# New To Winemaking / Saying Hello



## dmcquade (May 29, 2007)

Hello everyone,


My wife bought me a winemaking kit for my birthday on Sunday and I started my first batch of Shiraz that night. While it looks like I may need to add a bit of sugar at some point (initial SG = 1.07), so far I haven't blown anything up.


Anyhow, I'm VERY excited about learning more and producing some great wines (with any luck).


Cheers!


DJ


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## grapeman (May 29, 2007)

Welcome to the forum DJ. What kind of kit was it? If it is a good brand it will come with the proper SG for beginning with. If it is an Island Mist type kit, they run low for a summertime beverage.


Again Welcome, Have Fun and Stay a while and share your experiences.


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## NorthernWinos (May 29, 2007)

Welcome DJ..hope you stay awhile and share your fun times...


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## Wade E (May 29, 2007)

Hi DJ and welcome to a very friendly and informative forum. You can
bump up the SG but it will void your warranty but lots of us do it all
the time at our own risk. Dont be afraid to ask any questions even if
theyve been asked before but do use the search option also as there
will be alot of questions that were answered that can save you time on
waiting but we are very quick to answer. This is a great hobby. Enjoy!


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## kutya (May 29, 2007)

Welcome DJ, I think you are going to learn quite a bit here...


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## chevyguy65 (May 29, 2007)

Welcome DJ,


This is the Ultimate site for info!!! We started out slowly this winter and now we can't stop. Once you get your feet wet ...the sky's the limit!






For us its 5 kits in 5 months! and counting...


Mr &amp; Mrs Chevy


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## Waldo (May 29, 2007)

Welcome to the forum dj. Glad to have you onboard


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## Wade E (May 29, 2007)

chevyguy65 said:


> Welcome DJ,
> 
> Once you get your feet wet ...the sky's the limit!
> 
> ...



You know you dont have to use your feet anymore, they have presses to do that!


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## cindyjo (May 29, 2007)

Welcome TJand good luck on that first batch. We have all had our rough times but this is the best place to get all your winemaking questioned answered. Everyone is SUPER nice with us newbies asking questions. I am only on my fourth batch but have been very happy with the results. But watch out ... before you know it those carboys multiply and you are searching for wine bottles for all that wine. Have fun
Cindy jo


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## Trigham (May 29, 2007)

Welcome Aboard DJ, as a relative newcomer , I as well will tell you that you have chosen the best forum out there. You will learn as much as you can possibly imagine here, as the folks are extremely knowledgeable and very nice to boot.


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## Wade E (May 29, 2007)

Dont forget that this is also the best place to buy winemaking
supplies. George (the owner of Fine Vine Wines) is eager to accomodate
just about anything you need whether it be kits or chems and he backs
everything up. Service and delivery here is top notch!


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## dmcquade (May 29, 2007)

Wow, thanks for all the support! I'm sure I'll be back when my must starts smelling foul. 


George is actually the one who really convinced me to get into the hobby. Off the street he was willing to spend about 30 minutes talking to me about wine. No matter where I am geographically, he has me as a customer for life.


So I actually have a very simple followup question. I spray down all of my equipment with K-Meta before it touches the wine. Do I need to rinse the K-Meta solution off before I put it in the wine (i.e., thief, etc) or will it not harm my wine to introduce a tiny bit of K-Meta?


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## Wade E (May 29, 2007)

The tiny bit will not hurt it. Just make sure to let the K-Meta do its
thing for a few minutes as its not an instant sanitizer.


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## dmcquade (May 30, 2007)

Alright, posting this just as a sanity check.


Yesterday I had quite a bit of foam at the top of my must (betwen 1and 2 cm) during primary fermentation. I took a sample SG that came in at 1.043 (started at 1.070).


I took a quick peek a couple hours laterand noticed that my thick foam was replaced by a thin layer of foam covering about 20 - 25% of the surface of the must. It kind of looked like it slowed down.


Today I took another quick reading (same foam condition) and it came in at 1.020. So it looks like it's still fermenting.


