Damn addictive hobby :)

[OhCrap]

I was out in the garage yesterday checking gravities and generally listening to bubbling sounds when it just dawned on my...I'm hooked.
I started with beer from a kit...this escalated very quickly to all grain setup, I then made my first wine kit in February 2014 which I left to bulk age for 12 months.
My 5 min checks now take much longer.
I've got 6 gals KR showcase Shiraz, 5l rhubarb, 15L dragon blood, 5 gals light lager, 6 gals black lager, 2x5l cider and 2x20l kegs of red diesel ale....
And this week there's more rhubarb wine and a stout being made. The mother in law is always telling me how the elderberries are doing and my own plum and apple trees are doing great... As the title says damn addictive hobby
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[salcoco]

wait until you have a 1000 bottles in you wine cellar and you are still making wine before you say it is addictive!!!!!

 

[wine]

wait until you have a 1000 bottles in you wine cellar and you are still making wine before you say it is addictive!!!!!

that does not take long ,,,,,, I make very little and I have well over 200

 

[JohnT]

Wait until you...

- have sold all of your 5 gal carboys in order to purchase 54 liter demijohns.

- have then sold most all of your demijohns in order to purchase stainless steel tanks.

- then have all of your stainless steel tanks filled and contemplate the purchase of another,

- have begun to purchase your corks in blocks of 5,000,

- have "a guy" who you deal with just for toasted oak. Nothing else, just oak.

- and have begun using the winemaker's calendar or singing wine carols ... "It's beginning to look a lot like crush day, all around the town"....


... before you say its addictive.

 

[cmason1957]

Wait until you have about 30 carboys, most of them with bulk aging wine. And plans for what to do with any remaining ones. Trying to convince your wife you NNNNNEEEEEDDDD a stainless steel tank, for those 15 gallons of chambourcin you want to make.

Your kids (parents, friends, casual acquantainces) come over to see you and always take home a case of wine.

You make sweet wine which you never drink, just so you have something to give away that you don't care about (think skeeter pee, sweet wine drinkers seem to love it).

You join wine clubs to get cheaper entries into competitions and you come out ahead.

I always say, never, ever, ever get those carboys wet, I think that is how they multiply.

 

[pgentile]

Looks like I'm a year behind you Ohcrap time-wise, only up to 9 carboys 2-7gl 7-5gl most with bulk aging wines of various types. Just brewed an Oatmeal stout yesterday. I can see me getting to 30+ carboys and have to be honest I have eyed up demijohns already. But will it really lead to wanting stainless steel tanks? Damn..... I'm going to need a bigger basement.

 

[JohnT]

Looks like I'm a year behind you Ohcrap time-wise, only up to 9 carboys 2-7gl 7-5gl most with bulk aging wines of various types. Just brewed an Oatmeal stout yesterday. I can see me getting to 30+ carboys and have to be honest I have eyed up demijohns already. But will it really lead to wanting stainless steel tanks? Damn..... I'm going to need a bigger basement.

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to fitting tanks... When in doubt, use a chainsaw... lol

 

[bsassy2]

It is very addictive. We started last November and already have close to 25 carboys ranging in size from 3 gallons to 6 1/2 gallons plus lots of 1 gallon jugs. Every one of the batches are different, no two alike. And we still are planning on what to make next. Just have to wait a few more weeks until we get some empty carboys. Just don't get those carboys wet.

 

[Angelina]

I can attest, all the above are by no means exaggerating! I have 25+ 6 gallon carboys, some 6.5 carboys and some 5 gallon, dozen or so of gallon and of half gallon jugs. Some how I still never have a available carboy!

I share it every chance I get, I've thought about having a huge party just so I could deplete my stock and make more.

I have attempted to count the bottles in my wine cellar twice but I keep losing count, my best guess is 700+ since this is where I give up. I would be more than happy to give some lucky person a few cases to help me do some inventory.

