# Photos of your winemaking setup



## Macuser (May 5, 2013)

I'd love to see photos of everyone's winemaking setup. I'm trying to reorganize my basement to dedicate a space for winemaking equipment, fermenters, carboys, etc. Any photos would help give me some inspiration.


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## NashChic (May 6, 2013)

I use a corner of my basement laundry room. It's not fancy, but it works out well. I also have a closet in there (not in the pic) that's great for my extra carboys, bottle tree, corker, misc goodies (like kits on deck) etc. 

I'm curious to see other people's spaces as well =)


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## Gr8zins (May 6, 2013)

Just had to expand my operation to acommodate Chilean juice for the first time. I am just about maxxed out on my carboy capacity. I actually have a few more that have been lent out to a couple friends. Maybe that's a good thing. Using one forth of my basement. Chilean wine has just been racked to secondary. Picked up from Presque Isle last weekend.


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## rob (May 6, 2013)

Gr8- not sure how to say this, but are you sure that is sturdy enough?


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## Arne (May 6, 2013)

Never figured out pics, but this winter I gained 16 ft. of counter space in the basement. Made the framework out of 2X4's, bought cheap counter tops from a big box store. Not quite done yet, got everything up then decided had to take it all down and insulate the walls. Double shelves all the way along above the counters. Only thing is bottom shelf is too low tolet a carboy fit under with an airlock. They have to sit out a bit from the back wall, but the frame is sturdy enough it doesn't matter. Now when I do have to lift a full carboy which isn't very often, only have to set them back about waist high. Much nicer than before. Getting nicer outside, kinda loosing interest in indoor work, but will finish next winter for sure. Arne.


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## Rocky (May 6, 2013)

rob said:


> Gr8- not sure how to say this, but are you sure that is sturdy enough?


 
When I saw the picture, Rob, that was my first thought, too. Quick calculation, though, says the load on each of the four buckets is about 100 pounds. I know that I have stood on those buckets and I am over 200 pounds.


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## JohnT (May 6, 2013)

Yup, 

Looks a little frightning to me. 

I would put the board on the floor and get rid of the buckets. If that bench were to tip over for some reason, you will experience the worst red tide ever!


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## seth8530 (May 6, 2013)

Yeha, what John said lol. I would not be worries so much about the wood or the buckets giving out but more of the tip over risk.


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## dangerdave (May 6, 2013)

When I started making wine in August 2011, I converted a portion of our basement laundry room into my Lab. There's a thread showing the conversion, here: Danger's Lab


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## Macuser (May 6, 2013)

Thanks for the pics. Very impressive, Danger!


I'd love to see how others are set up.


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## jswordy (May 6, 2013)




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## FABulousWines (May 6, 2013)

Good one, Jim!


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## dangerdave (May 6, 2013)

All I need is one strong McGillicuddy and my Lab will be complete!


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## Gr8zins (May 6, 2013)

The wood is a 12 foot long solid piece of pressure treated Douglas Fir at 1 1/2 inches thick. On those buckets I think it would support a football team . This is actually a temporary fix during fermentation to get the carboys off the cold cement floor while finishing out secondary. I feel like it was keeping the wine a little too cool and I didn't want a stuck ferment or stressed out yeast. These will go back to the floor for ageing when ferm is complete. First time fermenting in Spring with Chilean juice. Basement is overall cooler than in sept and oct. when the Calif juice is fermenting. Cheers!


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## moesagoodboy (May 6, 2013)

This is my setup, I'm still in the setting up phase. Originally was going to go to the "local" big box store and purchase some laminated countertop. Laminate is really nice because it is slippery so you can just slide the carboys around. But countertop depth is only 25 inches. You can fit a depth of two carboys but have no room left to work. So I retrieved my workbench from the garage. It's 36 inches deep, 6 feet long. To me it's more suitable to the task of winemaking. Nine carboys on it only takes 2/3 the space leaving a decent area to work. It doesn't take a lot of wall space. The only drawback is if you want to mount a shelf above it, and above the carboys, you would have to have the arms of a NBA player. Its a loong reach.
Joe


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## LoveTheWine (May 7, 2013)

I had just posted my pics here:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f4/my-wine-room-renovations-38057/


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## ShelleyDickison (May 7, 2013)

jswordy said:


> http://s130.photobucket.com/user/jswordy/media/grape-stomp-i-love-lucy_zps473917f5.jpg.html



That's funny. I just used this picture for a label for a batch of moscato I am making for myself and my wine making friend. My husband calls us Lucy and Ethel.