So here are my questions:


First, is this fermenting too quick? Seems like 72 hours to go from 1.070 to 1.020 is pretty quick based on the other posts. My instructions say to wait 5 - 7 days ... and unless fermenting is going to slow (not linear) then I'm going to be at 1.010 tomorrow. 


Second, should I be concerned that while I keep the house at around 73 - 75degrees, my must is around 82 degrees? Do I need to find a better way to cool off the must so that it falls in the proper 65 - 75 degree range?


Third, how quickly will I know if I screwed anything up? Would a contaminant start affecting the wine immediately (i.e., 1 or 2 days) or would I find out later down the road?


Thanks for the help with the newbie questions!


DJ


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## PeterZ (May 30, 2007)

DJ,

You have a vigorous fermentation going there! If the room is 75 and the must is 82 the additional temp is the result of the yeast activity. I don't think this will be a problem. 

It sounds like you are nearing the end of primary fermentation. The times listed in the instructions are just guidelines, sg is the real determining factor.

As far as how soon you will know if there is a problem, it depends. Some problems become obvious very quickly, and some are more subtle and take longer to manifest themselves. I'm willing to bet we have all screwed up more often than we think. For example, the presence of _Acetobacter sp._, the bacteria that turns wine to vinegar, may be in many of our wines, but as long as we maintain free SO2 in the wine and rack gently to minimize oxygen intrusion, it will be asleep and harmless.


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## PolishWineP (May 30, 2007)

DJ,
Welcome to the forum! It sounds like your wine is really kicking there! Especially in the warm weather the yeast can really go into high gear. Every time I start to worry or doubt myself, I think of all the wine that was made before climate controls and everything else. Sounds like you'll be fine there. Keep us posted!


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## rgecaprock (May 30, 2007)

Welcome DJ to the forum......We love pictures and stories so have your digital ready!!! Your wife gave you a great present and we all will be happy to encourage you along the way!!!!


Ramona


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## OldWino1 (May 31, 2007)

yes 1 carboy is not enough I have tthe cleanest hands always cleaning bottles and carbys and prim fermenters hoses racking tubes My goal to wear this things out. Welcome to the best hobby


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## Trigham (May 31, 2007)

Is there such a thing as enough of anything this good


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## dmcquade (May 31, 2007)

LOL -- so last night (4 days after starting this hobby) I tell my wife, "Hon, I may need another carboy." She said, "You JUST started this!" I can tell this is going to be expensive, but probably much less than I usually spend on wine.


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## Wade E (May 31, 2007)

Its one of those "you have to spend money to save money" things!


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## PeterZ (Jun 1, 2007)

DJ, your first kit will yield 2 1/2 cases of wine! You might point out to your wife that the cost of the kit, the start-up equipment, and another carboy is at or less than you would pay for 30 bottles of wine from the local store.

The next kit, with the equipment already covered by the first kit, will result in 30 bottles at less than $5/bottle.


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## GrapeApe (Jun 1, 2007)

The ROI formula is scalable too. Icalculated the cost to purchase 150 bottles of commerical winethen compared it to what it could cost to make the same number of bottles. With the money I "saved" I am to buy aVinotemp 32 bottle wine cooler andbuild a wine rack that will store 300 bottles, the majority of the equipment I use to make the wine,and the 32 bottle wine cooler. 
If I remember correctly, Wade was able to finish his basement with all of the money he saved. What anawesome hobby - the more you spend, the more you save.






GrapeApe.


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## Wade E (Jun 1, 2007)

Actually I spend a lot of money on my winemaking because I dont really
like commercial wine. Im a sweeter wine liker and there really isnt any
wines out there that I like or will part with that much money. In
example, I like commercial Ice wine but will not spend $30.00 for a 375
ml bottle. There are only a few wines that I used to buy from a liquor
store and those were fruit wines made at a local winery about 4 miles
from were I work and this is the place that got me interested in wine
making as they have a Black Currant wine that knocked my socks off. But
was also a little pricey at $13.50 for a 375 ml bottle. I started with
2 IM kits then jumped into the Vintners Harvest Black Currant wine base
and the rest is history. So going back to the subject, I was not really
drinking to much wine or spending much money on wine until, well you
know what I mean, but i really needed a hobby that I can enjoy and with
all you guys and gals, that just makes it all that much more
pleasurable to share my experiences and learn and help others as I have
been helped. End of book!


