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You don't have to go to New York for Walkers, there is an LHBS back home that gets it. Its where I got my Noriet juice bucket last year. The place is Catino Vino in Mt Carmel,Pa. Its best to get there on a Saturday around noon they always have a spread out with local winemakers. What a crew they...

Yes I know but some of my cheap drinkers were juice + grapes, I only recently went the cheap kit route. I guess I wasn't clear that going this route meant I can skip the MLF

Thought my season was over, then they pull me back in.......hahaha. Got my Petit Syrah finishing up MLF in my fermonster, that is a tannin animal really puckers your mouth during a taste. Just tasted my Syrah in the barrel, oak is still light after 5 weeks- gonna go 8 weeks. Then I might throw...

Yes Joe I agree I'd have to see what it ends up after the primary, that's a bit low for an MLF but with these cheap "drinkers" I skip that expensive step. Also having that low of PH + high alcohol means I have less sulfite requirements for aging. Also there are alot of grape skins in that kit so...

I really don't try to wade into debates like this, please google "old time wine making" and prepare to be shocked. Also its pretty hard to oxygenate wine..................there I said it. Anecdotes? A fellow winemaker and I bought some carboys from an old timer. One we couldn't have, it had his...

Been trying out cheap kits thanks to this thread. Just started a 6 gallon Cabernet kit (Wild Grapes kit) and to spice things up this time I added a grape pack from Musto Grape company. They told me the pack is 99% cab and 1% Merlot. Odd combo. It looks identical to the grape skin packs you get...

SethF I have two of the 7 gallon Fermonsters for my wine kits and they work great, just need a little sturdier options. I think I'm just gonna go the Spiedel route

I must admit, I drink alot of beer, wine and bourbon. I can't remember the last time i was drunk either tho its just steady drinking. I love people who say "it will shorten your life". What they don't mention is knocks off years from the END of your life-the absolute worst years. So I die a...

Jal5 also look up Musto Wine Grape co. They sell a grape pack like you get with top end kits for $20. Put those in a hops bag and do your fermenting in a big mouth bubbler and then it opens you up to doing EM (Extended Macerations) which REALLY help your wine out. In fact here is the link below...

askins I did a hot pressed Walker juice bucket of Noriet with 3 flats of Chilean Cabernet grapes and my significant other says its one of the best tasting whines I've ever made and its only about 6 months old. My guess is since Walker is using grapes from their own vineyard the quality is alot...

Yea 15 gallons is way too big for 3 or 4 flats of grapes. 6 gallon is too small. Need 7 and 8 gallon options.

VC carboy?

Really John? Well then I'll be doing the same. THANKS

Been trying to move on from 5 gallon glass carboys, I only do quality kits and all grape wines now. For example when i do 3 lugs of grapes this gives me around 7 gallons of juice after pressing and secondary. I'd like to store it for 6 months before barreling it so I'd like to get some Spiedel...

oh ok thanks Fred. I noticed a little oak taste, so I'm gonna let in another month. Then next batch 10 weeks, then 12 weeks for the next batch. I think 12 weeks is the limit for this small barrel even after its neutral

My first barrel "top off" with the 30l I picked up from Fred at our barrel meet up, wells its working! I had to add nearly a whole bottle of wine which is a great evaporation rate. another month then filter-bottle and bottle age for a year

I really over-oaked my 2016 Mixed Black all grape. So I just let it age in the bottle for a year and the oak was gone, it was the wine i brought to our barrel meet up and they can confirm this. I always shoot for "over-oak" now anyways since I'm usually bottle aging for a year anyway

I got one of their Noriet hot pressed juice jugs last year because it was Noriet, a hybrid I wanted to try. Since it was chilean season I added 3 lugs of Cabernet grapes (56lbs) and the stuff is fantastic. Compared to a commercial buckey + grapes its not even close. I plan on making more of this...

Its why I stopped doing juice buckets, they way they are made they are usually thin and tasteless. I actually think a cheap kit makes a better wine if you make it like some threads here tell you how to. BTW I must give you one exception, I was at a LHBS upstate and they had juice jugs from...

Just did 3 lugs of Petit Syrah, I split them between two fermenters and hit them each with a packet of Cellar Science yeast. Also put heat belts on them. I went to add some nutrient after 3 days and it was done lol. I let it sit on the skins for another few days. I also co-innoculated with C-16...