All You Need to Get Started!

[hounddawg]

I have enough wine bottles saved up for my 3-5 gallon batches but am interested in a couple more 3 gallon carboys.. I think if I bought a 5-6 gal kit I might go with two 3-gal carboys in case I need to move them - heavy!. Would you mind sharing the best link for carboys? You guys are trouble! Now I’m reignited and shopping again! But love it.

just buy enough to get the free shipping, they alsr have carboy stirrers and several more things, Packaging Options Direct | Wholesale Packaging & Containers
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

and wine bottles and more www.homebrewohio.com
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

$26.99 for each 3 gallon carboy, I have both italian carboys and premium italian carboys, and both are great, but the premium are the very best i can find, it's been awhile since i bought any so i am not sure of the shipping , i just looked, but i did not dig deep. the all use a small universal drilled bung, or a drilled 6.5 bung any extra bottles for extra topping off i use pints, quarts, half gallon and gallons all with 38-400 threads i think, , dang skeeter pee port got my brain slipping it's clutch,,, lol it is 38-400 thread, that way one size will do your carboys and extra jugs to boot,,
Dawg

 

[amorgan]

$26.99 for each 3 gallon carboy, I have both italian carboys and premium italian carboys, and both are great, but the premium are the very best i can find, it's been awhile since i bought any so i am not sure of the shipping , i just looked, but i did not dig deep. the all use a small universal drilled bung, or a drilled 6.5 bung any extra bottles for extra topping off i use pints, quarts, half gallon and gallons all with 38-400 threads i think, it might be a 33-400 thread, will have to look, dang skeeter pee port got my brain slipping it's clutch,,, lol
Dawg

I might have to try a skeeter pee! Do you think there’s any reason I’d regret using two 3 gal carboys for a 6 gal kit? How do you move a full 6 gal carboy?! Thx for all the info.

 

[hounddawg]

no 2#-3's are fine, as for bigger carboys, i use a pump from @vacuumpumpman . i pull the hoses of and replace them with 14 foot tubing, i can rack or bottle any where in the spare bedroom, , if you have more space the just cut longer lines, i buy mine in 100 foot rolls off tubing, when is K-meta, pump my lines dry, afterward i yet again pump my lines full of clean K-meta,,, i make a few gallon of K-meta and pump it till all lines are full of K-meta, so the next time i am ready to use my pump,,, i wash my carboys with K-meta, then you put a baggie or i have small exam gloves, so next time my carboys are ready, once you get ust to cleaning your equipment, and storing it with K-meta solution ,, you wont believe it really is to do, all; i move are empty,,,
Dawg,

 

[Jovimaple]

I might have to try a skeeter pee! Do you think there’s any reason I’d regret using two 3 gal carboys for a 6 gal kit? How do you move a full 6 gal carboy?! Thx for all the info.

That's what I do - split the 6 gallon into two 3s. I usually just eyeball the finishing packets that come with the kit to split them between the 2 carboys, although you could measure to be exact.

 

[Fencepost]

I have enough wine bottles saved up for my 3-5 gallon batches but am interested in a couple more 3 gallon carboys.. I think if I bought a 5-6 gal kit I might go with two 3-gal carboys in case I need to move them - heavy!. Would you mind sharing the best link for carboys? You guys are trouble! Now I’m reignited and shopping again! But love it.

amorgan, That the direction I have migrated moving to 3 gallon carboys vs 5 or 6 gal just due to ease of moving around... 2 3's will do a 6 kit (after ferment). Getting older and harder to lift the heavyweights and don't want to drop one like that! Working out fine so far. Packing Options Direct... $27/each.

https://packagingoptionsdirect.com/...p3QQ2grMTjgplUPeyY8aAmUkEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[amorgan]

Yes, welcome from one of the girls. Strawberry is a nice starter wine. Don’t let a plethora of information overwhelm you. A lot of the folks are well versed in chemistry and get deep in the testing and numbers. You can make good wine with very little testing especially with something like strawberry or a kit.

Some strawberry kits come with sugar and some sites just sell the concentrate. Does strawberry wine require addition of sugar? Thanks!

 

[winemaker81]

and wine bottles and more www.homebrewohio.com

Another solution is to try local wineries -- some are happy to give away empties from the tasting room, as they don't have to pay to have them hauled away. Of course, this requires removing the labels. There are many tips for doing so -- search the Bottles, Labels, and Corks forum.

