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Jealous, been looking for 2 gal carboys for years. Nice find! Only had to travel half way around the world to pick it up.

I recently acquired some old carboys from an ex brewer. I got most of them clean with the usual dose of PBW and drill-attached rotating cleaning pads. The water smelled like piss, but the PBW did the job and the glass is clear. However, two of the carboys still have a hazy cloud that does not...

My plans this year are mostly based on availability of grapes. I know that I can get high quality of the following, so going with a few safe options. Malbec / Cab Sauv (80/20) = 17 gal (84 bottles) Zinfindel / Petit Syrah (80/15) = 17 gal (84 bottles) Merlot / Cab Franc (80/20) = 21 gal (108...

Very nice write up and tasting notes. I just did something similar with my Montepulciano 2022 and Petit Verdot 2023. The Montepulciano had great acidity and nose, but honestly lacked body. I actually had in bottle, but sat in my basement b/c I was not happy with the thinness of the wine. I...

Thanks for sharing your Red Blends. They all look like they would be good. Have you settled on these for your baseline or are you still experimenting with these? Are you trying to avoid +75% Blends or just following your stylistic preferences? Do you feel like more components in your blend...

Are you making these as stand alone varieties or do you have a plan for blending these?

I put pillow cases on my carboys, which are also on dollies. Well, the last one that I had break, the pillow case wrapped around the wheel of the dolly when I was moving it and pulled the carboy to the cement. Of course it was my best wine that year. Took over 4 hours to clean up. Not quit...

What wine did you make for your last batch? As far as experiments this year, Im thinking about a 80 malbec / 20 cab blend, a 80 zinfandel / 20 merlot, 80 merlot / 20 cab franc blend, 80 cab franc / 20 alicante bouschet. Nothing set in stone yet.

Thanks Joe. Here are a few more photos of my setup.

Smart! I have a small home operation, but look at it in a similar way. I doubt that Ill ever go commercial, discovered winemaking too late in my career. If my kids ever take interest then Id be all in. For now, just trying to make the best wine from the best grapes that I can get. At a...

Made just over 50 gal last year. Thats typically what I do in the fall. But sometimes I’ll do several fruit wines in the summer of similar volume. Im also thinking about an Argentine Malbec this year in the spring. Blends from last year currently in barrels. Tried a few blends from members...

5-gal ea - purchased these from More Wine last fall they were $50 off / ea on Black Friday. Wasn’t what I originally wanted, but fit my space well. Very pleased with the quality, just needed a larger bung hole for cleaning, etc.

I used a vinocolor from morlet family vinyards, which is a pigment extracted from freeze dried grapes (organic material removed) and everything is coated with sullivans mildewcide (2 coats) from barrel builders. The mildewcide allows the barrel to breathe. I found it necessary to coat the...

Since I enlarged the bung hole, I wanted to cauterized the edges with a soldering torch. I made a temporary sheet metal shield to protect the outside face of the barrel from the flame so that I could just hit the inside edges without charing the face of the barrel. Safety precaution: when...

Finally got most of my barrels operational. Wanted to share my process for increasing the bung hole diameter. Made a wood jig, then used a 45mm hole saw, which perfectly fits a #10 rubber bung. Torched the edges using a sheet metal shield with the same diameter. To prep the barrels, I used...

Well said. Im looking forward to seeing the judges comments. Hoping to gain some insight for how to improve.

Congrats! I also entered for the first time this year and took home a Bronze for a Malbec that made. Feels good to be recognized after all the hard work. Hope you still have some of those award winning bottles.

Thanks for posting these. Really useful information for someone new to barrels. I did a couple of 'fixes' to mine that I'll share soon, once I get them in service.

As long as your in the standard TA range, its more about the flavor. I usually check TA just to see if I have a big problem. If so, i’ll correct the acid right away. Otherwise, if its close to what I was expecting (depending on the fruit) then, i may do a bench trial, now or later, with...

All seems good. You’ll know if it gets stuck, must will be flat with no activity. Sounds like you have good nutrients. Temp would be the only concern. If it slows prematurely, add a little heat back. But, I'd let it roll at the lower temp to retain more of the strawberry smell. Be sure to...