Amount of wine being made vs. suggested equipment

[NorCal]

I had a fellow local winemaker ask me what equipment I would suggest he get as he is increasing the amount of wine he is making this year.

I thought it was a good question and put together this matrix of what I would do. Would you suggest anything different?

 

[mainshipfred]

Well thought out, the only thing I may add is:
It depends on if they are making that quantity of a single variety or a combination of different wines. With multiple wines the fermentation vessels might change. I make about 80-100 gallons a year but with batches of 20 gallons or so and using multiple yeasts my vessels are much smaller.

 

[Boatboy24]

Only thing I might change is to remove the hand corker completely. LOL!

Agree with Fred in that it depends on how many varietals you're looking at. I would use this chart assuming it is your total output, from a single varietal. And I think it's very good for that. If doing multiple varietals, YMMV. Each fall, I tend to do the 5/100 (mine is more like 7/120) column, but for 4-5 different varietals. In that scenario, the floor corker, an All-in-One and a small press are definitely worthwhile investments.

 

[NorCal]

My expanded wine making tool chest is comprised of:
Transport: macro bins, brutes
Destem/crush: electric with rubber gears and new sorting line
Ferment: macro bin, brutes, 55 gallon wineasy
Press: vacuum wineasy
Storage: Spiedels, carboys, barrels in an air conditioned wine box
Pump: 120v pump with filter
Bottling: modified AIO with a SS filler head
Labeling: laser label aligner
Chemicals: Vinmetrica 300

 

[BarrelMonkey]

This is useful, thanks!

I've made wine with my neighbor for the past few years - 1 ton of grapes, single varietal. We used 1/2T macro bins for transportation and as primary fermenters, in agreement with the 60gal/950lb column in the table.

But we destem/crush using a manual hand crank machine... It is definitely physical work, but very manageable if you have a crew of a few people. (Which raises the question - does the table assume a solo operation, or a group effort?) If I already had a manual destemmer/crusher for 100/250lb scale, I'm not sure I'd invest in an electric model until/unless I was making wine with 1T grapes or greater

It might be nice to specify how big a press is usable/optimal at each scale. For 1/2T grapes I think you can expect ~40gal/150L must solids? - so 2 cycles of an 80L press, 4 cycles of a 40L press etc.

 

[Ajmassa]

demijohns. the black sheep of wine storage

 

[hounddawg]

well if they do any sweet dessert wines then I'd add me for storage and taste control
Dawg
PS
sorry,,, but most all,, if not all of yawl know,, I'm not right in the head,,,
BTW,,, I lied about being sorry

 

[mainshipfred]

demijohns. the black sheep of wine storage

They scare the crap out of me. I know they have been used for years and I have 2 of them that I used as decorations. I just can't get past how thin the glass is.

 

[Ajmassa]

They scare the crap out of me. I know they have been used for years and I have 2 of them that I used as decorations. I just can't get past how thin the glass is.

i started using them just because that’s what my dad had. they beasts tho. stronger than you’d think.
around 350lbs of grapes gives me a demi and a carboy along with a small batch of rosé if i want. and a 50L 1/4 barrel compliments the demi perfectly. and still got the extra carboy to use for topping or blending w others. that amount is just about my threshold for working solo and has become my comfort zone.

they’re heavy af but i really never have to move them. i vacuum rack up from the press bucket/brute. and i have a rolling metal cart just about the height of my counters that i typically use for later racking side by side.

 

[winemaker81]

This is an excellent list, a good place to start for home winemakers. The simplicity is very helpful in understanding it.

My feedback is there are more items to add to some boxes.

Containers? My grapes arrive at the pickup site in 36 lb lugs. I transport crushed grapes home in 32 gallon Brutes, each containing 4 or 5 lugs. Two guys can lift this off the truck. I purchased large, so 20 gallon Brutes would work.

Crush/Destem? Looks good.

Container to Ferment? I agree with previous posters that it depends on batch size. I use 32 gallon brutes with 4 or 5 lugs in each, for manageability. I could easily put 10 lugs in each without a problem, although moving them becomes a problem. However, for the batches I'm making, 20 gallon Brutes are sufficient.

Press? Spot on.

Aging? Barrels and demijohns are good choices. I have a 54 liter demijohn and I agree, the thinness of the glass is scary. But it works. Barrels make sense for any batch of 5 gallons or greater.

Transfer? I used gravity until last fall. An electric pump was a great purchase. This is spot on.

Bottling? Fully agreed on floor corkers; once someone uses one, they won't go back. In addition to vacuum fill, an electric filler is a good choice.

 

[balatonwine]

They scare the crap out of me. I know they have been used for years and I have 2 of them that I used as decorations. I just can't get past how thin the glass is.

My demijohns glass is 1 cm thick. I for one do not consider that thin**. And glass is an actually very strong material. Properly tempered, ridiculously strong. Yes, it can be brittle (or not -- depends on tempering and stresses applied), but still very strong when applied in the correct way to the task at hand. Wonkish link:

http://www.glassproperties.com/references/MechPropHandouts.pdf
** Any thinner, and you may simply have a product from an unreliable manufacturer. Don't blame the demijohn, blame your source.

 

[balatonwine]

Regarding bottling. Even at large volumes, one does not need a pump to bottle. In fact a pump may be slower than say a spout bottle filler:

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Regarding bottling. Even at large volumes, one does not need a pump to bottle. In fact a pump may be slower than say a spout bottle filler:

Is that gravity operated? (My previous bottling experience has been the low tech version, where you have a Brute filled with wine on a box on top of your bottling table, with 2 siphons (one on each side) connected to bottle filling canes. One person loading bottles onto the table, two people filling, one or two people topping and one corking (and if you have enough friends, one packing boxes )

 

[hounddawg]

Regarding bottling. Even at large volumes, one does not need a pump to bottle. In fact a pump may be slower than say a spout bottle filler:

no that is right, but when ones disability is severe enough, then a vac pump is great,
Dawg

 

[balatonwine]

Is that gravity operated?

Yes it is gravity operated, that is why I said one does not need a pump. It has an internal float to regulate the flow.

That is just one example. If you need faster filling, here is a 5 spout model:

https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bottle-Filler-Deluxe-Spout/dp/B074D9MFFW

 

[winemaker81]

Regarding bottling. Even at large volumes, one does not need a pump to bottle. In fact a pump may be slower than say a spout bottle filler:

I've checked out various 2 and 3 spout units. Most get really bad reviews, typically on poor construction.

Conversely, the one @balatonwine pointed out looks really good ... if you're in the UK. I didn't see an option to ship to the USA, although if I did, the price is probably steep.

 

[balatonwine]

Conversely, the one @balatonwine pointed out looks really good ... if you're in the UK. I didn't see an option to ship to the USA, although if I did, the price is probably steep.

This is the product page:

https://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catal...-and-Bag-filling/2-Nozzle-Bottle-Filler-96375
And this is their world wide shipping info page. One must contact them for shipping prices to North America.

https://www.vigopresses.co.uk/AdditionalDepartments/Useful-Information/Delivery