i want to buy a kit ASAP. a friend's mom made some from a kit, and it tasted good as hell! im down to make a bunch of wine for cheap.
theres a store in town that sells stuff, im going to check them out and their prices vs. online stuff.
|
automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 6,819
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: AnonO]
#15210667 - 10/11/11 06:51 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
It's a kit that I want to avoid buying. Like with mushroom growing kits, I'm sure they throw in things that are nice to have, but aren't required by any stretch of the imagination. I have lots of stuff lying around the house I can used.
--------------------
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
|
falcon
In the green
Registered: 04/01/02
Posts: 5,874
Last seen: 10 hours, 40 minutes
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15211235 - 10/11/11 11:48 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Buy a 5 gallon carboy and an airlock and some grape juice that comes in 5 or 6 gallon bucket and a piece of tubing to syphon your wine off of the yeast and some yeast. You can use the bucket the wine came in to syphon out of the bottle and then syphon it back into the carboy. You don't need much else to start, depending where you live you're looking at a little over a 100 dollars to get started. You should be able to get a bucket of grape juice that will make good wine for 45 to 55 dollars at a wine making store, you'll find the carboy and yeast there too along with the tubing and the airlock.
|
trendal
point of inflection
Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 19,194
Loc: Ontario, Canada
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15212621 - 10/12/11 08:18 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I got pretty much all of my equipment second-hand. Try a local GoodWill store, they have some carboys every now and then. Usually pretty cheap - $5 for a 5 gallon glass carboy!
The air locks, stoppers, ect., can be bought new from any u-brew store for a few dollars.
The fruit is what you will pay the most for...and usually the better fruit will cost the most. I still make "kit" wine fairly often, not because of the kit itself, because of the juice that comes with it! I end up paying around $2-$3 per bottle, and it pretty much uniformly turns out great. You can get just the juice, though it will cost you just about as much.
IMO, "welches wine" and the like don't turn out "good", by any sense of the word. I threw away 5 gallons of the stuff - and it's still the only batch I've had to toss! You can use it as an additive, when you need more wine to make that gallon...though I prefer to use water and either sugar or raisins.
If you want cheep fruit, you'll have to find your own growing somewhere. Better yet, plant your own 
--------------------
You're here because you know something.
What you know you can't explain,
But you feel it;
You've felt it your entire life.
That there's something wrong with the world.
You don't know what it is, but it's there....
Like a splinter in your mind...
Driving you mad.
|
automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 6,819
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: trendal]
#15212740 - 10/12/11 09:23 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I can find fruit in abundance. I live in the south. I can get most any berry I want for free. My goal is to start a 6 gallon batch every 2 months. That way in a year or so, I will always be in wine.
Aside from the fruit, is my equipment list solid?
Why can I not age in a food grade bucket?
--------------------
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
|
hidenseek
loafter
Registered: 06/10/09
Posts: 4,586
Loc: Etoba-mi-coke
Last seen: 5 months, 26 days
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15212763 - 10/12/11 09:34 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
youll want chemicals
mayby a hydrometer
mayby a cane with tip for your siphon tube
|
Shins
Fun guy
Registered: 09/15/04
Posts: 11,766
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: hidenseek]
#15214576 - 10/12/11 05:24 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Bare minimum youll need a primary fermentor bucket, secondary fermenter carboy, and a syphen tube
you should be able to get it all for 20$ or so second hand.
check craigslist.
|
falcon
In the green
Registered: 04/01/02
Posts: 5,874
Last seen: 10 hours, 40 minutes
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15215197 - 10/12/11 07:23 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
If you're going to make wine with fruits other than grapes, you'll want some pectin enzyme and some nutrients, not absolutely necessary, but they make it a lot easier to make a good tasting wine.
