New Wine Making Equipment

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Euphoria
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New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Euphoria »

Well, since I have been brewing beer for many years, and have been distilling now for a few as well, I have never before made wine, so I decided to splurge on a nice heavy duty fruit masher and a new 5 gallon press with a stainless steel pressing drum. I probably could have purchased a lot of "store bought" wine for the money I invested, but then, it's a part of this hobby, just another diversion. Even though I have been wanting to play with my new toys, fresh fruit is not really in season here, (or else imported and ridiculously expensive,) so my first batch is currently a 6 gallon "box kit" of Old Vine Zinfandel, which I'm using just to become a bit more familiar with the processes of making wine. Just taking it one step at a time. Hope they turn out good since this wine making stuff is all new me. Maybe down the road when I become a little more comfortable with the wine making process, I may even try to make some brandies, but that's looking far down the road. I'm especially looking forward to next fall when our fruit trees come into fullness. I think that it will be even more rewarding to be able to use my own fruit as opposed to purchasing it. But then, I might wind up having to buy more to supplement what I grow with more fruit anyway because I think this will be addictive. Since this is a first for me, I'm sure I'll have a big learning curve to contend with. :lol:
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cranky
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by cranky »

That's some nice looking equipment. Wine is what got me started on this path. At $50 a half bottle I couldn't bring myself to buy icewine anymore so I borrowed a 5 gallon carboy, picked a bunch of blackberries and many dollars and years later here I am. So I kind of did it the reverse of you but at the equivalent of $50 a half bottle the equipment pays for itself pretty quickly. I like doing wine but just like distilling it can get very overwhelming very quickly, especially when you have access to lots of free fruit.
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Pikey »

That is jealous makin' kit you have there ! :mrgreen:

I started with wine as a teenager, but my old dad used to drink most of it when I was out ! :roll:

Apart from the sugar, nutrients and yeast, which you already know about, there's a couple of things you need to keep an eye on when making flavourful wine:

1) Tannin - you need some ! Much too much is dreadful, but not enough gives a flabby wine with "something missin" - If I don't know whether an ingredient contains it or not, one teabag per gallon gets thrown into the ingredients.

2) Acid - many fruits and most veg is acid deficient - a half a lemon or a little ctric acid gets thrown in on the same basis as the teabag. Just as a matter of course - unless I know there is enough in there.

3) Vinegar fly - those little fruit flies which magically appear, carry the vinegar bacillus. If just one gets into your brew, it can turn the whole lot to vinegar, as can any trace of "soured" wine from a previous brew - keep it clean.

Now if you haven't actually got a use for that kit at the moment - I'm just wondering if I cab just Borrow ......?
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Bandito
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Bandito »

I started a gallon of mead fermenting a couple of weeks ago. After all of the ingredients were added to the jug and the air lock was in place I could see a very small fly in the mix. I'm hoping I don't end up with a gallon of honey vinegar.
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Bushman
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Bushman »

You always seem to buy nice equipment. That can be used for more than wine such as apple juice, Brandy, and I am sure a few more. Today I am heading down to Hood Canal for 5 days and think your place is on the way. Would love to make a short detour and see all your set-ups from beer making, distilling, and anything related.
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Euphoria
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Euphoria »

I would love to have you stop by if you can work it into your schedule. I sent you an email with my phone #s.
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Bushman
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Bushman »

Enjoyed my visit, Euphoria thanks for showing me your equipment. You have assembled a plethora of nice stainless steel equipment that covers just about all areas of distilling, brewing, and now wine making and your only limitations on what you can make are in your mind. Looking forward to our next meeting.
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Euphoria
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Re: New Wine Making Equipment

Post by Euphoria »

Thanks Bushman. It was nice having you and your wife stop by for a bit. You're always welcome here.
"Government doesn't have the answer to the problem, government is the problem." Ronald Reagan
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