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## Elmer (May 7, 2013)

I started making wine right after I had moved into my house. My wife was nice enough to let me use a small unfinished corner of the basement, between the furnace and cat litre. 
I soon moved to the other end of the basement by the fuse box. It is probably 5ft wide, but I manage. Unfortunately I have no water source in the basement so any work I would do means I have to pack up and haul everything upstairs to the kitchen to rise, then back down. 
I have since taken over a portion of the living room for fermenting, portion of the kids playroom in the the basement for aging because there is no sunlight and it is cool, 60 degree all year long. And all my storage goes in what was once my make shift lab ( where I trip over unused excersize bench and conga drums).
I am most proud of my traveling lab, (just a homer bucket) which I have all my gear and I can easily pick it up and hightail it out of the room if my wife tells me we have company coming over.

I have to say I am jealous of all of you for the space you have.
I hope one day after all the home improvements are done I can build a little work station for me!


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## jswordy (May 7, 2013)

Elmer, the bucket buddy is a great idea! Maybe gonna steal it.

I make my wines in my kitchen. No special space for me. The carboys sit out in our enclosed sunroom. Basic equipment. It all gets stores in a dedicated kitchen cabinet and in metal cabinets out in my farm shop. Shrug.


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## MNwino (May 9, 2013)

I see a lot of people using those Carboy carriers around the necks of the carboys. Be very carful with those. They are not to be used with full carboys only empties. If you carry a full one the neck can snap clean off.


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## jswordy (May 9, 2013)

MNwino said:


> I see a lot of people using those Carboy carriers around the necks of the carboys. Be very carful with those. They are not to be used with full carboys only empties. If you carry a full one the neck can snap clean off.



My best equipment investments so far have been my Brew Haulers, which have been available at really good prices if you scour Amazon. They take up very little space when not in use and they perform flawlessly. The webbing on the bottom helps prevent breakage when setting the carboy on hard surfaces, too. I've even used them on 7.5 carboys with no problems. By buying a few at a time, I have almost got enough now to keep one permanently on each carboy.


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## Elmer (May 9, 2013)

MNwino said:


> I see a lot of people using those Carboy carriers around the necks of the carboys. Be very carful with those. They are not to be used with full carboys only empties. If you carry a full one the neck can snap clean off.



When carrying a full carboy, I use the Carboy carriers in one hand to balance & guide carboy while using my good arm to support the bottom.

I have to say that a 6 gallon carboy when full can be quite heavy. Even more so when I am walking it down my basment staircase!

Thanks for advice!


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## MNwino (May 9, 2013)

Elmer said:


> When carrying a full carboy, I use the Carboy carriers in one hand to balance & guide carboy while using my good arm to support the bottom.
> 
> I have to say that a 6 gallon carboy when full can be quite heavy. Even more so when I am walking it down my basment staircase!
> 
> Thanks for advice!



Get The Brew Haulers JSwordy is talking about. I also use them they work really well and are safe. Maybe you can find a better price but here is a link to them. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-brew-hauler.html


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## cmason1957 (May 9, 2013)

This is most of the set-up that my wife and I have. We don't have very much going on at the present time, waiting for fruit to come into season for this year. Just 9 gallons of strawberry, 12 gallons of apple, 6 gallons of quadberry dragons blood, and 6 gallons of Eclipse Old Vines Zin. Boxes under the tables are cleaned bottles waiting patiently to be reused.

Boxes you see on the floor are waiting to be tipped on their sides and put away, just bottled a week or so ago. They include some Chilean buckets Merlot, Cab Sauv, Carmene, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Sryah from last year. Some locally grown Chambourcin, candy cane, and chocolate covered cherry. I think that is all. 

We also have storage for smaller fermenting buckets and carboys under our stairs that I didn't include. Our children say my we need to slow down, of course that is as they drive off with a case of wine and rave about it.


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## wineon4 (May 9, 2013)

I have been converting a space in my basement as my wine cellar and brew room. Here is the progress so far.


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## jswordy (May 9, 2013)

MNwino said:


> Get The Brew Haulers JSwordy is talking about. I also use them they work really well and are safe. Maybe you can find a better price but here is a link to them. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-brew-hauler.html



Not to be Mr. One-Up-Ya, but I really suggest Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OF8V5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Look under More Buying Choices and you'll see one for $10.35 when shipping is added (learn_to_brew). Buy several and companies usually cut you a shipping deal.

This is slightly higher than I was paying. For awhile there I could get them for $7.99 with shipping.

As for the pix immediately above, that's what I lack: a basement. Can't build them here, they fill with water.


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## Elmer (May 9, 2013)

jswordy said:


> Not to be Mr. One-Up-Ya, but I really suggest Amazon.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OF8V5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
> 
> As for the pix immediately above, that's what I lack: a basement. Can't build them here, they fill with water.



JS I will trade you my damp/dark busted, problematic junk of a basement for a bottle of your best!


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## rhenson (May 9, 2013)

I'm leaving this thread up for my wife to see. The images on this thread prove that I have not gone too far - by a long shot!
Awesome stuff!


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## dessertmaker (May 10, 2013)

Dang..... I'm drooling. I have to steal floor space all over my pantry and kitchen. I've even had to stick carboys in my bathroom on occasion.