When you're aging wine you want to exclude air, it's much easier to do this in a carboy with an airlock than in a food grade bucket.
|
AnonO
Cultivator
Registered: 09/02/11
Posts: 541
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: falcon]
#15215383 - 10/12/11 07:56 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
i think im just going to go ahead and buy the wine making kit from a store in town. it comes with everything i need to make wine, except for the bottles and juice concentrate/mix. i dont see any downside in getting a kit. i think a kit would be good for a first timer. 
the store here is running low on types of juice concentrates, so i might just buy one online and get the kit in town. ive checked online, and whether i get the kit in town or online its the same price.
at least ill be able to have a wider range of types of wine to make since im buying that part online.
|
Yacub
Psychedelic Redneck
Registered: 09/05/09
Posts: 983
Loc: NOLA 
Last seen: 3 days, 7 hours
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15215484 - 10/12/11 08:15 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
automan said:
So I want to start making wine. I see all these kits out there, but want to get out as cheaply as possible to start.
Other than a bucket with lid, juice, sugar, yeast, carboy, siphon tube, and airlock... what is absolutely required? I have plenty of old mason jars to use as bottles.
That's about it for the bare minimum, though a bottling bucket with a spigot really helps.
One of my favorite wine recipes is;
- 4 1/2 gallons Welch's no preservatives
- 1/2 gallon can blackberry puree
- 5 lbs sugar
- wine yeast
It finishes fast too.
It will never compare to top shelf wines, but it's better than anything you can buy in a supermarket and anyone but wine snobs will like it.
I discovered it by accident by combining two experiments that didn't work out to well and ended up being way better as a blend.
And my variation of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (I eliminate the spices);
- 18 lbs honey
- 5 medium oranges sliced into 1/8th's
- handfull of raisins
- bread yeast
- top off to 5 gallons with water
|
trendal
point of inflection
Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 19,194
Loc: Ontario, Canada
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: AnonO]
#15217972 - 10/13/11 09:20 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
AnonO said:
i think im just going to go ahead and buy the wine making kit from a store in town. it comes with everything i need to make wine, except for the bottles and juice concentrate/mix. i dont see any downside in getting a kit. i think a kit would be good for a first timer.
the store here is running low on types of juice concentrates, so i might just buy one online and get the kit in town. ive checked online, and whether i get the kit in town or online its the same price.
at least ill be able to have a wider range of types of wine to make since im buying that part online.
I got started in wine making with a kit...and it turned out amazing!! One of my best wines, to date. It was an Australian Shiraz.
--------------------
You're here because you know something.
What you know you can't explain,
But you feel it;
You've felt it your entire life.
That there's something wrong with the world.
You don't know what it is, but it's there....
Like a splinter in your mind...
Driving you mad.
|
automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 6,819
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: trendal]
#15225157 - 10/14/11 03:52 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I am doing this as part of my slow push to make more of what I consume: wine, cheese, breads, edible mushrooms, veggies, eggs, poultry, etc.
I'll try to pour up some agar plates this weekend and start culturing the different types of bread and wine yeasts that I'll be using. That way, I shouldn't have to buy yeast again. I can just hit up a slant or plate of the type of yeast I need.
Who knew the skills i amassed growing mushrooms all those years would come in handy again 
--------------------
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
|
despisedicon
Stranger
Registered: 06/16/06
Posts: 8,315
Loc:
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15226435 - 10/14/11 08:40 PM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Watch the user CraigTube on Youtube. He does a lot of different brewing, and has step by step informative videos. He starts from kits most of the time.
|
camelslaper13
slaperofcamels
Registered: 11/21/10
Posts: 127
Last seen: 3 months, 12 days
|
|
Once when I was like 12 my mom let me juice some grapes and add some yeast. I sealed it in one of those bottles with the clasp top... I didn't know how much CO2 would build up back then. The pressure built and actually shattered the bottle at some point. I opened my closet and found the floor covered in wine... smelled decently potent, probably didn't taste the best though. Always wanted to try it again since then. I've had some fermented pink lemonade though  .
|
Shins
Fun guy
Registered: 09/15/04
Posts: 11,766
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: automan]
#15228188 - 10/15/11 04:43 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
automan said:
I am doing this as part of my slow push to make more of what I consume: wine, cheese, breads, edible mushrooms, veggies, eggs, poultry, etc.
