Wine on tap by Fermtech.. anyone use this before?

Fermtech Ltd. - manufacturers of specialty home beer and winemaking equipment

Has anyone ever used this? I really can't find anything good or bad with it. Anyways a wine store just opened up in my town, and they sell fresh wine by the liter from their barrels, I want to be able to purchase some and drink it leisurely without having it oxidize... is this the route I should go?

It looks like an open-top trash can with a spigot. Another option could be this or this ....

But THIS is what I plan to use for my wine or beer.

I've used something similar- it was called emptywinebox.com or something like that. I don't know what happened to the guy, as he was a vendor here and then sort of disappeared. But anyway, it's a plastic bag, and you fill it and it goes into a box. It worked really well, and I was happy with it.

The bag is crucial, as it protects the wine from oxidation and light.

The thing is, I don't really mind bottling that much, and so I don't know if it was such a big advantage as you still have to fill the bag the same way as a bottle. The one big advantage would be if you drink that same wine everyday, for the convenience of just having it handy on the counter.

Yeah.. we have a mini oak barrel that I've modded to hold bags of wine out of the box, and that's what I was trying to aim for with his, except be able to fill it on my own and not worry about the oxidation. Thanks for the input, I'll definitely take a look at some of the other options.

MrJames said:

It looks like an open-top trash can with a spigot. Another option could be this or this ....

But THIS is what I plan to use for my wine or beer.

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None of these are even remotely the same as the Fermatech device. They will NOT work for wine.

DoctorCAD said:

None of these are even remotely the same as the Fermatech device. They will NOT work for wine.

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Why won't the Tap-A-Draft work for wine? Besides, I did not claim the same device, just said an alterenative could be.....

MrJames said:

Why won't the Tap-A-Draft work for wine? Besides, I did not claim the same device, just said an alterenative could be.....

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The Tap-a-Draft is for carbonated beverages (which wine is not) and those are NOT alternatives, not even close...

If you put wine in a tap a draft you would end up with a spritzer or carbonated wine.

...whoops, almost let the cat out of the bag with my original post...

Tap-A-Draft uses patented technology and food-grade cartridges to help keep your beverages fresh and dispensing properly. As your drink is poured through the Tap-A-Draft System, gas is allowed to enter the bottle to maintain the pressure in the container. For carbonated beverages like beer and soda, using CO2 cartridges, the Tap-A-Draft System keeps the level of carbonation accurate and the taste fresh. Using Nitrous or Argon cartridges with wine will create a barrier to help prevent oxidization of the beverage.

I thought this was a different product. After reading their website, it is not what I thought.

Depending on the quantity you're buying from the maker, I'd say yes, I've seen discussion on the bag in box method and I've heard it works quite well for a short term to moderate term dispensing. Lets say that you decide to buy a gallon of wine from the place, I'd go with the bag in box and drink it within 2-3 months.

Alternatively, if you were going to buy 5 gallons worth of their wine (or lets say you made some) you can also put wine into a keg and dispense in a similar way. I don't have a nitrogen system (yet), so what I do is either move the keg up high and hook co2 up at a measily 1-2 psi and let gravity pull the wine down a dispenser (picnic tap and hose) and let the co2 fill the space without pressurizing the wine.

High, in some cases, may be up on top of a small footstool or bench.

Given that you are out in Italy, I'd get something light like the Fermtech and at the rate me and my friends drink wine, probably fill the bag once a week. (Assuming a glass or two a day).

Kevin,

Thanks.. that's exactly what my plan was, prob 5 liters at a time for short term dispensing.. it's more convenient for my wife since she doesn't have to open up a whole bottle when I'm away on travel to drink a glass of wine. I'll give a shot and hope for the best. Thanks for all the input.

vinoterp said:

Kevin,

Thanks.. that's exactly what my plan was, prob 5 liters at a time for short term dispensing.. it's more convenient for my wife since she doesn't have to open up a whole bottle when I'm away on travel to drink a glass of wine. I'll give a shot and hope for the best. Thanks for all the input.

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That is still not what the Fermentech system is for. It is for making your own wine and instead of bottling it, you put it into the bag. And only for wines that either already have been bulk aged or do not need to age (Mist-types). A "regular" kit or fruit wine needs to age. Boxes don't age well, no micro-oxygenation.

Buy a box-o-wine for the wife. The Bota Box is good wine and it gets 90's in Wine Enthusiast magazine. Those will last a long time after opening.

I'm curious, what would you then recommend for purchasing wine from a place that sells wine from their cask? This would be for direct consumption within a relatively short time. This isn't a kit or a fruit wine and not for aging.

The other option would be to get a 1/2 gallon growler and have them fill it up at the tap. But, like a regular wine bottle, the constant opening and closing and air space is going to oxidize this wine pretty badly, even for the short time. (like going through a regular wine bottle through 3 days x2.5)

Based on this, I'd prefer going for a air resistant bag, or heck, a freezer zip-lockbaggie with a spout, and to keep any new air from going in.

Most of the posts have NOT discussed the original intention, to buy ready to drink wine from a wine seller sans bottle. This is of course putting me at risk with the assumption that "sells fresh wine from their barrels by the liter" is a ready to drink wine.

Never heard of a winery that sells wine that way?????

DoctorCAD said:

Never heard of a winery that sells wine that way?????

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I think it's pretty common in Portugal and Italy. I'm unsure about other countries, and I rarely travel to Europe.

The trick was that I saw his location as Italia and checked his profile to figure that he was in Italy where they actually have these sorts of things. Only then did the question make sense to me.

I was thinking like this Fill ‘Er Up at the Wine Station | For 91 Days in Palermo – Travel Blog Or perhaps without the fancy nozzle and they measure some other way. Similar to the way a person might buy fresh orange juice.

THe closest thing we have in the US that I've seen is this: http://www.enomatic.it/new/default.asp?catIDPadre=33&catID=34&docID=&lan=ENG (I love getting a few glasses of wine this way at a certain grocery store, if they still have it.)

Rather than a solid container like the video shows, I would actually think that a bag method might be easier and keep oxygen out in comparison to a hard container since once filled, you can squeeze out the oxygen to leave it just liquid in the bag. Alternatively, since it was mentioned that they have barrels customized for bags of wine already.... I wonder if those could be somehow refillable?