Right now there's even one on top of my fridge. But that's because we were under a boil notice for the last week due to a water infection and its full of boiled and "stabilized" water.

I was drinking cooking and washing dishes with water that has a slight wine aftertaste until this morning when they lifted it.


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## Macuser (May 12, 2013)

Thanks to everyone for the inspiration. This is what I came up with so far.


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## shoebiedoo (May 12, 2013)

I have a gallery at this http://www.winemakingtalk.com/photo/albums/mywineroom-232.html


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## PortersCoveJosh (May 12, 2013)

*Here is my madness so far*

This is what I have so far in the basement. Just in the process of building a counter and adding in the sink. I have to do some plumbing and electrical for a little extra light over the work space. The basement is a mess considering all together between the wine space and fish tank set up you can see in the one pic there is 16 foot counter space. Oh yeah plus about 6 foot of an old counter I currently have sitting in an L shape to give me more room. I need to build a platform for the sink to bring it level with the counter and enclose the bottom shelf to keep everything dark for my carboys.


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## wineon4 (May 13, 2013)

Josh, what is in the 2 clear bottles in the first photo  Looking good. I still need to do a sink I have plans for it and have the plumbing done I have been looking for a stainless steel sink and counter from a food service kitchen.


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## Elmer (May 13, 2013)

I would love to put a sink in my basement, this way I could move the entire operation downstairs.
However since my main drain is elevated this requires a pump and much more work and money then the warden would approve!

But all this photos make me seriously jealous!


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## YourCaptain (May 13, 2013)

wineon4 said:


> I have been converting a space in my basement as my wine cellar and brew room.



I am beyond jealous... pardon me while a scrape my jaw off the floor


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## PortersCoveJosh (May 13, 2013)

wineon4 said:


> Josh, what is in the 2 clear bottles in the first photo  Looking good. I still need to do a sink I have plans for it and have the plumbing done I have been looking for a stainless steel sink and counter from a food service kitchen.



In the two bottles is some dragons blood. I had just backsweetened it the day before and wanted to steal a couple bottles from the carboy before I bottle everything in a couple days. I decided to put the sink in but not dig up my concrete for plumbing. My drain is about 12 ft away and Im going to see how it works out just running some pvc from the sink to the drain. I will only keep it there when I need to use the sink for an extended period of time. At other times I have a bucket underneath that will work for just rinsing a couple things then empty the bucket


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## WI_Wino (May 13, 2013)

Finally got my basement rearranged and new sink plumbed in. Still working on raised platform for primaries. 





rack getting empty... Space for a seville...




2nd and 3rd shelves are full of empty and cleaned bottles




Current line up


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## Tripplett (May 14, 2013)

I have a finished basement but I tried to contain most of my wine making in the basement room under the stairs. I also have a closet for storing extra carboys, bottles, as well as a wine rack. I am lucky in that I have a sink in this room. I can keep 3 or 4 carboys going and still have a little room to move around. I just bottled a Yakima Valley Chardonnay and a batch of Dragon's Blood so those carboys are empty. What you see in the full carboy is another batch of Dragons Blood - this time with no lemon and added bananas & raisins - to be bottled tonight. Tomorrow I will start in the primary a cellar craft Yakima Valley Riesling. Next week, a Super Tuscan is on deck.


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## NoSnob (May 15, 2013)

I'd post pix but there's not much to see. My cleaning, sanitizing, racking & bottling is done in my kitchen. Unless I am working with my wine there's nothing there to see. My plastic bins, bottle tree, all my equipment, my corks, seals, labels, & all additives are kept in covered plastic bins on a high shelf in my laundry room along with extra jugs and fermententation pails on the floor. I keep my hydrometer and test jar in the kitchen window. My unused carboys are partially filled with sanitizer and kept in the family room with the cart used to move carboys from the fermentation room (my half-bath) to the kitchen. That cart is storage for my vacuum pump. Currently, my half bath has two carboys of fermenting/aging wine. My empty bottles are kept in wine boxes throughout my garage; they are stored by type. As scattered as it sounds, all this equipment is within 15 steps of each other. 

Boy it must be nice to have one room or area where everything is done!

NS


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## Tess (May 15, 2013)

LoveTheWine said:


> I had just posted my pics here:
> 
> http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f4/my-wine-room-renovations-38057/



I have that same oak barrel but havent used it yet. How many galloons is that 2?


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## LoveTheWine (May 16, 2013)

Tess said:


> I have that same oak barrel but havent used it yet. How many galloons is that 2?



It is a 20L (just over 5G)
I have a thread going about that one too!
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f74/my-new-toy-33961/


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## Thig (May 17, 2013)

My wine workroom/cellar in progress. I took part of my basement and I have been working to make it a wine room. The floor is still unfinished. The dark brown bay area is where the finished wine racks are going to be stored. There will be a work table next to the sink with my all-in-one pump, filter system and table top corker all mounted. The area under the pool light is going to be a full length bar to sit and enjoy the wine.


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