The funny part of this is that it's simple truth.
First batch nerves
- Thread starter Dwerth
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
Oh I know it will be even more amusing later on, but for someone who started just last month"Addictive" sounds negative. I like to think I have an enthusiastic passion for the hobby.
And you've doubled the number of 1 gal bottles? Some day you'll think that's funny.
I fully expect to start getting some bigger carboys and fermenters for next winter. This spring I am hoping to plant some hardy vines for our area - Brianna and Marquette to start.
Gallon jugs?
. “Carboy” only counts if you’re in danger of throwing out your back when lifting it . Says the man with 11 of them
In the basement
… I started in 2020 with 3! Danger this way lies!
Considering I have thrown my back out sometimes by turning left...Gallon jugs?
Says the man with 11 of them
In the basement
Danger this way lies!
But yeah, I have a long way to go, and many glasses to drink on the way there.
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4,312
- Reaction score
- 5,819
I'm running close to 30- 6 gal, 3- 6.5 gal, 2- 5 gal, 1- 3 gal, 12-1 gal, 12- half gal. 12 - pints, not counting stainless steel from 15.5 to 5 gal. fermenters from 14 gal, 30 gal, 60 gal, of course i do a lot of bulk aging, but soon, very soon, you'll never knew what hit you, hehe, to late
Dawg
Dawg
I know what you mean, Dawg. I think their gestation period is similar to that of rabbits.
Since I appreciate the outcomes provided by bulk aging, I fully expect that I will be needing to build a shop/winery in a few years to allow for more space.
Last edited:
Yup, doomed .......
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4,312
- Reaction score
- 5,819
at least you will enjoy, i have so many carboys for bulk aging, one day i had a 375ml bottle now i've thrown out a complete bedroom suite, it helps i am single, it really dose, my 3 bedroom, 1 bedroom for me, 1 bedroom now toolroom, and lastly , 1 bedroom now wine room, complete with commercial 3 basin stainless steel sink, 8 foot stainless prep table, way, way to many carboys, topping off jugs, stainless steel 15.5 gallon kegs/carboys and 5 gal ss kegs/carboys, when i can back after 30 plus years, i started with 4 plastic carboys and and 3-6 gal Italian glass carboys and one 6.5 Italian glass carboy, handpump racking canes, NEVER EVER LET A CARBOY GET WET, lol
as @winemaker81 stated, YOU ARE DOOMED,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Dawg
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4,312
- Reaction score
- 5,819
KEEP IN MIND your jugs from thumb hole 1 gal, 1/2 gall, pints order with 38-400 threads that way all will use a 6.5 drilled bung, your carboys all but 6.5 will use a small universal bung which when flipped upside down will then airlock your 750ml wine bottles and your 375ml wine bottles , and your 6.5 Italian carboy will use that same 6.5 drilled bung, and a number 3 drilled bung will allow you to to airlock wine bottles, hey i got over 100 drilled bungs from 12.5 down to 3, now they are stored, i keep out my small universal drilled bungs, 6.5 drilled bungs, so much simpler, than tons of drilled bungs, having to hunt and sort through,
Dawg
@Dwerth, all jokes aside, now is the time for you to do some serious planning.
How much wine do you need? We are always making wine for the future. For me, a short term wine is bottled at 4 months and drinking as early as 5 months. Medium term is bottling at 6 to 12 months, and drinking a month later. My heavy reds are not regularly drunk until 1.5 to 2 years old. I make a wide variety of styles because I don't want the same wine every night.
Some folks make all short term wines. Others make all long term wines. Figure out what works for you. Also -- what you need today may not be what you need a month or year from now. Feel free to change your mind and alter plans.
Another critical factor is the amount of winemaking area you have? Everything you buy, you need to store, regardless if it's in use. It's better to think first than ask yourself, "Where the $&#* am I going to put this?"
Lastly, but most importantly, where are you going to put the wine you've bottled? Note that you need to store the empty bottles before bottling, the full bottles after bottling, plus the empty bottles for the following batches ...
One of my original mentors bottled in gallon jugs. First time in his cellar we walked down a dim hallway. I was most of the way through to the hallway to the winemaking area before I realized the walls were comprised for 4-count boxes of gallon jugs, stacked on both sides up to the 8' high floor joists of his house. I've never seen an individual with that much wine.
