New from Southern KY

[Conan1]

Hello ya'll. I'm 54 yrs old and just got a deluxe winemaking equipment kit for Christmas. I used to work in the ethanol for gasoline industry so I do know enough about fermentation to be dangerous..... I recently got a bottle of homemade wine from my boss and my wife enjoyed it so much and I've been wanting to make my own for a while, I asked Santa for the kit. OH BOY, A whole new world is out there! I like to hunt, fish, and generally mess around on my small farm and work as an engineer publicly. Glad to have found this site. It is a treasure trove of excellent information. Howdy again, Conan

 

[jtstar]

Welcome Conan don't be afraid to ask questions it's better to ask question before we make mistakes

 

[Julie]

Hi Conan,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. And Merry Christmas! Looks like Santa was good to you. What you just get the equipment or did you also get a wine kit?

 

[Runningwolf]

Hey Conan welcome aboard! You have just entered into a new obsession. We try to hold support meetings weekly but we're all too busy racking to attend! Feel free to post all of your questions.

 

[jbear]

I find the hardest part is waiting to sample the product. On the other hand, my father-in-law used to always have 5 gallons of white and 5 gallons fermenting in the basement. He claimed that for him wine-making was the only hobby he found where he could invest about 5 hours a year in effort and enjoy the results 365 days.

 

[deboard]

Welcome! I'm from central kentucky myself. Enjoy the hobby, you came to the right place to learn about it.

 

[Wade E]

Welcome Conan, you will soon be impressing your wigfe with homemade wine as we will walk you through anything win e or beer related and have you making some damn good wine right from the get go. DO NOT be afraid to ask any question as thats why we are here. What kind of wines do you like? I recommned starting with a wine kit to get your feet wet.

 

[Conan1]

I didn't get a wine kit. I'm just planning on getting some store bought juice for a first batch. The wine my boss gave me was 3 gals cranberry w/ 1gal grape, 5 # sugar and using 71B-1122 yeast. My wife actually went nuts over this saying it was the best tasting she'd ever had! We don't normally drink at all but I do like a glass every day if I had it around. I just don't think about it when close to the liquor store. If I can make a batch she likes, I'm thinking about attaching a nipple to a 5 gl carboy for her.. Thanks for the welcome

 

[Julie]

Was this a sweet wine? If so ask your boss what the hydrometer reading was at bottling. I am assuming your are going to make a 5 gallon batch. If you are going to use frozen concentrates make sure there is no sorbate in the ingredients. Use 3 cans per each gallon of wine you want to make. If you are using store bought juice, again, make sure there is no sorbate. With the concentrate you add your own water, with the juice the water is already added for you.

Don't just dump in 5# of sugar, warm some of the water that you will be adding if useing concentrate or warm up some juice and and add sugar to that until disolved,let it cool down some. I would add 4# and then take a reading. Shoot for 1.080 or there abouts.

You will also need peptic enzyme and acid blend. Did you get an acid test kit with your equipment kit?

 

[Conan1]

Thanks Julie, I think my boss had a 1.005 to 1.010 on this wine he gave us. I am inverting the sugar and adding 1# per gallon which is taking my SG to 1.090, adding 1/4 tsp of Potassium Metabisulfite for 5 gals, waiting 24 hrs, making a yeast starter & nutrient then pitching about 1 hr later after adding some juice to the yeast to help get it going. After talking to my boss some more, he is not using any meta or sorbate but it's not lasting long enough to give him any problems like exploding bottles or anything. I'm trying to be a little more technical so I can keep a few bottles to sample 1-2 years from now so I'm using sorbate before bottling. A fine mad scientist I will be............

 

[koda_ky]

Welcome from North Eastern Ky!!!

 

[Daisy317]

Hello ya'll. I'm 54 yrs old and just got a deluxe winemaking equipment kit for Christmas. I used to work in the ethanol for gasoline industry so I do know enough about fermentation to be dangerous..... I recently got a bottle of homemade wine from my boss and my wife enjoyed it so much and I've been wanting to make my own for a while, I asked Santa for the kit. OH BOY, A whole new world is out there! I like to hunt, fish, and generally mess around on my small farm and work as an engineer publicly. Glad to have found this site. It is a treasure trove of excellent information. Howdy again, Conan

Welcome to the forum.

You should fit in around here just fine!