Newbie getting ready for first attempt

[Billaban]

Greetings,

Found and joined here today. I have been home brewing beer on and off for 20 years. Recent events provided me with access to three 13 gallon glass vessels. Apparently at some point in the past these were used for wine making. That was enough to get me willing to give it a try. I enjoy big bold reds almost as much as a quality beer. Anyway I quickly realized that moving one of these monster vessels when full is probably not a good idea. That is problem number one for racking, etc. Apparently there are pumps available that would solve that issue. So my first question is do these pumps really work and which one is recommended. Second I'm thinking of doing kits to start. Based on size of vessels I'm thinking of doing a double batch for about 12 gallons of initial volume. Any reason why I would not want to take this approach? I plan on using a carboy heater to maintain ferm temps in my unfinished basement. I'm in MD and the ambient temp in the basement is probably around 60 at present and will soon be falling into the 50's until late spring. Any comments on carboy heaters is welcome.

I use Midwest Supplies currently for most of my brewing supplies. They sell the Winexpert series. Should I be looking elsewhere for a better kit? Better pricing?

Perhaps that is enough questions to start. TIA for any help.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds from your experience and the questions you're asking you'll fit right in here.

 

[Julie]

Hi Billaban,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. I like the plan you have in place. The Allinone is an awesome pump and will definitely do what you need done. Go to our vendor section and there should be an link there. Midwest is a good supplier, you can look for brew belts there or if you want to check other vendors you can, also check out brewandwinesupply.com

 

[Winenoob66]

I suggest the allinonepump found at you guessed it http://www.allinonewinepump.com/
it will set ya back a bit but well worth the investment.

a regular brew belt I am not sure if that will fit around your 12 gal carboys so thats a hard call without being able to see them. If they are the same size around as a 6 gallon carboy then you will probably be ok with one of them. and you will need something to help with the temps down in your basement. Ferment temp is best around 70 degrees. if nothing else use a heating pad.

As for the kits I couldn't say I have only used fruit so far to make wine with, (I haven't tried any kits yet) but from what I hear thats usually where everyone suggests that a newbie starts. also before you start look over the tutorials in the bigginers wine making section they are very helpful. and if you have any questions be sure to post em up here they will get answered this forum rocks for helping out the newbie to achieve there new obsession.

And welcome to the forums

 

[jamesngalveston]

good plan...i have never used a carboy heater but i would think 12 would be kinda expensive...If the area is closed in I would get a oil filled radiant heater of about 1800 btu...

good luck...and welcome to the forum...lots of wine smarts here.

 

[olusteebus]

Kits for 13 gallons will cost a good bit of money. Here is a suggestion for your first wine.

Buy two kits from amazon. You can get a cab for $55 to $60 for a 6 gallon kit but I would only make 5 gallons out of each kit (many suggest you make only 5 gallons with those inexpensive kits). I would then get a can of Alexanders cab concentrate to make up 13 gallons of wine. You will have about $175 in it after shipping.

That comes out to be about $2.70 a bottle and I bet it would come out very good.

You could get by without a pump but it sure will not be as easy.

What you can do is get a two hole stopper for you carboy - hopefully they fit Here is an example

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/carboy-cap-3-5-and-6-gallon-carboys.html

put a racking cane in one hole with a tube going from the full carboy to an empty one with a cane in it.

If they are on the same level, blow into the full carboy in the extra hole and wine will start syphoning easily into the empty carboy.. IF they are on the same level, it will stop at halfway, making it easy to lift the remaining 6 1/2 gallons of the contributing carboy above the receiving to finish racking.. To take wine out of a ferment bucket, just use the carboy cap in the receiving carboy and suck on the outlet.

Are you sure those are not 15 gallon demijohns which would change my recipe up considerably. In that case, I would use three kits and make 15 gallons.

Good luck, Let us know what you do and ask any questions you may have here. There are some very knowledgeable and helpful folks here.

 

[9CourseWineMusician]

Welcome! I wish you the best of luck!

 

[olusteebus]

For heat, you could get a big tub, put water in it so that the water comes up at least a third of the carboy and heat the water with one of two adjustable aquarium heaters. That will keep the wine at a constant warm heat.

