New To Winemaking / Saying Hello

[Wade E]

Its one of those "you have to spend money to save money" things!

 

[PeterZ]

DJ, your first kit will yield 2 1/2 cases of wine! You might point out to your wife that the cost of the kit, the start-up equipment, and another carboy is at or less than you would pay for 30 bottles of wine from the local store.

The next kit, with the equipment already covered by the first kit, will result in 30 bottles at less than $5/bottle.

 

[GrapeApe]

The ROI formula is scalable too. Icalculated the cost to purchase 150 bottles of commerical winethen compared it to what it could cost to make the same number of bottles. With the money I "saved" I am to buy aVinotemp 32 bottle wine cooler andbuild a wine rack that will store 300 bottles, the majority of the equipment I use to make the wine,and the 32 bottle wine cooler.
If I remember correctly, Wade was able to finish his basement with all of the money he saved. What anawesome hobby - the more you spend, the more you save.

GrapeApe.

 

[Wade E]

Actually I spend a lot of money on my winemaking because I dont really
like commercial wine. Im a sweeter wine liker and there really isnt any
wines out there that I like or will part with that much money. In
example, I like commercial Ice wine but will not spend $30.00 for a 375
ml bottle. There are only a few wines that I used to buy from a liquor
store and those were fruit wines made at a local winery about 4 miles
from were I work and this is the place that got me interested in wine
making as they have a Black Currant wine that knocked my socks off. But
was also a little pricey at $13.50 for a 375 ml bottle. I started with
2 IM kits then jumped into the Vintners Harvest Black Currant wine base
and the rest is history. So going back to the subject, I was not really
drinking to much wine or spending much money on wine until, well you
know what I mean, but i really needed a hobby that I can enjoy and with
all you guys and gals, that just makes it all that much more
pleasurable to share my experiences and learn and help others as I have
been helped. End of book!

 

[dmcquade]

I think she understands, but she's very analytical so I'll have to show her the numbers when the first batch is finished. My father-in-law has been making wine for about 15 years now and he keeps VERY detailed logs. I think he said that ... over time ... his average cost is around $2.85 per bottle. With my starter kit (assuming ~30 bottles) I should be around $6.50 per bottle. I just hope it's drinkable!
I won't be abandoning my commercial wine interests, but I'm looking forward to this as a way to learn more about the process and produce a good "daily drinker" that's not $20+ a bottle.


So the other day we found this little kitty that was almost starved to death behind our house. We brought her in, gave her some milk, and called animal control. About an hour after they picked her up they called and said that they had a lost and found and that the cat had run away 2 weeks before and migrated about 10-15 miles.


So we have decided to name this first batch of wine, "Little White Kitty" ... even though it's a Shiraz. I'm thinking that for all my wines I'll try to come up with a story of something that happened during the batch and write up a summary on the back of the bottles.

 

[rgecaprock]

DJ


That is such a cool idea!!


Ramona

 

[rrawhide]

Hey hey hey and hi

I am a newbie member too and am looking forward to starting another kit - years ago I did a 'nother' kit and it was ok BUT this time I am gonna start with the best. Hear that George?????? I have some old 'stuff' from the past - ie corks, racking cane, 6 carboys and i guess that i have better start filling them again. I am also converting a 7x12' space in my barn behind the craft room). Wife says ok!!!

This is a east facing wall with 2x4 studs. I am thinking about adding another wall 2x6 and then a sheet of foil covered styrofoam insulation. Should I do this or just add 2 sheets of styrofoam direct to the 2x4 wall? Do I need a vapor barrier first? Also, I am going to add a small A/C in the wall too!!. I could reframe the whole room with 2x6's but since it is kinda small to start with i will loose almost a foot in width and length. hummmmmmmm!!! Still a 6x11 is not too bad. Or just add a couple of sheets of foam all around room..........

Sure could use some assistance.

Thanx

Rick

 

[dmcquade]

Just thought I would update you all on our progress.


After a wicked fast primary fermentation we moved the must over to secondary fermentation. It really didn't do too much there, but we left it there and tried to be patient.


Last thursday we added all of our clarifying agents and killed it with K-Meta. Now we're waiting for 14 days (per the instructions) before we rack again and put it into bulk aging.


I am still a little concerned about the smell though. My wife thought it just smelled "yeasty" ... but to me it kind of smelled like rotten eggs. That smell seems to be getting less and less over time, but we'll see. I'm just praying that our primary didn't go too fast or that we gave it enough oxygen.


Cheers!


DJ

 

[rgecaprock]

DJ, I'm sure that you are smelling yeast. I've noticed that some wines seem more yeasty then others. The most recent ones I've made Pinot Grigio had no noticible yeast smell but he White Zin was very pungent and smelled strong for 3 o4 4 days into the first week of fermentation. Don't know the explaination for that.


Ramona

 

[PeterZ]

Welcome, rrawhide. Is the 2x4 stud wall insulated? If not, can it be?

If it is insulated then I would just add a couple layers of foam. If the walls are not insulated I would pull off the wall sheathing inside and insulate. If you can get a total of about R15 (normal residential 2x4 studwall w/fiberglass insulation, sheetrock, and exterior sheathing). Don't forget to insulate the ceiling as well.

All of the above will work for a wine making room. If you want to make a wine cellar, the recommendations I have seen is R50 all around.

What part of the country are you in? That affects where you put the vapor barrier. Ask a local insulation contractor if it should be inside or outside of the insulation for your climate.

 

[rgecaprock]

Hi, rrawhide,
Nice to have you. Good luck with your wine room, behind the craft room!!!


Ramona