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## dmcquade (Jun 5, 2007)

I think she understands, but she's very analytical so I'll have to show her the numbers when the first batch is finished. My father-in-law has been making wine for about 15 years now and he keeps VERY detailed logs. I think he said that ... over time ... his average cost is around $2.85 per bottle. With my starter kit (assuming ~30 bottles) I should be around $6.50 per bottle. I just hope it's drinkable! 
I won't be abandoning my commercial wine interests, but I'm looking forward to this as a way to learn more about the process and produce a good "daily drinker" that's not $20+ a bottle.


So the other day we found this little kitty that was almost starved to death behind our house. We brought her in, gave her some milk, and called animal control. About an hour after they picked her up they called and said that they had a lost and found and that the cat had run away 2 weeks before and migrated about 10-15 miles. 


So we have decided to name this first batch of wine, "Little White Kitty" ... even though it's a Shiraz. I'm thinking that for all my wines I'll try to come up with a story of something that happened during the batch and write up a summary on the back of the bottles.


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## rgecaprock (Jun 5, 2007)

DJ


That is such a cool idea!!


Ramona


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## rrawhide (Jun 7, 2007)

Hey hey hey and hi

I am a newbie member too and am looking forward to starting another kit - years ago I did a 'nother' kit and it was ok BUT this time I am gonna start with the best. Hear that George?????? I have some old 'stuff' from the past - ie corks, racking cane, 6 carboys and i guess that i have better start filling them again. I am also converting a 7x12' space in my barn behind the craft room). Wife says ok!!!

This is a east facing wall with 2x4 studs. I am thinking about adding another wall 2x6 and then a sheet of foil covered styrofoam insulation. Should I do this or just add 2 sheets of styrofoam direct to the 2x4 wall? Do I need a vapor barrier first? Also, I am going to add a small A/C in the wall too!!. I could reframe the whole room with 2x6's but since it is kinda small to start with i will loose almost a foot in width and length. hummmmmmmm!!! Still a 6x11 is not too bad. Or just add a couple of sheets of foam all around room..........

Sure could use some assistance.

Thanx

Rick


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## dmcquade (Jun 11, 2007)

Just thought I would update you all on our progress.


After a wicked fast primary fermentation we moved the must over to secondary fermentation. It really didn't do too much there, but we left it there and tried to be patient.


Last thursday we added all of our clarifying agents and killed it with K-Meta. Now we're waiting for 14 days (per the instructions) before we rack again and put it into bulk aging.


I am still a little concerned about the smell though. My wife thought it just smelled "yeasty" ... but to me it kind of smelled like rotten eggs. That smell seems to be getting less and less over time, but we'll see. I'm just praying that our primary didn't go too fast or that we gave it enough oxygen.


Cheers!


DJ


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## rgecaprock (Jun 11, 2007)

DJ, I'm sure that you are smelling yeast. I've noticed that some wines seem more yeasty then others. The most recent ones I've made Pinot Grigio had no noticible yeast smell but he White Zin was very pungent and smelled strong for 3 o4 4 days into the first week of fermentation. Don't know the explaination for that.


Ramona


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## PeterZ (Jun 11, 2007)

Welcome, rrawhide. Is the 2x4 stud wall insulated? If not, can it be?

If it is insulated then I would just add a couple layers of foam. If the walls are not insulated I would pull off the wall sheathing inside and insulate. If you can get a total of about R15 (normal residential 2x4 studwall w/fiberglass insulation, sheetrock, and exterior sheathing). Don't forget to insulate the ceiling as well.

All of the above will work for a wine making room. If you want to make a wine cellar, the recommendations I have seen is R50 all around.

What part of the country are you in? That affects where you put the vapor barrier. Ask a local insulation contractor if it should be inside or outside of the insulation for your climate.


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## rgecaprock (Jun 11, 2007)

Hi, rrawhide, 
Nice to have you. Good luck with your wine room, behind the craft room!!!


Ramona


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