He purchased 1,500 lbs of grapes each fall, white one year and red the next. All were fermented like reds (on the skins), and he always made a second run. IIRC, he had two 60 gallon barrels for reds, one of red second run, and an equal number for whites. Reds and whites were bottled when the new reds were purchased, e.g., whites were bottled after 1 year and the barrels filled with holding solution, while reds were bottled after 2 years. Serious wow.
We have members who make this much or more, but until you've seen it yourself, it's honestly hard to believe.
When he needed wine, he'd open a jug and decant into 4 quart bottles. He took a quart to work every day, and he and his wife split a bottle over dinner.
How much wine do you need? We are always making wine for the future. For me, a short term wine is bottled at 4 months and drinking as early as 5 months. Medium term is bottling at 6 to 12 months, and drinking a month later. My heavy reds are not regularly drunk until 1.5 to 2 years old. I make a wide variety of styles because I don't want the same wine every night.
Some folks make all short term wines. Others make all long term wines. Figure out what works for you. Also -- what you need today may not be what you need a month or year from now. Feel free to change your mind and alter plans.
Another critical factor is the amount of winemaking area you have? Everything you buy, you need to store, regardless if it's in use. It's better to think first than ask yourself, "Where the $&#* am I going to put this?"
Lastly, but most importantly, where are you going to put the wine you've bottled? Note that you need to store the empty bottles before bottling, the full bottles after bottling, plus the empty bottles for the following batches ...
One of my original mentors bottled in gallon jugs. First time in his cellar we walked down a dim hallway. I was most of the way through to the hallway to the winemaking area before I realized the walls were comprised for 4-count boxes of gallon jugs, stacked on both sides up to the 8' high floor joists of his house. I've never seen an individual with that much wine.
He purchased 1,500 lbs of grapes each fall, white one year and red the next. All were fermented like reds (on the skins), and he always made a second run. IIRC, he had two 60 gallon barrels for reds, one of red second run, and an equal number for whites. Reds and whites were bottled when the new reds were purchased, e.g., whites were bottled after 1 year and the barrels filled with holding solution, while reds were bottled after 2 years. Serious wow.
We have members who make this much or more, but until you've seen it yourself, it's honestly hard to believe.
When he needed wine, he'd open a jug and decant into 4 quart bottles. He took a quart to work every day, and he and his wife split a bottle over dinner.
Last edited:
@Dwerth, you might find this thread interesting:
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/how-much-wine-do-you-make.75817/
Nearly 60% of the members responding make between 26 and 75 US gallons per year.
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/how-much-wine-do-you-make.75817/
Nearly 60% of the members responding make between 26 and 75 US gallons per year.
@winemaker81
I greatly appreciate the comment, as it allows me to do more long term planning. We have a large home (long Wyoming winters stuck inside) with plenty of space for cellaring. I honestly need to build a shop for the tractor in a few years to get it out of the garage. So if I do proper prior planning, I can have a micro winery with plenty of cellar space. Maybe even an attached sun room to enjoy a glass or two.
I greatly appreciate the comment, as it allows me to do more long term planning. We have a large home (long Wyoming winters stuck inside) with plenty of space for cellaring. I honestly need to build a shop for the tractor in a few years to get it out of the garage. So if I do proper prior planning, I can have a micro winery with plenty of cellar space. Maybe even an attached sun room to enjoy a glass or two.
Why do you always want to spoil all the fun! Running around with your hair on fire because you can’t scrounge up enough bottles, or trying to find another place to stash a carboy, has a clarifying effect on the mind!
Add some spin...how about "blessed"?
I think if I drank wine with you I'd be blessed AND doomed.Spend some time drinking wine with me ... you'll understand "doomed" FAR better!!!
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4,312
- Reaction score
- 5,819
HEHE my eye opener was a massive old house on a rock foundation , at the opening was gallon jugs of elderberry, then you went along the wall to the next rock marking the 2 year old elderberry all the was round to that opening, , a life time spent well.
Dawg
Now my sister in law and mother in law found out about my new hobby...and both put in requests for Christmas! Oh whatever shall I do?
*Quickly goes off to order some ingredients and a few other bits*
*Quickly goes off to order some ingredients and a few other bits*
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4,312
- Reaction score
- 5,819
WOW i just looked up my family ,Now my sister in law and mother in law found out about my new hobby...and both put in requests for Christmas! Oh whatever shall I do?
*Quickly goes off to order some ingredients and a few other bits*
tree chart, we go back 3706 years BC, i am a needy type person, we are serious kinfolk going back before the recorded of time, it is time we break bread, and swill meadSimilar threads
