Re: Homemade wine making thread
Hey BC...
Good the hear that is was such a smashing success! It is a rewarding thing (that helps when it starts to feel like it's a hobby built around bottle/carboy/bucket/paddle washing).
Sounds like you're well on the way to an official wino. You'll know you're there when you start rummaging through blue bins to find nice bottles to re-fill.
Or when you go to friends place for dinner, and end up leaving with a bunch of empty wine bottles.
Also, I'm sure you'll figure out some short cuts that will help save time....
Here are some of mine....
-degass in the carboy using the handle of your stirring paddle (a few times).... saves a useless transfer to the bucket
-use a hard boiling stove top kettle (steam) to heat the shrink tops (if you're doing fancy bottling)... mucho faster than a hair dryer that was the first thing suggested to me.
-mark on the outside of your primary (bucket) how much volume works out to fill the carboy... on mine it is the first ring above the one marked 23 L.... When I leave the sediment in the bucket, I still end up with a full carboy without having to top up with water or wine.
-don't worry if the corks end up not being seated perfectly... just trim them with a sharp knife once they dry out a bit (after a day or two of standing up).
***- never let an empty wine bottle dry out (ends up having dried wine on the bottom that is a PITA to fully clean)... when you pour the last glass, rinse the bottle with water right way, and/or 1/2 fill it with water and let it sit for a bit... then you can let it dry out and put it in the "ready to be washed properly" stack of bottles. -when I started doing this, the bottle washing effort went down A LOT.
anyway thanks for the update!
Cheers!
Hey BC...
Good the hear that is was such a smashing success! It is a rewarding thing (that helps when it starts to feel like it's a hobby built around bottle/carboy/bucket/paddle washing).
Sounds like you're well on the way to an official wino. You'll know you're there when you start rummaging through blue bins to find nice bottles to re-fill.
Or when you go to friends place for dinner, and end up leaving with a bunch of empty wine bottles.
Also, I'm sure you'll figure out some short cuts that will help save time....
Here are some of mine....
-degass in the carboy using the handle of your stirring paddle (a few times).... saves a useless transfer to the bucket
-use a hard boiling stove top kettle (steam) to heat the shrink tops (if you're doing fancy bottling)... mucho faster than a hair dryer that was the first thing suggested to me.
-mark on the outside of your primary (bucket) how much volume works out to fill the carboy... on mine it is the first ring above the one marked 23 L.... When I leave the sediment in the bucket, I still end up with a full carboy without having to top up with water or wine.
-don't worry if the corks end up not being seated perfectly... just trim them with a sharp knife once they dry out a bit (after a day or two of standing up).
***- never let an empty wine bottle dry out (ends up having dried wine on the bottom that is a PITA to fully clean)... when you pour the last glass, rinse the bottle with water right way, and/or 1/2 fill it with water and let it sit for a bit... then you can let it dry out and put it in the "ready to be washed properly" stack of bottles. -when I started doing this, the bottle washing effort went down A LOT.
anyway thanks for the update!
Cheers!