Hello!

[AnnArrogance]

Hi, all! I've been lurking on the forums for about a week now, but am brand new to both posting and winemaking! I currently have my first gallon of wine going (a passionfruit wine from 100% juice using Montrachet yeast), and will, I'm sure, have a few questions and so forth, because I have a tendency to be a bit of a stress bunny. LOL, not great for winemaking, probably, but hopefully it will teach me patience and some Zen skills.

Anyway, I'm from Houston, TX and have been home canning for about a year now. Canning is a gateway drug, clearly! Recently my husband asked me to make him some homemade ginger beer, which led me down a rabbit hole of research that ended with me reading an entire book on home winemaking in a night and taking a trip to my LHBS the next day for ginger beer and winemaking supplies! I'm mostly interested in fruit wines for the time being, at least, since they're something a bit different you can't really get at the store, and since I LOVE the plum wine at our favorite sushi place and want to try to make something close to it at home. I currently have the above-mentioned gallon of passionfruit wine on the go, and am planning on doing jalapeño wine, plum wine, and Skeeter Pee (which sounds pretty amazing) over the next few weeks. Really looking forward to the adventure!

I have to say, this forum is amazing! I think every time I've Googled a question, at least one thread on here is in the top results and the information has been so good and so helpful. I think I've learned more from posters here than I have from the books I bought! I'm excited to join such an interesting, informative, and supportive community. Just wanted to say thanks as well for all the help y'all have given me so far!

--Kate

 

[jpike01]

Welcome, about all I do is lurk and read and read and lurk but I have learned!


Sent using smoke signals designed by Red Neck LLC.

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome aboard!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome aboard, Kate/Ann. Glad to have you. (Hoping to find out the story on your user name someday!)

 

[francois_du_nord]

Welcome to WMT. Sounds like you are well on your way to jumping in with both feet.

Best, Fran

 

[Arne]

Welcome to the forum. Arne.

 

[Julie]

Hi Kate,

Welcome to winemakingtalk

 

[bkisel]

Welcome!

Yes, there is a lot one can learn here. I suspect there's also much we can learn from you. Jump in and start posting.

 

[olusteebus]

get prepared to buy some more carboys, then be prepared to enlarge and improve your wine making space then be prepared to builld walls of wine racks and then be prepared to buy a ph tester and then be prepared to buy and all in one pump and then be . . . . .

Well you will see. And you will enjoy every minute of it. Try a variant of Skeeter Pee soon.

 

[zimmer2]

welcome................ x2 on more carboys! I am into this less than 1 year started with 1 carboy and now have 8

 

[beano]

Welcome to the Forum.

This is a great place, full of knowledgeable folks. Always willing to help you out.

Beano Joe

 

[AnnArrogance]

Thanks, everyone! Very glad to be here!

Welcome aboard, Kate/Ann. Glad to have you. (Hoping to find out the story on your user name someday!)

Thanks! LOL there's not too much to it--I used to ride horses, and at one point had 2--Ann Acre Foot and Southern Arrogance. I needed a new email address around the same time, and well, AnnArrogance was born and I just sort of have never got around to figuring out a new "handle," since no one else ever has it claimed.

get prepared to buy some more carboys, then be prepared to enlarge and improve your wine making space then be prepared to builld walls of wine racks and then be prepared to buy a ph tester and then be prepared to buy and all in one pump and then be . . . . .

Well you will see. And you will enjoy every minute of it. Try a variant of Skeeter Pee soon.

Oh, I am so ready! I currently have 4 1-gallon carboys (3 for the wines I had planned and one spare to use for racking), and am already planning on heading back to my LHBS this weekend to pick up a bigger primary fermenter (my current one is only 2 gallons--wasn't planning on embarking on anything more than a gallon at a time so soon) and a couple of 5-gallon carboys for Skeeter Pee, which I'm super excited about! Everyone on the forums seems to love it and I love lemon-y boozy goodness generally. I'm planning on using the lees/slurry from my current batch of passionfruit to start it when I rack it for the first time.

Not to mention the wild ginger beer bug I'm currently growing and the array of Grolsch-stlye bottles I have set aside for the ginger beer and Skeeter Pee... I suspect my winemaking supply collection is going to grow just as quickly as my Mason jar collection has! LOL bring it on!

 

[willie]

Hey Kate! Welcome

Will

 

[heatherd]

Hi Kate,
Welcome to the forum!

Suggest getting two 6-gallon primary fermenters - you can use them for starting smaller batches like your planned 5-gallon batches of skeeter pee and dragon's blood. Note that there are forum sponsors who have supplies online should your local store not stock all that you need. It is a fun hobby!

One more thought: you mentioned making skeeter pee and plum wine in your post - I wanted to pass along that one of those is probably easier than the other, and certainly quicker to make; the skeeter pee is ready to drink in weeks, but the plum is notoriously slow to clear, and may take months longer than skeeter pee. Just don't want you to get discouraged if you start with plum first.

Heather

 

[Jericurl]

Hi Kate!

There are quite a few of us from Texas here.

As well as several others who can and ferment other foods.

Go ahead and buy a a few bigger containers, you're going to need them.

 

[AnnArrogance]

Hi Kate,
Welcome to the forum!

Suggest getting two 6-gallon primary fermenters - you can use them for starting smaller batches like your planned 5-gallon batches of skeeter pee and dragon's blood. Note that there are forum sponsors who have supplies online should your local store not stock all that you need. It is a fun hobby!

One more thought: you mentioned making skeeter pee and plum wine in your post - I wanted to pass along that one of those is probably easier than the other, and certainly quicker to make; the skeeter pee is ready to drink in weeks, but the plum is notoriously slow to clear, and may take months longer than skeeter pee. Just don't want you to get discouraged if you start with plum first.

Heather

Thanks, Heather! Great advice! I actually started my first batch of Skeeter Pee last weekend (couldn't resist), and it's already almost fermented dry! I'll post about it over in the Skeeter Pee forum later. I'll probably need to build up my patience/skills a bit with a couple of quicker/easier wines before I embark on the plum! Probably going to try jalapeño wine next--a friend of mine brought some back from Hill Country a while back and I've been kind of obsessed with it ever since!

Hi Kate!

There are quite a few of us from Texas here.

As well as several others who can and ferment other foods.

Go ahead and buy a a few bigger containers, you're going to need them.

LOL I believe you! I bought a 6.5 gallon primary and a 5 gallon carboy for my Skeeter Pee last weekend, and I'm already wishing I'd bought at least one more of each!