I'll try to pour up some agar plates this weekend and start culturing the different types of bread and wine yeasts that I'll be using. That way, I shouldn't have to buy yeast again. I can just hit up a slant or plate of the type of yeast I need.
Who knew the skills i amassed growing mushrooms all those years would come in handy again
yesssss it is quite awesome how wine is so reliant on mycology... so fitting!
wine, bread, cheese... thank you fungus.
|
snoot
look alive ∞
Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 8,929
Loc: 45º parallel
Last seen: 20 minutes, 23 seconds
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: trendal]
#15246850 - 10/19/11 01:39 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
trendal said:
I got pretty much all of my equipment second-hand. Try a local GoodWill store, they have some carboys every now and then. Usually pretty cheap - $5 for a 5 gallon glass carboy!
The air locks, stoppers, ect., can be bought new from any u-brew store for a few dollars.
The fruit is what you will pay the most for...and usually the better fruit will cost the most. I still make "kit" wine fairly often, not because of the kit itself, because of the juice that comes with it! I end up paying around $2-$3 per bottle, and it pretty much uniformly turns out great. You can get just the juice, though it will cost you just about as much.
IMO, "welches wine" and the like don't turn out "good", by any sense of the word. I threw away 5 gallons of the stuff - and it's still the only batch I've had to toss! You can use it as an additive, when you need more wine to make that gallon...though I prefer to use water and either sugar or raisins.
If you want cheep fruit, you'll have to find your own growing somewhere. Better yet, plant your own
My family has been making wine since as long as I can remember, we grow all our grapes in a few different locations. Trendals right though, ultimately the most expensive part once you get passed the initial cost of equipment is the fruit. Not only can it be expensive but its very very labor intensive, then again this all depends on the quantity of wine you'll be making. We make huge batches, so naturally it takes alot of time to clean up the fruit. We've made everything from lilac/strawberry/onion/carrot/assorted grapes/pear/plum/blueberry/blackberry/peach/dandelion/maple/honey, .. I know there is more, I would have to go look at the cellar to remember them all. Some of the best results, were from the berries, and peach, the maple hasn't finished yet but it smells amazing, lilac wine is very interesting, but the key with lilac is getting only the flowers at the best time and leaving out as much greenery as you can, again this is incredibly labor intensive. However after all that labor is done, and the time is near, the finished product is usually delicious, and its well worth the work.
If you know people who have lots of fruit, or know some local farms you can get cozy with, I think the best thing you can do is trade them. That is ultimately what we do, we know lots of local farmers who have old patches of fruit that they don't typically sell off, so we will trade them wine, its a good trade, and everyone is happy.
Have you any questions auto or get stuck with something you can always holla, I can pass it on, we've gone threw tons of experiments and a few failures.
--------------------
∞
I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.
- Simone de Beauvoir -
doja designs
|
hidenseek
loafter
Registered: 06/10/09
Posts: 4,586
Loc: Etoba-mi-coke
Last seen: 5 months, 26 days
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: Shins]
#15247422 - 10/19/11 03:40 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
wine, bread, cheese... thank you fungus.
they feed france!!
|
ubertox
uhnss
Registered: 09/21/09
Posts: 104
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: hidenseek]
#15256835 - 10/21/11 03:02 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
|
|
It sounds like you've mostly got it. I wouldn't hesitate to hit up the local brewstore... The ones in my area are friendly, cheap, and will give you loads of good advice.
|
AnonO
Cultivator
Registered: 09/02/11
Posts: 541
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
|
Re: Starting Wine Making [Re: ubertox]
#15257188 - 10/21/11 04:24 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
|
|
i think im going to get a kit and make some mead. itll be cheaper than buying a wine kit. 25 bucks or so for about 20 pounds of honey. that should make 6 gallons of mead. ive had some good mead before. i know some people who have been making mead for 20 years or so, and thats pretty much convinced me to whip up a batch of my own. get it ready for the solstice next year!
|
|
Images only 
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
Shop for: 
Edit 
Reply 
