# Jump from kits to sterile juice



## tonyportale (Mar 24, 2014)

Hello,
I have been making wine from kits for years. I want to move to sterile juice and give that a try. I have no experience with this method. Does the finished wine taste better coming from sterile juice vs kits? I'm not ready to jump to frozen must wine making yet.
Thank you in advance for any input / advice
Tony P.


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## Rocky (Mar 24, 2014)

Tony, my experience with juice buckets is that the whites make a very nice wine without any tweaks. The reds need some help in the form of a grape pack and/or raisins. That being said, I buy the Chilean buckets here in Ohio in the $40-50 price range and the Italian juices in the $50-60 range. If I have to add a grape pack (about $20) I am still way ahead of the premium kits.


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## brutus (Mar 24, 2014)

Hey Rocky,

I see you are from Powell. I live in Westerville. Where are you buying your juice buckets from? The only places I can find are in Youngstown or Pittsburgh.

steve


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## tmmii (Mar 25, 2014)

Mercurios has them, but you have to order by mid April. What's your email I can forward you the order form I have. 


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## Rocky (Mar 25, 2014)

Steve, I have been making the trek to Youngstown for my buckets. You can get them locally as tmmii points out but I have not tried. Joe Mercurio gets them from Youngstown so it helps to give him some notice and they may be a couple of bucks higher. Another Steve (Shoebiedoo on the forum) and I are heading up on April 5 or 6 to get our juice for the Spring. My fermenting is currently limited to 42 gallons or so and I will be buying 7 buckets. I will probably pick up two for my Daughter and Son-in-Law, who is just getting into the hobby. It probably would make a lot more sense to buy them locally but no one ever accused me of having any sense.

*EDIT: Just checked my notes. We are going up on April 14th.*


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## brutus (Mar 25, 2014)

Thanks guys. I just reached out to Joe to see if he can help me out. I appreciate your suggestions!

BTW - 42 gallons is a lot! I'm only at 12 now, but I would up that to 18 if I can get some good juice! I'm assuming I can do primary fermentation in the buckets the juice comes in, right? I guess I could do it in a carboy if I have to.


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## Rocky (Mar 25, 2014)

brutus said:


> Thanks guys. I just reached out to Joe to see if he can help me out. I appreciate your suggestions!
> 
> BTW - 42 gallons is a lot! I'm only at 12 now, but I would up that to 18 if I can get some good juice! I'm assuming I can do primary fermentation in the buckets the juice comes in, right? I guess I could do it in a carboy if I have to.



Steve, fermenting the wine in the buckets that they come in could be a problem. Success would depend on a few things:

- The amount of juice in the bucket. I have seen them really full up to the top and I have seen them down about 2-3 inches from the top.

- The vigor of the fermentation. If you get a very vigorous fermentation, you could get an overflow.

- In my experience, whites do not ferment as vigorously as reds.

To be safe, I would get a larger fermenter, at least 7.9 gallons. There are a couple of local alternatives for wine making supplies: Gentiles (614) 486-3406 at 1565 King Avenue near OSU and The Winemaker's Shop (614) 263-1744 at 3517 North High Street. Call before you go to check their store hours.


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## Pumpkinman (Mar 25, 2014)

Tony,
I think that you'll really like the Juice buckets, I personally prefer them over kits, you have total control of the wine making process, everything isn't laid out for you, or already done for you, and I agree with rocky, if you can add about 10 lbs or so of fresh crushed and destemmed grapes to the juice, you'll get a wine that is unbelievable! I highly recommend it.
Another thing that I like about Juice buckets is the fact that you don't have the Kit taste, I really dislike it, and unfortunately, it can take years to dissipate. 
You'll need to add a few things to your wine making "tool box", you will need to test PH, TA and SO2. 
Making wine from Juice Buckets will help to learn some of the processes and techniques that you've read about but aren't needed when making kit wines, and overall, in my opinion, it'll help to understand the wine making process as a whole.
I'm not sure that the Juice buckets are sterile, I believe that the grapes are crushed, pressed and stabilized with meta for shipping, some companies add yeast as well, I believe that Papangi or Delta packaging sterilize their juices.