 

[heatherd]

It's a really rewarding hobby.... I type while sipping homemade Chenin Blanc (juice pail), whilst my 330+/- bottles of wine in the basement age in their bottles. I have Amarone (kit), South African pinotage (grapes), and Carmenere (grapes+juice pail) are in various stages of fermentation and bulk aging. Plus I have three limited edition kits on deck and a pre-ordered raspberry mocha port. And I am sure I'll make 2-3 batches in the fall harvest....
Heather

 

[hounddawg]

I use to think I had a problem till I read these post
now I know I'm just a twisted puppy compared to you-ins.
thank god that was close,
38 gallon bulk aging
elderberry,
blackberry.
strawberry.
an a blend of granny smith;s and pear wirh a touch of crabapple in it.
just got 2 more 6 gallon glass carboy's in yesterday, wont even try to count gallon an half gallon jugs,,
an 2 more 6-1/2 on the way, 4 14 gallon fermenters,
I think ill go up to 30 gallon fermenters,
but hair I'm still sane afer reading about ya'lls addiction,,,
just a fluffy little pup I is,,,,,

 

[CheerfulHeart]

My husband encourages me in my pursuit but is grumping because I have 3 carboys going. LOL He wants to know what we are going to do with the 75 potential bottles of wine, since there are just two of us and very few of our friends are winedrinkers. Any suggestions? LOL

 

[ou8amaus]

For many years I had 2 carboys which kept me well supplied with kit beers (the gateway drug for home fermenting)... then one day I made the mistake of deciding I wanted to try something more "challenging"... a wine kit. I remember at the time thinking "but this is so much more expensive, why would anyone...". Then the carboys started to multiply (keep them in wet, dark places, you'll see...). Many years later, and the hobby has become a major part of my life (not in an intervention way), between working on production in the garage, following the threads here, reading magazines, researching and discovering new recipes, processes, tools, etc. Addictive? Yes. And so much more.

 

[bsassy2]

Cheerfulheart, figure out how many bottles you go through in a week, and if you are like us, we found out that the bottles went faster than what we thought they would. You also have to figure how long the next batch will take before you can drink it. Also, variety is the spice of life.

 

[wine]

just cause you bottle 75 does not mean you have to set down and drink 75 in 75 days ,,,, they may get better with age ,,, I made more then we would drink but now every thing but the wine is taking ALL my time ,,, so nothing much was been made for a year ,,,,, I have made 2 gal this spring , and just started 2 1/2 gal 5 weeks ago ... we drink may be 3 bottles in 1 or 2 months , yes we have some in the basement ,,, what I am saying is you make a few more then you drink this year but all at once you make none ,, cause life takes over ,,, it may even out ,,,,.... life told me 3 weeks ago no wine will be made till maybe aug or nov

 

[Dhaynes]

It is comforting to know that I am in such good company. Also makes me feel more normal knowing there are others who got it way worse than me We've got about 350 bottles put up and another 300 or so worth bulk aging that we had intended to bottle before last Christmas. I know you understand. These are all from kits except for a batch each of skeeter pee and dragons blood. If we keep going we are going to have to move to a bigger house or convert the garage to a winery/ wine cellar. To combat this we have tried to make few kits but buy more expensive kits thinking that would slow us down. We now have 8 Eclipse kits waiting to be made. I don't think it is working

 

[wineforfun]

My husband encourages me in my pursuit but is grumping because I have 3 carboys going. LOL He wants to know what we are going to do with the 75 potential bottles of wine, since there are just two of us and very few of our friends are winedrinkers. Any suggestions? LOL

Give a lot of them away to the friends that are wine drinkers or possibly some co-workers(if that applies).

You are in a similar situation to myself. My wife and I only drink 1-2 bottles per week. I have 100+ bottles on racks now. I have slowed down the "making". I only make 1-2gal. batches(unless I get a kit which isn't often) so at least I don't have 25-30 bottles of the same type to deal with.

I have now ventured into coffee and roasting coffee beans, so that has taken some of my energy away from wine. At least with coffee, I can drink it everyday and not end up in a place saying, "Hi, my name is D.J.".

 

[the_rayway]

I started just over 3 years ago, and the addiction happened fast. I've slowed down a little bit over the last year and have been focusing on 1 gallon experimental batches. However, I just splurged and have a good 5 (6?) kits that need to get started. I have a solid 250 bottles on the racks at all times, and get a bit nervous if a case is empty on the shelves

Right now I've got another 29-ish gallons bulk aging, plus the 5 un-started kits. That's another 324 bottles waiting to happen. I give a lot away, and we host shindigs pretty often where I break out a few cases for general consumption. My husband and I probably go through only 2ish bottles a week.

(sometimes he finds me downstairs in the dark muttering "my precious" and petting bottles...but we don't talk about that)

 

[wineforfun]

(sometimes he finds me downstairs in the dark muttering "my precious" and petting bottles...but we don't talk about that)

haha
That is awesome.

 

[Thig]

wait until you have a 1000 bottles in you wine cellar and you are still making wine before you say it is addictive!!!!!

I have over 700 so I am on the way, I keep telling myself when I hit 1000 I am going to stop. But I said when I hit 500 I was going to stop and you see what happened.