Building up a stock

[Cosyden]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and have started my first ever country wine just last week. To start with I followed a recipe which made an (I imperial) gallon. Pretty much immediately after pitching the yeast I got thinking that it will probably be Christmas before I’m enjoying this wine. I then got thinking that I would need to make at least a gallon a week to keep up with our usual drinking habits, but that would mean a tonne of equipment, space etc.
My question is, when you all started out, how did you build up a stock? Did you use a kit or are there some really fast country wine recipes worth doing?

 

[Jovimaple]

Search the Skeeter Pee and Dragonblood threads. Those are quick drinking (and cheap!) wines that can be enjoyed very soon after bottling.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

One observation many of us have had is that making 1 batch of 6 gallons (probably 5 Imperial for you), is no more work than making 1 gallon batches.

 

[Cosyden]

Search the Skeeter Pee and Dragonblood threads. Those are quick drinking (and cheap!) wines that can be enjoyed very soon after bottling.

Spot on, thanks. I was planning on doing a mixed berry using frozen fruit. Looks like what I was imagining is very close to dragonblood.

 

[Cosyden]

Welcome to WMT!

One observation many of us have had is that making 1 batch of 6 gallons (probably 5 Imperial for you), is no more work than making 1 gallon batches.

That makes total sense. I’ll have a think about how I can achieve that with the equipment I’ve got. Thanks

 

[ChuckD]

Welcome to WMT.

I dove in with both feet when I started. there are now 27 gallons in the cellar that will be bottled this summer. Country wines and hard lemon. To scale up A new brute trash can and a few large carboys are the major purchases. I have found good deals on used equipment.

 

[Ohio Bob]

From the sound of it, you already need to buy a few more fermenters, carboys, etc.

 

[Cosyden]

Welcome to WMT.

I dove in with both feet when I started. there are now 27 gallons in the cellar that will be bottled this summer. Country wines and hard lemon. To scale up A new brute trash can and a few large carboys are the major purchases. I have found good deals on used equipment.

27 gallons? That’s some amount to have sitting about Chuck! I’d have to discipline my self or my liver would be getting a workout.

 

[BigDaveK]

Welcome!
Ah, yes. Last year I started this hobby with a gallon. After 2 weeks it was 3. After 4 weeks it was 13. And then my gallon jugs grew up to 3 and 5 gallon carboys.
Definitely check out skeeter pee and dragon blood. You can have something pretty darn good in possibly less than a month. It relieves a lot of stress for sure.

 

[ChuckD]

Like you, I’m trying to build up stock! I have several three and five gallon batches. wild grape (foraged), wild elderberry (foraged), apple (local orchard), beet (garden), and hard lemon from concentrate. I’ll be bottling the apple and hard lemon. The rest will be bulk aging until this fall at least.

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!

27 gallons? That’s some amount to have sitting about Chuck! I’d have to discipline my self or my liver would be getting a workout.

You'll be surprised at the amount some folks make. In the USA the head of household can make up to 200 US gallons per year for personal consumption, and a fair number of folks on this forum do that.

Keep in mind that at all times, you're making for the future. I make a variety of wine styles, some of which are good at 6 months, others of which need years of aging. This gives me a stock of wine to drink now, while allowing other wines to age.

My suggestion is to make more wine than you think you need. Most wines are good for at least 2 to 3 years, so if you over-produce, you have time to let your liver get used to the new reality.

 

[Cosyden]

That’s interesting stuff.
I don’t think there is a limit in the UK but if you try to sell any without paying the duty there’s likely to be a big fine or jail time.

 

[Scooter68]

Welcome to WMT!


You'll be surprised at the amount some folks make. In the USA the head of household can make up to 200 US gallons per year for personal consumption, and a fair number of folks on this forum do that.

Keep in mind that at all times, you're making for the future. I make a variety of wine styles, some of which are good at 6 months, others of which need years of aging. This gives me a stock of wine to drink now, while allowing other wines to age.

My suggestion is to make more wine than you think you need. Most wines are good for at least 2 to 3 years, so if you over-produce, you have time to let your liver get used to the new reality.

Actually that 200 gallon limit is a federal limit but a few states have lower limits. (Alabama limits to 15 gallons per quarter) In general yes, a household with 2 or more adults can make./have 200 gallons on hand of homemade wine. (That's 1,000 bottles) should keep most foks well stocked.