Woo Hoo Another Carboy!

[StoneCreek]

Just bought by second 6gal carboy today! The only downside, it's two hours away in Jacksonville, FL. Upside, I have a camping trip to Jacksonville planned for MLK weekend which is coming up on the 18th. Other upsides include, having a bit of time to decide what to make next, gathering necessary ingredients, not having to pay crazy shipping cost, and only paying $16.50. This hobby has already gotten expensive enough and I still want to amass a few more carboys in varying sizes. I currently have a 6gal batch of Dave's Dragon Blood in the primary and I think my next batch will be a Prickly Pear. This will give me enough time to scour the country side in my area to hopefully get enough fruit. I also noticed this morning that my Loquat tree is getting ready to bloom! If it produces half the fruit it did last year I'll be sitting pretty. if not, well, I have neighbors!

 

[dangerdave]

You are soooo doomed, David! Now you have two. Once you have a mated pair, they reproduce exponentially! As the old The Offspring song goes, "You gotta keep 'em separated!"

It only took mine two years to clone into 18!

 

[tonyt]

Its a slippery slope.

 

[Julie]

Tony, I don'st think it is a slippery slope, I think it is more like a slippery cliff!!!!!!

Start looking for some 5's and 3's, you are gonna need them.

 

[StoneCreek]

Tony, I don'st think it is a slippery slope, I think it is more like a slippery cliff!!!!!!

Start looking for some 5's and 3's, you are gonna need them.

Lol. I just found a couple of 5s about an hours drive from me on Craigslist. email sent. Just waiting to find out if they're still available. Luckily, the wife bought me my fist kit so I wont get into too much trouble for awhile since these are necessary additions to get the most out of my gift.

Dave, I just hope they reproduce as inexpensively as possible! This could get expensive.

 

[bkisel]

I started last January with just one and ended the year with 5. I fault the folks here who argue for bulk aging. [I just do kits.]

 

[dangerdave]

I was within reason until this past summer when a guy over in Dayton sold me a bunch of old bottles and misc wine equipment for $150. It included six carboys...
Couldn't pass it up. Now they are everywhere!!!

 

[cmason1957]

My wife and I were somewhere with some other winemaking friends. Someone said they did not think any of the wives knew how many carboys each husband had. Paper came out and each of us individually wrote down a number. My wife and I won and had each written down the same number 25. When we got home we discovered we were off by 3 low. Oh and we have been making wine for 4 years.

 

[jamesngalveston]

wine making isnt expensive.....hummmm...if i factor in all the carboys, all the chemicals,bottles,openers,corkets,vacummpumps, corks ,labels,etc.
by wine only comes up to about 39.87 a bottle....

 

[fabrictodyefor]

started my first batch of wine August 2013, I now have 4 six gallons, 3 five gallons 2 three gallons and 4 one gallons, and am getting ready to order more! One empty 5 gallon getting ready to get my concord grape and I need another 3 gallon for my pear/grape/pineapple....That only leaves 1 six gallon for a double batch of Dragon's Blood! Yikes better order another 6 gallon one also!! sometimes I wish I lived in a more populated area so I could maybe get deals on Craigs list....ok, maybe not....

 

[jamesngalveston]

LOL....if i walk in the door and see anything empty i panic...and if dont smell fermentation going on...I want to cry.....

 

[StoneCreek]

it would seem I have some growing to do to catch up with you guys! No worries though, I'll get there soon enough. Maybe a little faster if the first couple of batches go well and I'm sure they will. After all, I haven't made a bad wine yet! I am very tempted to buy a complete setup I just found in Tallahassee, FL. A guy there is selling a couple of 6gal BB, four or five primaries, cane and hoses, corkers, bottles, chems and other stuff for only $150. I can't quite justify it yet though.

 

[Pumpkinman]

i believe that I have:
16-6 gallon
7, maybe 8 -5 gallon
2 or 3 - 3 gallon
5 -30 liter fermenters
2 - 23 liter fermenters
2- 10 gallon fermenters
1 - 20 gal brute
1 - 32 gal brute

 

[bkisel]

I'm blown away buy the number of carboys some of you folks have. Assuming they're being used I can't imagine what you do with all the wine you make. You have to be giving a lot of bottles away, correct?

 

[bakervinyard]

Don't know exactly how many carboys I have but In the fall I had 14 different wines ageing. Doesn't really matter I get enjoyment from making wine. If I need another carboy I buy it. My better half enjoys drinking them as well as my 2 grown children. Bakervinyard

 

[dangerdave]

We drink, dkisel! And we bestow wine upon our loved ones. When I'm home, I will drink a bottle (at least) during the evening, sometimes two. That puts myself at maybe 400 bottles a year. Then there's my wife, who drinks about the same. Now we're up to 800 bottles a year consumed. I have several close friends who like wine, plus gifts for birthdays and holidays. Nearly everyone in both our families likes wine, especially free wine. Lets say, maybe another 200 bottles a year gifted. So, we're easily up to 1000 bottles a year, cleaned, sanitized, vinted, filled, corked, and distributed by yours truely!

Remarkably, that comes out to exactly 200 gallons (that's somewhere between 30 and 40 five to six gallon batches). The precise amount allowed by law for me to make each year. At this point, two years and five months into my wine making career, I'm up to batch #99, so that's about right.

Yes, we are unapologetic and unassuming winos!

 

[Runningwolf]

Dave I was making about or more than you at home a few years ago. That is when I quit recording everything I was making and quit keeping records.Now that I'm pretty busy at work and make wine all day there, I have cut back at home a fair bit.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I feel all y'alls pain. Hence my tagline.
I learned after quickly in the wine hobby that one carboy was not going to do the trick. Just like in the movie Gremlins, they seemed to multiply every time I got one wet. Fill one up and an empty would be along to take it's place. Waiting to be filled. And so on, and so on....

 

[cmason1957]

And at some point they stay full longer so you need another one. But aging and taking your time makes such a great improvement.

 

[CowboyRam]

A month ago I was in Wal-mart and seen those 5 gallon water jugs; Is there any reason that they could not be used for carboy? If I remember right they were fairly cheap; a lot less than what I just paid for my second 6 gallon carboy. I hope it gets here this next week.