Any Wine Makers Here?

Or that Hitachi earth mover.... err other thing combination.
 
Haha, I'll start with a cheaper hand held to start.
Any experiences with screw top wine bottles and caps?

That will work very short term, but not as a long time storage option. I’d say, 6 months or less and you should be fine. For the good kit, I wouldn’t do that because you don’t even want to drink those until that time passes.
 
@Vesparados, looks like you're practicing for a career as a Ferrari model...but, not the car kind.
The genuine conversation that took place when that photo was taken went something like this:
Me: "I think I assembled it correctly."
Carol: "Did you see the assembly instructions in the bottom of the box?"
Me: "No"
Me: "I don't need no stinking instructions!"
Carol: "It works pretty well, that's cool."
Me: "It's a Ferrari, I think it has made me better looking."
Carol: "No"
 
The genuine conversation that took place when that photo was taken went something like this:
Me: "I think I assembled it correctly."
Carol: "Did you see the assembly instructions in the bottom of the box?"
Me: "No"
Me: "I don't need no stinking instructions!"
Carol: "It works pretty well, that's cool."
Me: "It's a Ferrari, I think it has made me better looking."
Carol: "No"
Hahaha! Well, I'm glad those conversations take place in other houses besides mine.
 
Getting ready to start my 1st kit. It's the winexpert Washington riesling. Looks like wine likes to ferment at a little higher temps than what I normally ferment at. My normal ambient temp where I will have the wine is about 68-69. That's warmest we keep our house even in winter. I think I've read whites prefer lower ferment temps and it's still within range of the Ec118 yeast so I'm hoping I'll be fine without adding any external heat.
 
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Just a heads up on a wine making equipment sale at Midwest.

Wine Equipment Sale – Midwest Supplies
Oh! Thanks for the heads up! I'm preparing to do my 1st racking, and hope to get my second kit started soon...and looking at getting another kit also lol.
We are thinking about getting one of the Island Mist kits and putting it on tap.
 
Stupid wine. All I need is another rabbit hole and more brewing crap.

Do you want to talk a little about fermenting foods, like pickles? How about soapmaking? Kombucha? Slippery slope and all that.

About 10 years ago, I had about 7 or 8 guys on homebrewtalk.com making soap. They still are discussing kimchee, sauerkraut, pickles, etc.
 
Do you want to talk a little about fermenting foods, like pickles? How about soapmaking? Kombucha? Slippery slope and all that.

About 10 years ago, I had about 7 or 8 guys on homebrewtalk.com making soap. They still are discussing kimchee, sauerkraut, pickles, etc.
Well, I've made my own soaps for years.
Years ago when our goats still had kids :D I was curious on what to do with all the milk. I stumbled upon soap and been making it ever since. I no longer have goats milk, and I have enough soap anymore that I don't need to make it near as often, but I'll still bang out a few batches a year.
I've done fermented foods for ages as well. Love making purple kraut.
 
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Anyone use their refractometer for testing gravity on their wine? I see everyone using hydrometers which is fine, but I'd much rather deal with drops.
 
Anyone use their refractometer for testing gravity on their wine? I see everyone using hydrometers which is fine, but I'd much rather deal with drops.
That's all we use.
 
Anyone use their refractometer for testing gravity on their wine? I see everyone using hydrometers which is fine, but I'd much rather deal with drops.

Yep, that’s what I use as well. But sometimes I check Fg with a hydrometer before kegging/bottling so we can have a sample.
 
Yep, that’s what I use as well. But sometimes I check Fg with a hydrometer before kegging/bottling so we can have a sample.
Indeed, good minds think alike!
 
So it appears that I cannot get frozen Welche's any more at any of my local grocery stores but I can get a 3 quart bottle for about $5.50 and it has Citric and Ascorbic acid added to it. Would either of these present a change in the recipe? All I recall that was in the frozen stuff was grapes.
 
So it appears that I cannot get frozen Welche's any more at any of my local grocery stores but I can get a 3 quart bottle for about $5.50 and it has Citric and Ascorbic acid added to it. Would either of these present a change in the recipe? All I recall that was in the frozen stuff was grapes.

No. You just don’t want potassium sorbate or benzoate. Citric acid is for flavor and ascorbic acid is Vitamin C, and they don’t interfere with fermentation at all.
 

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