Writing In From Philly

[Kitchen]

Hello everyone, I am just introducing myself as a new member from Philadelphia. I recently got into wine making about a year ago, moving on from beer brewing (due to a few reasons) and look forward to reading any advice. I also make my own cheese, other fermented foods, and enjoy fine cigars. If you're on FriendsofHabanos, I use the same user name and profile pic of H. Upmann.

 

[Johnd]

Welcome to WMT!!!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome aboard!

Plenty of Philly people on the board. (I am a native Philadelphian, but now live near Milwaukee.)

 

[Ajmassa]

Congrats on the shift to class .
Northeast Philly born & raised, now across the river.

Where’d you get your grapes from? (Nice to be in an area with multiple local suppliers.)

 

[Kitchen]

Thanks for the greetings everyone.

Getting them from Keystone Home Brew tomorrow and in another two weeks. Going for a Cab/Merlot blend tomorrow, and straight Pinot Noir in two weeks.

 

[Snafflebit]

Cheesemaking is on my bucket list

 

[Kitchen]

Cheesemaking is on my bucket list

Nice to hear.

Just as a tip of advice, you need an area to store that cheese that you can keep at 50F and 82% humidity, perhaps higher for some cheeses. I have a cheap extra fridge with a not so good thermostate that allows me to keep the frig at 50F. I also have a humidifier (with a switch turn on) in the frig hooked up to a device that measures the humidity that will turn on an attached outlet automatically if the RH drops too low, turning on the humidifier. (This is why you need an analog humidifier; with a digital, the humidifier will not turn on if the power goes out and then restarts.)

If you move forward, only do one type of mold based cheese (Blue, Brie, etc.), otherwise the molds will start to cross mingle and grow in all of the mold based cheeses. The "normal" bacteria based cheeses can be intermingled in the same cheese cave without issue.

 

[Snafflebit]

Nice to hear.

Just as a tip of advice, you need an area to store it that you can keep at 50F and 82% humidity, perhaps higher for some cheeses. If you move forward, only do one type of mold based cheese (Blue, Brie, etc.), otherwise the molds will start to cross mingle and grow in all of the mold based cheeses. The "normal" bacteria based cheeses can be intermingled in the same cheese cave without issue.

Shoot, I love them all! I also wonder if the various cheese cutures play nice with winemaking. My future home must have a nice big basement with plenty of room for aging wine and perhaps a cheese corner.

Welcome!

 

[Kitchen]

Shoot, I love them all! I also wonder if the various cheese cutures play nice with winemaking. My future home must have a nice big basement with plenty of room for aging wine and perhaps a cheese corner.

Welcome!

I fermented a 3 gallon batch of Chard with Vintner's CL23 in my cheese cave this year without issue. I plan on fermenting Roses with the same yeast in there as well this fall, so I would guess it would not matter much. Cheese bacteria grows really slow and after a rind develops, not much of any leeches out. The mold, especially Penicillium Roqueforti, grows like wild fire though, but mainly on solids.

 

[Ajmassa]

Keystone is great. As a local homebrew shop they’re in a league of their own. Never got their grapes though. this year will be my1st keystone sourced fruit. One of their main suppliers is F Colavita & Son- very reputable wholesale/distributing company for west coast fruit. Read only positive things about them.
Also hitting procacci tomorrow and saturday with the fam for some other wines.

welcome to WMT. The knowledge able to be gained here is invaluable.

 

[my wine]

Welcome to WMT! I too grew up in SW Philly until I entered the service. I miss the real cheese steaks.