Bottles, Labels & Corks

I might have to try a skeeter pee! Do you think there’s any reason I’d regret using two 3 gal carboys for a 6 gal kit? How do you move a full 6 gal carboy?!

I second the idea of using a pump. While I can pick up full 6 gallon carboys, it's safer to not do it, and my back appreciates it when I don't do it.

Don't buy a cheap pump -- you're throwing money away. Also, read the instructions for priming (I much prefer ones requiring no priming) and for maintenance.

 

[VinesnBines]

Watch Craig's List for carboys. Three gallon are a little rare but you can probably find some if you are patient and diligent.

Strawberry wine does require some sugar to pump the specific gravity (sg) to 1.090. I've only used fresh or frozen strawberries so I can't tell about concentrate or kits. You do need to measure the sg with a hydrometer.

 

[winemaker81]

Watch Craig's List for carboys

Also Facebook Marketplace.

 

[hounddawg]

strawberry like most all country wines do take backsweetening to bring the flavor out, ,, you yeast will eat you sugar making alcohol, so yes you back sweeten to bring back your flavor ,,,,
Dawg

 

[ChuckD]

I came across a great deal on equipment on Craig’s List a couple moths ago. It included a Buon vino mini jet filter system. Can this unit be repurposed for use as a pump?

 

[meridaen]

I came across a great deal on equipment on Craig’s List a couple moths ago. It included a Buon vino mini jet filter system. Can this unit be repurposed for use as a pump?

Thinking the same thing myself as I can't seem to find All-in-one's in Australia. Like barrels they basically mustn't exist here.

 

[amorgan]

There is a built-in delay to this hobby. By the time you finish aging one batch, you have started many others. I didn't want dump my first batch, so I used it to practice bottling for the first time. By the time it was 1 year old I had started about 15 gallons of other experiments.



At the end of 2020 I made some cranberry orange wine from fresh cranberries and orange pulp/zest. That was a bit hit last Thanksgiving.

Do you have a recipe for the cranberry orange wine? That sounds amazing!

 

[Raptor99]

Here is what I used. This is a recipe for 1 gallon:
• 3 lbs. fresh cranberries (sorted, washed, frozen, thawed, chopped)
• Zest of 1-2 large naval oranges
• 1 lb. white sugar (initial sugar--see below)
• 1/2 lb. golden raisins (roughly chopped)
• 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
• 1/8 tsp tannin
• 1 campden tablet
• Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast, rehydrated in Go-Ferm
• Yeast nutrients of your choice according to SNA schedule

All the usual procedures and sanitizing. After 12-24 hours with the pectic enzyme, measure SG and pH and adjust accordingly. Note that the initial sugar is not enough. You will need to add more to reach the target SG. You might need to add a small amount of Potassium Carbonate to get the pH above 3.0. Yeast really don't like pH below 3.0.

Cranberry juice is a difficult environment for yeast, so you need to give your yeast every advantage. It works much better if you create a starter, and gradually add some must a little at a time until it is fermenting well. Search the forum for details on making a yeast starter.

 

[amorgan]

Here is what I used. This is a recipe for 1 gallon:
• 3 lbs. fresh cranberries (sorted, washed, frozen, thawed, chopped)
• Zest of 1-2 large naval oranges
• 1 lb. white sugar (initial sugar--see below)
• 1/2 lb. golden raisins (roughly chopped)
• 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
• 1/8 tsp tannin
• 1 campden tablet
• Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast, rehydrated in Go-Ferm
• Yeast nutrients of your choice according to SNA schedule

All the usual procedures and sanitizing. After 12-24 hours with the pectic enzyme, measure SG and pH and adjust accordingly. Note that the initial sugar is not enough. You will need to add more to reach the target SG. You might need to add a small amount of Potassium Carbonate to get the pH above 3.0. Yeast really don't like pH below 3.0.

Cranberry juice is a difficult environment for yeast, so you need to give your yeast every advantage. It works much better if you create a starter, and gradually add some must a little at a time until it is fermenting well. Search the forum for details on making a yeast starter.

Thanks so much. Only the zest of the oranges - no juice?

 

[Raptor99]

Thanks so much. Only the zest of the oranges - no juice?

That's right. The juice is acidic, and cranberries already have plenty of acid. Zest provides orange flavor w/o the acid.

 

[amorgan]

Nice - thanks.

 

[Darrell Hawley]

Do you have a recipe for the cranberry orange wine? That sounds amazing!

The other version is the "Clementine or Christmas wine", where the cranberries/orange are cooked.