Hello from west Texas

[Jericurl]

Just thought I would check in and say hi.

I finally registered last night. I've been stalking this forum for about a month.
I've been reading wine making books and websites for about a year now. Three months ago I bought a basic wine making equipment kit. I was rather paralyzed by all the choices and trying to decide how simple or how complicated I wanted my first batch to be.
I finally bit the bullet yesterday and mixed up a batch. I've already done several things wrong, but hopefully it'll all work out.

I suppose I'm supposed to tell you all a bit about myself.
Let's see, I moved back to my hometown in Texas after being away for about 18 years. I pretty much graduated high school and then ran off to see the world. I've lived several places, my favorite being Colorado (I miss it so very much!). I'm child free by choice and I've been with my partner for a little over three years now. Manthing isn't much of a wine drinker, but if this wine making venture turns into a regular thing he will likely start making his own beer.
I've wanted to make my own wine/beer for years. When I lived in Colorado I had a friend that made her own beer. I was fascinated by the process. We used to trade 6 packs of her homebrew for some of my homemade soap and candles. I've been making my own soap for about 15 years now and I have a feeling winemaking will be just as fulfilling. I look forward to learning and sharing with you guys.

 

[jamesngalveston]

welcome to the addiction of wine making.....
have you the items needed....hydrometer, buckets, chemicals, etc.
which kit did u purchase.
here..they dont care where you are from, just that you are making wine and the things you have to make it with, are things you may need.
btw...i am in texas as well, and many others here are also.

 

[Jericurl]

I just got a small kit from Austin Supply.

Let's see....I have one small bucket, one glass 1 gallon jar, hydrometer, ridiculous amount of different kinds of yeast, racking tube, flexible tubing, a bunch of different basic chemicals, etc.
I already want to start another batch so I'll be getting more buckets and carboys this week.

 

[jamesngalveston]

get a autosyphon...some strainer bags..i use 5 gallon paint strainer bags from home depot.
you will need a corker, corks, bottles....4 to 5 bottles per gallon of wine.
make sure you have campden tablets, are k-meta.
acid blend
pectin enzyme
yeast nutrient
wine tannin
yeast energizer
yeast, of course...you got that i see.
a funnel comes in handy
make sure you have some one step cleaner for sanitizing everything.
and you will soon find out, that you will want 3 and 5 gallon buckets and carboys....

 

[Runningwolf]

Jericurl, welcome to WMT. Feel free to ask questions anytime. Everybody has different areas where they are more familiar than others. Regardless how long we've been here we still have questions to ask of others.

 

[Jericurl]

Ahhhh....and here is the embarrassing part where I admit that I went a little crazy with no rhyme or reason....

I bought 12 bottles and a 30 pack of corks. No corker.

Don't have an autosyphon, just a "j hook" looking thing for racking.

Funnel. Yeah that should have been a given but I completely overlooked that.

I've got campden tablets, acid blend, pectin enzyme, yeast nutriet, tannin, and the one step sanitizer.

I bought some kind of oak flavoring...no idea why because I'm not a fan of dry type wines at all. Good grief.

I've got to keep reminding myself that this is not like cooking or soapmaking. I was so excited that I didn't check specific gravity before I added my yeast. I even had everything out on the countertop and zoomed right past it all. I'm using a raisin wine recipe I found in a book and it is very similar to the raisin recipe on Jack Keller's website. But then I couldn't resist adding a pint of lavender flowers. I'm hoping that doesn't change things too much and I will check s.g. when I stir in about an hour.

And the additional buckets and carboys....oh boy.
I was getting a bit pissy earlier because I wanted to find a bunch of small buckets, etc. We don't have a ton of room in the house (or even the garage for that matter) so grabbing a bunch of 5 gallons seems like I'll be limiting myself. Manthing has commenced with the eyerolling and is now measuring for adding some shelving to our largest closet.

 

[jamesngalveston]

if a wine goes try there is ways to make it very drinkable.
sometimes its best to let it go dry, then add some flavor and backsweeten with simple syrup, etc.
an autosyphon will help alot.
moderators like running wolf are very knowledgeable about just about anything wine related...
i started 7 are 8 months ago and have learned rapidly with help from these folks...
I also started with a one gallon kit...then more, then 3 then 5 then 6 gallon..and a lot of each.
i think manthing will come around....

 

[Jericurl]

Notes added.

Specific gravity is 1.116

 

[jamesngalveston]

what kind of yeast did you use.

 

[Jericurl]

what kind of yeast did you use.

Premier Cuvee

 

[Julie]

Hi Jericurl,

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

 

[Jericurl]

Thank you...it's good to be here.

 

[jamesngalveston]

that is going to be some high octane wine....if it finishes at .990 it should be about...16 percent...

 

[LoneStarLori]

Hi Jeri,, welcome from another newbie and fellow Texan. I've only been here about a month myself and have quickly learned that this is SUPER addicting. I think with your soap making background and being familiar with what goes together and what doesn't, you will be creating some really neat wines.
Be sure to document what you add from the get-go. I didn't and already regret it.