Wine Making

[kooba]

I know its a little early to think about making homemade wine but would like to start to do this as a little hobby. What do I need to start this process and does anyone out there care to share some recipes of their homemade wine that they make. Thanks for all advice. Kooba.

[goblueM]

It is never too early to talk about wine making! There are some good homebrew shops in the Twin Cities (Northern Brewer and Midwest Homebrew Supplies) that have lots of great inventory and helpful staff. You can call them and get set up or just ask a bunch of questions.

You can also check out online communities, such as reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/winemaking/

http://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/

or any number of wine making forums you can find by a quick google search

[brakedancer]

I've been turning water into wine since "99 so I have some experience..

start out with one of their starter kits from one of the fore mentioned stores..My advise would be buy a white zinfendel kit from them also..gets your feet wet in the process..then this spring make a nice rhubarb wine..rhubarb is easy to find if you don't have your own plants, many people have more than they can use and will give to you..

start recycling your wine bottles..have your friends save theirs for you also

for hundreds of recipes just google jack keller wine and the site will help

good luck

[Jim916]

It is never to early to start making wine. I have been doing it for two years now. I started out with a wine kit and I am making several fruit wines from Jack Kellers web site. I have two different dandelion wines, a cherry wine, a jalepeno wine, and a blackberry port style wine going right now. Most of them are just one gallon.

Another web site for recipes and help is homebrewtalk.com.

I started with wine and I am also doing beer. I made a mash tun a few weeks ago, and soon will be trying all grain recipes.

With the warm weather I am thinking about doing a smoke and brew day tomorrow. I have an extract beer kit to make before I try the all grain.

[B. Amish]

get an equipment kit. i've got a 6 gallon kit which makes about 30 bottles. also, start out with an ingredient kit for your first batch just so you understand the process.

the ingredient kits are really easy. if you can bake a cake, you can make wine from an ingredient kit. the ingredient kits make wines that will be very very good.

i've got a blackberry wine going right now.

like mentioned above... now would be a good time to start your first ingredient kit batch, so you're a seasoned vet by the time rhubarb is ready. then start your own homemade batch. tons of resources out there. some great online sources. ec kraus is another HSOforum to look at.

[kooba]

I was going to get one of those easy recipes first. I was looking to make rhubarb, raspberry and grape wine from the fruit I have in my yard. If any of u have great recipes for these three would be great. I don't like really dry wine. Thanks for all the replys.

[dairyman]

I've been doing wine for some years now---------my personal favorite is chokecherry(I pick my own berries--1- ice cream pail of the cherries will make one gallon of the wine)I've tried the grape wines and haven't been really impressed with them---they seem to be more tempermental then the fruit wines--adjusting pH and such.

If your not into "dry" wines I think you'd be better off going the fruit wine route and pick your own fruit and go from there. As previously posted the listed web sites have good info on them..........good luck-- its definitely an adventure and each batch is generally a little different

[mrklean]

My gf and i have talked about making wine for awhile, how expensive is it to do? I see kits out there from $60-300 but wasnt sure how expensive all the stuff gets buy ingredients etc

[gundy89]

My gf and i have talked about making wine for awhile, how expensive is it to do? I see kits out there from $60-300 but wasnt sure how expensive all the stuff gets buy ingredients etc

I started last year with a large 6 gallon kit and a 2 gallon fruit wine setup. As said before, the kits are like baking a cake. I've done a couple and they turn out great. the last one was a blackberry shirazz kit. I picked up a group-on to "grew and grow" for $20 off. all in all it was about $45 for 30 bottles. have friends and family start saving bottles to help with the expense. I think you can pick up the equipment kits for the 6 gallon which will have everything you need for under $100. most of the stuff carries over to the fruit wine too. There are 3 stores in the metro that I have bought from. you can shop them all online.

takes about 6 weeks for the wine kits to be ready to bottle. you should let them age for some time, but you can drink them right away. I'd also recommend "skeeter pee" for your first non kit. It's super easy and takes very little time. I started my first fruit wine last may and it's still bulk aging. About ready to be bottled.

I have a skeeter pee going right now in the big kit. I also have cinnamon rhubarb (2 gallon), blueberry (2 gallon), mango, and jalepeno peach going right now. need to bottle and start fresh.

biggest thing to remember is to wash and sanatize everything everytime! Get some no rinse sanatizer when you buy the suff!

[B. Amish]

most of the ingredient kits are made for 6 gallons. ingredient kits run anywhere from $40 to $120.

bottles are about $1 a piece.

you can get everything you need in an equipment kit for $150.

so, if you can fork out $230, you can make 30 bottles of wine for $7 / bottle.

[solbes]

I've got my first homemade wine in carboys right now (tertiary). It's a Pinot Noir from a Vintners Reserve kit, only cost $60.

It was an easy transition for me as I've been home brewing for about a year and a half now. Wine equipment is very similar to beer equipment, so I only needed to buy bottles, corks, a corker, and the kit.

Seems like wine has more steps than beer, but the actual process is much easier since you don't have to boil, cool, and hold fermentation temps so precise. That's for wine kits, I'm sure using grapes would be as complicated if not more than brewing beer. I'd say go for it, my whole family now makes wine, and so far we are the only ones who brew beer.

[mrklean]

How is the skeeter pee? I got an idea if we start making wine to make a ton for our wedding next spring and i heard skeeter pee was good

[Jim916]

Skeeter pee is very good. I have made a strawberry lemonade and just a regular lemomade skeeter pee. Both were a hit at our Halloween party. It costs about two dollars a gallon to make. One thing about skeeter pee is that it is around 10% alcohol. The first time I served it in beer bottles, and people do not realize how strong it is. It is a great summer drink.