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## tmmii (Mar 25, 2014)

Rocky said:


> Steve, I have been making the trek to Youngstown for my buckets. You can get them locally as tmmii points out but I have not tried. Joe Mercurio gets them from Youngstown so it helps to give him some notice and they may be a couple of bucks higher. Another Steve (Shoebiedoo on the forum) and I are heading up on April 5 or 6 to get our juice for the Spring. My fermenting is currently limited to 42 gallons or so and I will be buying 7 buckets. I will probably pick up two for my Daughter and Son-in-Law, who is just getting into the hobby. It probably would make a lot more sense to buy them locally but no one ever accused me of having any sense.
> 
> *EDIT: Just checked my notes. We are going up on April 14th.*
> 
> ...


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## olusteebus (Mar 25, 2014)

I heard today from a local brew and wine shop that juice buckets take about 3 years from ferment to bottle. Is that right.

I realize that is a matter of preference but can't you be drinking it in a year?


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## outbackmac (Mar 25, 2014)

*juice buckets*

I to have been making wine from kits, and they have turned out prety good.

I ordered 2 buckets from Listermans here in Cincinnati, i have never made wine from these buckets, i have plenty of corboys to transfer into for fermenting, but my questions are what else do i need to complete these project? Yeast? or anyother items?

Thanks jerry


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## cpfan (Mar 25, 2014)

Just want to mention that most juice buckets are not "sterile juice", as tonyportale mentioned in the title, and the original post.

Steve


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## cintipam (Mar 25, 2014)

Hi all

I'm trying to figure this out too. I also am getting a couple Listermann buckets, and these are shipped from Luva Bella. Sounds like they are stable for shipment. Should I add more meta the day before pitching yeast, or only if I add grapes or grape pack? I am only doing whites btw. Yeast already in there or not? I see some folks are getting theirs mid April, but I know a group is meeting at LBs last weekend in March. Do the sellers keep these in a cold room or is it transport time from Luva Bellas to where ever else a group order has been shipped that accounts for 2 weeks?

Generally, any advice tips info would be appreciated. I'm getting Pinot Grigio and Gerwurtzraminer.

Thanks all

Pam in cinti


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## cintipam (Mar 25, 2014)

OK, I just found this instruction sheet on LuvaBellas website that appears to be about buckets. They say to stir well since the yeast is on the bottom. Does this match what you all are doing? I know things change, and sometimes websites don't get updated.

http://www.luvabella.com/wine_making.shtml

Pam in cinti


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## Pumpkinman (Mar 25, 2014)

I've made some outstanding wine from Juice buckets, I normally age for approx 1.5 yrs for the reds and 6 months for whites. I don't know who told you three yrs, but if you have the patience, I'm sure that they will only get better.


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## cintipam (Mar 25, 2014)

Jerry, I'm trying to figure it out also. If you go to the link I will put below it will list eqpt you will need, but personally I like to have my preferred yeast on hand just in case the original doesn't take off, plus the necessary chems like Kmeta and sorbate to help keep wine safe and stable.

HTH

http://www.luvabella.com/wine_making.shtml

Pam in cinti


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## tmmii (Mar 25, 2014)

olusteebus said:


> I heard today from a local brew and wine shop that juice buckets take about 3 years from ferment to bottle. Is that right.
> 
> I realize that is a matter of preference but can't you be drinking it in a year?




I don't do half the steps everyone on here does. I'm sure I'm not making a top notch product, but I bottle after a year and 18 gallons doesn't last long. 



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## outbackmac (Mar 26, 2014)

*cintipam*

Thanks for the info. are these your first attempt at juice buckets? our kits have turned out well. The shiraz was by far our best, when first taste it s a little dry but goes down just a tad on the sweet side.

By the way iam from the west side.

Thanks Jerry


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## Pumpkinman (Mar 26, 2014)

I always add my own yeast, a yeast that compliments the style or varietal that I'm making, different yeasts will add different characteristics and sensory profiles to the wine.
If you hydrate the yeast with Go-Ferm, and add must to the yeast within 15 mins (after 15-30 mins without a source of food, the yeast will start to die off) your yeast will start to reproduce and create a large "colony" of yeast cells that will easily become the dominant yeast. Adding the must not only serves as a food source, it will also temper the yeast avoiding shock due to rapid temperature drops.

The following link from Lallemand: Click Here is one of my go to resources for researching yeasts and how different yeast will affect various varietals. It;ll give you an idea of what you can bring expect from various yeast strains, it opens up a whole new world beyond the EC-1118 yeast.


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## shrive22 (Mar 28, 2014)

For all those in sw ohio/ cincy here is the list of juice pails acailable from listermanns. Have to have order in by 4/4. 




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