Regina juice

[ffemt128]

LOL !
I do that all the time..as do many others.
This is the definition of OBSESSION

I agree, May I got 4 pails, Sept I got 6 Pails and I'm actually considering getting a pail or 2 of the Italian Juice when it comes in next month.

 

[Tom]

All you have to do is look and my and others Signatures to se whats "Fermenting"

 

[Gr8zins]

I have 4 large 16 gallon fermentors and about 5 six gallon ones. The key is to have a lot of carboys to rack into after primary, and have various sizes available. And yes, I would agree with Tom,...OBSESSION!!!!!!!!

Mark

 

[GHowe]

haha...I know, Tom, I'm obsessed too...but I am being serious. How do you work the logistics of 11 different pails going along? Is there a stagger of days, or do you innoculate all 11 in one day? If they all finish fermenting at the same time, do you spend a day just racking them all over to carboys? Mark, you too...though you have some time between varietals, when you get multiple pails are you doing them all at once?

 

[Tom]

Well, during summer I make alot of fruit wines. This takes more time that the wine I make from Juice.
When juice comes in I may get 4-8 buckets from CA. add yeast to those once warms up. A month later I get 4-6 buckets from Italy and do same. Around April I get again 4-6 buckets from Chile. and do same as before. Now wine is not on any time table so whites I bottle around 6 mos. Reds I bottle around 1 year. Fruit wines 6 months min or when I feel ready.

 

[Runningwolf]

haha...I know, Tom, I'm obsessed too...but I am being serious. How do you work the logistics of 11 different pails going along? Is there a stagger of days, or do you innoculate all 11 in one day? If they all finish fermenting at the same time, do you spend a day just racking them all over to carboys? Mark, you too...though you have some time between varietals, when you get multiple pails are you doing them all at once?

Tom is a multiple machine in one. He can rack with one hand drink with the other and he's still talking and reading this forum at the same time. He has so much knowledge that every time we tell him something new something else slips out of his brain. You otta see his head now!!!

 

[djrockinsteve]

How do you work the logistics of 11 different pails going along?

There is a little planning involved if you want to maximize your carboys. All of my 11 pails of Regina finished within 12 hours of each other so as we approached the end I snapped on a lid w/airlock after giving them a stir to release CO2.

Next day I started racking those that I wanted to blend. So I was dealing with 3 at one time then moved on to those that were 2 blends finishing with the whites. With Regina you can get anwhere from 5 1/2 to 6+ Gallons. This is why you need 3 and 1 gallon carboys along with some magnum bottles etc.

It took me several hours (only because I was simmering sparkolloid) to rack all of them. Then it was time to rearrange the wine cellar for a place to put these. I still have several from last year I need to bottle. Maybe next week.

Just try to think it thru before starting. And yes Tom is a multi-tasker!

 

[Tom]

Tom is a multiple machine in one. He can rack with one hand drink with the other and he's still talking and reading this forum at the same time. He has so much knowledge that every time we tell him something new something else slips out of his brain. You otta see his head now!!!

Seams to me DAN, U already been IN my head !

LOL

 

[mrzazz]

I did the first racking of my juice pails. After the next racking I want to add oak. I have a Zin blush, cab sav, pinot noir, mascot. Any suggestions on what type of oak, how much, for how long? I've been making a lot of fruit wines this is my first juice pails. Thanks

 

[djrockinsteve]

After my wines have cleared, 4-6 weeks I rack, add a pinch of sulfite and my oak. I use medium toast American oak for my reds and med. toast french oak for my whites. I use the chips myself. Previously I've added 1 cup of oak and aged 6 months for whites, 12 months reds.

This season I am upping to 2 cups for my Merlot and Cab. Sauv. only. It's a matter of personal taste. We like a heavier oak Merlot and Cab. Sauv. It's not over powering but has that good hearty taste. Best to go on the lighter side and taste halfway thru aging. If you prefer more add a little more.

Some folks here use the cubes or spirals. Chips are what I was taught.

 

[Gr8zins]

The way my set-up works is that my fermentors are 16 gals. each so I can get almost three pails at a time. What's left over goes into the last fermentor for a blend. So really, I'm only dealing with 4 large batches of wine. The SG at the end of primary was almost the same for each varietal, so I racked into 10 carboys all in the same night. It may seem like a lot to manage, but your pretty much going through the same process, just in a larger volume. One of the big benefits of doing more wine at a time (besides having more to consume) is that you almost never need to use commercial wine for "topping off" since there's so much juice available. Just have a few different size carboys available and that will really help manage waste.

Mark