Wine Making newb questions

Hello all,

Been brewing beer for a few years now and I want to try making a wine.

Have a quick question.

All the sites that explain the process always say to rack to Glass jugs(carboys). Can you just use plastic buckets like I do with beer?

Only if your bucket is sealed and airlocked.

Buckets are fine for primary, but for subsequent rackings jugs are preferred due to the small surface area that is exposed to air.

So if I am making a 5 gallon batch, as long as I seal the bucket with a lid and air lock, I can let it sit just as I let beer sit?

Just not trying to buy a 5 gallon glass carboy if I don't need too. I use straight buckets for brewing beer.

Irisndfan2 said:

So if I am making a 5 gallon batch, as long as I seal the bucket with a lid and air lock, I can let it sit just as I let beer sit?

Just not trying to buy a 5 gallon glass carboy if I don't need too. I use straight buckets for brewing beer.

Click to expand...

You can use the bucket for primary (5-7 days) and then after that the wine must be racked to a carboy or demijohn, to reduce the headspace. A bucket simply is too wide and the headspace is too much as a result. Not only does the wine need to go into a carboy, it needs to be topped up as well so there is almost no headspace at all.

You can make small batches, or separate the batch, to use those Carlo Rossi wine jugs (4 L size), as they take a #6 stopper and airlock just fine!