Hi From West Central WI

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Hello All! Seems like a great forum you have going here. I've been reading/researching for a couple weeks now and am looking forward to making my own wine and other spirits. I know I have a lot to learn yet (still don't know what MLF stands for, only one thing comes to mind) and probably won't get going on any batches until this fall. My wife and I raise pheasant and chukars on the side and we have been thinking of starting a little shop with the game farm with smoked pheasant/sausages and whole bird sales and I thought vinegar would be good as well, which led me to the wine making. I got into smoking this past winter and made some easy mozz cheese which turned out great. So, I bought a few books for wine, spirits, cheese, and vinegar making. Once I got to reading a little, my mind took off and I think this is something we will really enjoy. Looking forward to learning all I can from you guys/gals!

 

[jamesngalveston]

welcome aboard.
get your check book, you will need it
get your credit card, you will need that too.
find some place with lots of space, you most definitely will need it.
Wine making is addicting as all heck.
I decided to just make one gallon of blackberry 2 mos ago.
Now...I have made like 24 gallons of different types... and just starting.

 

[Julie]

Hi LittleBearGameFarm

Welcome to winemakingtalk. MLF = malolactic fermentation

 

[robie]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck on your new endeavors.

Wine making and vinegar making are two hobbies that need some physical separation. What I mean is the bacteria necessary for making vinegar can cause a good wine to also become vinegar in short order, so it is important to keep the vinegar bacteria away from your wine making area. In whatever room you make vinegar, the bacteria will take permanent residence in the cracks and crevices in that room. If you try to also make wine in that same room, the bacteria can easily get into your wine, resulting in the wine turning to vinegar long before it would otherwise turn.

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Thanks Julie and Robie! I had read about the vinegar spores turning any wine into vinegar. What worries me would be if the spores can travel. I was planning on keeping the vinegar in the bathroom in our garage and the wine in a room in our basement. Does anyone know how easily they can cling to clothes, etc and follow in with you? If I try to make both, do I need to almost bathe before I go from vinegar room to wine room?

Thanks!