Inherited a carboy of wine

Hi Everyone,

One of my friends had a housemate move out and leave behind some carboys of wine (’05 Syrah) rather than move them. I would like to use them for homebrewing beer, but I don’t want to waste 6 gallons of wine either. Since I’m not planning on getting into winemaking I would prefer not to buy any new stuff either.

To that end:

How do I tell if the wine is done (no traces of fermentation or anything, but I'm not sure about aging)?
What do I do with it (just put it in bottles, or do I need to do other stuff)?
Can I just toss it in beer bottles & cap?
How much headspace should I leave in a beer bottle?
How long should I age it for once it is bottled?

What other information would you need from me to help with my questions?

Thanks for any help!

sphericalcamel

All that wine would make great Xmas Presents

Taste it to make sure it's not contaminated with vinegar or something. To see if the wine is done (and it must be!), check the s.g.

Rack it into another carboy with crushed and dissolved campden tablets (1 per gallon). I would invest in wine bottles (free at restaurants and bars, or the recycling center), #8 corks and a hand corker. (Or rent or borrow a floor corker from your LHBS). Beer bottles are ok if you'll be drinking it quickly, so you might want to do a couple like that. But this wine should probably be bottled, corked, and aged a bit.

After you cork it, leave it upright for a week or so, then lay them down to keep the cork moist.

I'm going to make a broad assumption here. Given your location, I would be tempted to speculate that these are not kit wines from concentrate and use local grapes.

I wouldn't throw it away. It could be very good stuff. Follow Yooper's advice.

Thanks for the help! The wine is all bottled now (FG: 0.992) and was pretty tasty already. Can't wait for it to age a while!

nice score!

what did you end up putting it in????
JJ

I couldn't track down a corker, so I put some in screw-top wine bottles and the rest in beer bottles. A bunch of it has already found new homes and the carboy is nice and clean now! (PBW is amazing)