Where do you ferment your wine

[Arne]

Started out on my workbench in the basement. Wasn't long and wanted more room so went to town and bought another workbench. One winter day, went to town, bought some lumber and counter tops. Now one whole walll is workbench or counter. Gets too cold to ferment well down there in the winter, but make do with an electric heater. Have to get to bottling to make room for more. Arne.

 

[JohnT]

Definitions:

Powder Room: a place to store tartaric acid, kmeta, nutrient, and all other powders..

Utility Closet: a place to store your press, destemmer, corker, and all other utilities.

Refrigerator: A place to store your yeast and MLB until needed.

Spare Bedroom: Sssshhh, this is where the wine sleeps.

Closet: A bottle storage area (both filled and empty).

Stain Master Carpet: The best thing since sliced bread!



Tips:

Women: The husband really does not need a man cave. Share a bottle or two of the good stuff then, and only then, talk to him about it. If this fails, promise him that you will leave enough room for the big screen tv and keg-a-rator.

Men: Just build or buy a bigger house. Do not even THINK of putting a claim on her sewing room, reading room, craft room, home office, or nursery. Just give it up.

One lesson I have learned over 25 years of marriage is this.. she needs her space to be content! A happy content wife is a happy wife. A happy wife has many, many fringe benefits!

 

[GreenEnvy22]

We have a fruit cellar in our basement, under the front porch (Niagara region, Ontario, Canada), so my wine goes in there. Temp in Sept/Oct when I started was around 20C, now it's down around 12-15C in there. If it gets cooler

I believe thats ok as fermentation should be done, just aging a couple months before bottling, but if it cools down more I'll open the door from the furnace room which is a good deal warmer.

 

[Larryh86GT]

I get a shelf in my wife's sewing room:

 

[kryten]

Primary ferment on a small table in my bed room. Secondary ferment and bulk aging in a clothes closet, my glass bottles are in there also.

 

[jgmann67]

In a bucket. This seems like a trick question. [emoji12]

 

[Arne]

Primary ferment on a small table in my bed room. Secondary ferment and bulk aging in a clothes closet, my glass bottles are in there also.

Nice setup. One little hint if I may. Get a big tote like you have beside your carboys and set them in there. Mite save your tail if they decide to burp since they are sitting on nice carpet. If nothing else, a big garbage bag will work under them. Mine was over concrete when it decided to belch. Nothing hurt there but a abit of cleanup. Arne.

 

[volldez]

4Ft Crawlspace!

 

[JohnT]

Here is a shot of my winery.

The model in the photo was expensive. I had to give her a hug in order to get this photo!

 

[Rocky]

What a cutie, JohnT! I think she is doing one of my first jobs when I started helping my Grandfather, breaking up the cap. This is something that she will stay with her all her life and it will be a source of so many pleasant memories.

 

[wineforfun]

Here is a shot of my winery.

The model in the photo was expensive. I had to give her a hug in order to get this photo!

Couple of questions John.
1. What are those covers over your carboys up on the left, kind of a khaki color? Are they for spillage?
2. What is that cute little girl stirring? Looks like coffee beans, or is it shriveled up grapes?

 

[JohnT]

Couple of questions John.
1. What are those covers over your carboys up on the left, kind of a khaki color? Are they for spillage?
2. What is that cute little girl stirring? Looks like coffee beans, or is it shriveled up grapes?

The covers are the funnel covers over demijohns (54 liter jugs that come complete with a plastic tub (to sit in) and a cone shaped cowel (or top).

She is stirring a vat of merlot grapes, fresh from the destemmer.

 

[wineforfun]

The covers are the funnel covers over demijohns (54 liter jugs that come complete with a plastic tub (to sit in) and a cone shaped cowel (or top).

She is stirring a vat of merlot grapes, fresh from the destemmer.

Very nice, thanks.

Merlot, yummy.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Reviving this thread, My wife and I just revamped our cellar, so i now have a better area for making and storing our wine and our canned/preserved food.
I'm going to add a sink to the workbench area so I can do everything in here. That way I'm not dragging carboys over the house to the laundry room sink.

 

[Scooter68]

Currrently I do the fermenting at the Mother-in-laws house (Vacant since she passed in (2005)
We don't heat and cool it to 'normal' temps unless we have company staying there. So upstairs in the summer it can get into the lower 80s & in the winter 55 is way too cool for fermenting. So in the summer I ferment in the basement then where it gets up to 72-75 in late summer. I've tried doing fermentation at our house in a unused bathroom but that' a pain anytime to move supplies carboys etc across the field from one place to another. So I'm resolved to do fermentation only during the months when temps at the Mother-in-laws are within range for good fermentation. That means generally from April to October. Since I tend to do fresh fruit wines that works well. Which reminds me I need to run to the local roadside stands and see what, if any peaches, plums, etc they have 'over-ripe' that I can purchase cheap and turn into Wine.

 

[garymc]

I do the primary in buckets in my kitchen, then carry the buckets downstairs to the basement and vacuum pump into carboys. Kitchen temperature is from 68 to 77 depending on season and the basement temperature is 64 to 68. If I want cooler I set the carboy directly on the concrete basement floor and for warmer I can put cardboard under it or up on a table.

 

[jgmann67]

I do everything in my wine room in the basement. Temps range from 68* in the summer to about 54* with the door closed in the winter (or 60* with the door open). It works just fine for me because (at least in my mind) a cooler temp means a slower ferment and longer time on the skins.