Anyone Make Their Own Wine?

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zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Just starting a 6 gallon batch of Cabernet in the primary fermenter this afternoon- added the oak chips and the yeast. Will use a white oak barrel for the aging...

2ce16wl.jpg


 

loneredtree

Part of the Furniture Now
May 27, 2011
569
181
Sierra Foothills
I have made a Beaujolais and a killer strawberry in the past. They both turned out to be great drinkers. I have 24 bottles of this years strawberry aging now.
Why use oak chips if you are aging in a white oak barrel?
Wine making is a lot of fun. The results are enjoyable I have found. Best of Luck Zack.

 

cobguy

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
3,742
15
I've homebrewed a lot of beer but never delved into wine. Looks tasty already!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
My dad used to make some wine out of strange stuff, dandelions for one. It didn't taste good,

but I drank a little to make him feel good. I've had worse commercial wine. North Carolina is

struggling to restart it's wine industry. In colonial times, this was "Napa Valley." New York State

has some terrific wineries. N.C. will get there, has wine-making curriculums at community

colleges, but it will take a few more years.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Why use oak chips if you are aging in a white oak barrel?

Cause I like it really oakey~..Actually, it came with the kit...We're going to sample this at the end of 30 days and either stick it in a barrel or get a 15 gallon barrel and make a larger batch....

 

deleon

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 7, 2011
663
218
Texas
Buddy and I have 5 gallons of homemade Irish Red Ale fermenting right now. Another friend is making some blueberry and peach wine.

 

swampmouth

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 4, 2013
123
0
I have found all the kits carry an off flavor. Probably from the invert sugar. It's not bad though and they will age well. I tried cranberries once but it wouldn't take.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
I hope it tastes terrible...cause if it's good, I'll get totally obsessed and spend thousands of dollars on a stainless steel fermenter and all the other cool stuff that's out there...

 

bentmike

Lifer
Jan 25, 2012
2,422
37
Looks good! I brewed beer (Ales) for a few years and made a couple 6 gallon batches of wine. I actually like the wine making process. It's a little easier than beer because no cooking involved. My last wine was a 2006 Merlot made from fresh Napa Valley juice. The brew shop I worked with would order the juice fresh from the vinyards and truck it back to Ohio in a refrigerated trailer. They send out a notification and you place your orders then wait for your juice to show. I liked the way it worked because the vinyard knows just when to pick the grapes and the juice is only a few days old when I pitch the yeast.
The coolest part of winemaking is sampling the product as the years go by and experiencing the gradual change of a particular vintage. I have one bottle of that Merlot left that I'm saving for some special occasion.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

jmill208

Lifer
Dec 8, 2013
1,087
1,163
Maryland USA
I have made wines in the past and had some favorable and some not-so favorable results.
My brief foray into the hobby ended when I had a run-in with some watermelon must that made me gag and throw-up while siphoning. Not a pleasant experience.

 

blueeyedogre

Lifer
Oct 17, 2013
1,552
30
I want to try a honey mead sometime in the future. Might be a next winter project. Hope the wine turns out to be the drink of the gods!! Cheers!

 

chops

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 26, 2011
223
0
Lower Hudson Valley, NY
I have always wanted to make my own wine, but never got around to it. My uncle makes a batch each year and gives me a couple bottles. I like it but it is very different from commercial wine.

 

aristokles

Can't Leave
Jan 18, 2011
399
0
Hey zack24,

Are you using grape juice concentrates or buying whole vinifera stock and crushing your own?

My wife and I have made our own wines for the last 10 years or so, maybe longer. We make a bit less now that we no longer have our farm(ette) with its vineyard and dozens of fruit trees. PAYING for our fruits took a bit of the shine off of making our own. Using concentrates just did not compute cost-wise for me versus just buying prepared wine after we located to the city. We still make a few gallons of a fruit wine but nothing like before.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Aristokles,

We bought the concentrate...I have too many projects to go crazy and start crushing grapes...plus living in Florida, the shipping from states producing good Cabernet is ridiculous...

 
Oct 12, 2014
328
21
Haven't done wine in awhile but I'll be starting some Mead soon. I too live in Florida and can only make wine/beer/mead in the winter. Batches in the summer can sometimes take on strange flavors if the ferment temps are too high. We keep the AC at 80. In the winter I rarely have that happen..

 

bulldogbriar89

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 3, 2014
644
1
I have never made my own wine, but my uncle has been making wine for a long time and it is amazing, I want to start to get into it.

 

sw0snuff3r

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 3, 2014
239
1
I've made several batches of fruit wines in the past: gooseberry, concord grape, blackberry, perry, apple cider, applejack and more. All from fruit grown on my property or from friends and family. I spent this year learning about and growing my own tobacco so I didn't make any wine. Hopefully next year I'll have both a tobacco harvest and some good wines on the go. I agree with @mmjk that it's a great hobby to relax with and can be very rewarding. It's not too expensive to get into either.

 

schaum

Might Stick Around
Aug 8, 2014
79
0
Mead, sparkling hard cider, beer, ale. Corny keg system.
Blackberry, cherry and raspberry wines when I can gather enough fruit for a batch. I haven't tried concentrates bcause of the price. I'm cheap.

 
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