 

[vernsgal]

Hi Billaban, welcome to the forum.Thought I'd throw my 2 cents at you.
If I understand right, you have a 12 gal carboy you want to use. I would definitely get a pump for that baby. The allinone has gotten rave reviews on this forum.Question: could you use 2 6gal? They are easier to handle, warm etc.
You'll need to keep your must over 70 for fermenting.Most kits recommend 70-80 F. Heating pads work great for bigger pails than the brew belts.
WineExpert has some good heavy body reds. You could probably find cheaper ,but like store bought, cheaper in most cases doesn't mean better. I find with kits you get what you pay for. Low end(cheap) kits don't give the same body or taste
and people end up having to doctor them. As a beginner I would recommend doing your 1st kit by the book.
Good luck on your wine!

 

[jamesngalveston]

read the post wrong...thought he said 13 1 gallon...not 3 13...ooops.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I can vouch for the AllInOne. I wish I would have bought it when I started. It's awesome at degassing and bottling.
I have done several WE kits and so far have been happy.
Welcome and let us know what kit you end up with.

Lori

 

[Pumpkinman]

Billaban,
Hi! I want to go a bit more into detail about the All In One Wine Pump, not only will you be able to rack without lifting, and bottle, but you'll be able to degas your wine, a very important step, and filter it to a competition worthy "polish"! Now, here comes the other side to the All in One, as a home brewer, I also use it to rack and bottle my beer, Steve, the designer and manufacturer of the All In One has a beer bottling attachment available, I'm not set up to keg yet, and this saves me hrs of time each month!
I recently had to filter a beer due to a "brain fart" on my part, the All In One came through for me again!

As far as Wine Making and Home brewing purchases, the All In One is one of the most important purchases that I've made, it has paid itself back ten fold, not to mention the agony of back pain that it has spared me, to be honest, I wouldn't be making as much wine, or brew as much beer as I do without the All In One.
It allows me to follow rule #1 - work smart, not hard!

If you have any questions, contact Steve via private message, his user name is vacuumpumpman, he will call you back in a very short time, making himself available to you to answer any question or concern you might have.
Steve recently posting a step by step tutorial and user manual on his website that includes tips and a few Q&A that are real helpful, check it out by clicking on the following link: All In One User Manual.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks Tom for a very detailed description of the Allinonewinepump.

Billaban;
I would suggest using a aquarium heater - it is adjustable temp setting and come in different heat ranges, I have the 300 watt , 14'' heater and it appears to work well for me. Once the wine is up to temp and is fermenting - it will create its own heat. So I would keep it off the cement floor and wrap a blanket around it to keep the temperature steady.
Please PM me and I would like to talk more about any questions or concerns that you may have about the Allinone or you can always check out the review on it as well -
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f3/review-allinonewinepump-15976/

 

[Billaban]

Newbie info addendum

A follow-up based on some comments and some questions. Well, first of all thanks for the assortment of ideas and suggestions. Apparently this is a very active forum.

See pics below. What I have are marked on the bottom as 13 gallon bottles. The other pic shows just how big they appear parked next to a 5 gallon carboy. Not sure if I should call the 13G bottle a carboy or not so I'll just go with: 13G.

I have one and can get another two of the 13Gs. They were collecting dust in a shed on a farm in southern VA. My girlfriend owns the farm and suggested I take a look at these bottles when she saw my collection of standard carboys, i.e., six 5G and one 6.5G. Anyway she claims that the 13Gs were used for wine making some time ago. The farm is family legacy...several generations, etc. FWIW - turning part of the 130 acre farm (which is already a B&B) into a vineyard is part of the long term plan.

From the pic (hopefully) it is clear that the 13G was made in 1953. The opening at the top is just over 2" inside diameter and tapers down to about 2" down the throat. I think one of the universal stoppers that Midwest advertises will do the trick but I get just one to start and see if it works.

The 13G w/ wine will weigh over 100 lbs which I could probably manage to man handle but I'm smart enough not to try. I will get a pump.

I'm inclined to believe that one of the wrap around ferm heaters secured with electrical tape and wrapped with some sort of insulation (and insulated from the cold slab floor) should be able to maintain adequate ferm temp. A Johnson temp control should complete that configuration.

As far as kits I will choose for some reason I'm liking idea of blending a Cab and a Merlot. There seems to be some debate herein about going for a 5G yield or 6G yield (10G or 12G in my case) and then I have the added question of if I want to fill to more like 13G do I add a kicker?, e.g., Alexanders concentrate. Some pondering there remains.

Another question I have is water. For brewing I boil everything. Obviously not the case for wine making. Do you use spring water? Distilled? tap? My local tap water tastes OK (somewhat on the hard side) but seems like some care should go into the water used......

I'm sure I have some other questions but they don't come to mind at the moment. Thanks again for all the input.