Never made wine before

Hey all,

I have brewed about 8 batches of beer, but recently picked up 72 wine bottles for $2.75. I figured it was such a deal, I better make myself and the mrs some delicious wine.

I want to grab two more 6gal fermenting buckets, air locks etc.

My plan was to buy a local wine kit in the box, and make a red, maybe a merlot, and a white or even a rose.

Can I get some tips or advice that maybe youtube and the web won't explain. Like your own personal experiences and what works the best. I hear aerating throughout the fermenting process is needed.

I have dextrose, fermenter, air lock, santiZer, and malts etc for beer.

Ingredient shopping list?
Ferment temp?
Yeast type?
All input greatly appreciated.

 

I'm no expert by any means, but I've made several 1 gal batches with juice concentrate that have turned out pretty good and a 5 gal batch of muscadine from fruit that is good.

My supply list is bottled drinking water, sugar, yeast(I use Lalvin ec1118), fermax yeast nutrient, campden tablets(1 crushed and dissolved per gallon), and juice and/or fruit.

Day 1- mix together sugar and water to make a simple syrup, about half the water of your total must, add yeast nutrient and campden tablet and mix/stir/shake. I haven't used pectic enzyme but most do. Add some more water, about 90% of what your finished product will be. If you add it all it may overflow your carboy in that first few days of fermentation.

Day 2- pitch yeast and stir/shake/mix A LOT.

Day 3-7 stir/shake/mix

Then let sit or transfer to a secondary. This is very primitive and simpler than most people do but it works for me and my taste buds. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

 

Buy a wine kit. They come with directions and ingrediants. Easy first time wine making! Before, during and after, read this site and any other wine info you can find. Avarage out all the advise and make wine.
Do follow the kit directions. You can post your chosen wine kit and instructions here for opinions. That is easier then such a general question. (At least for me
Good luck and have fun!


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Yeah I wanted to get at least a small idea of the process if it's worth spending 59.99 plus tax just to beep it up.

Brewing beer for me is all kits with dry malt, and the process seems easy enough.

I will be grabbing a kit and will update later on.

Thanks!!

 

You need to spend a bit more than $59.99 if you want a very good wine, but the $59.99 will absolutly make a drinkable wine.

Don't worry about messing a kit up, they are very bulletproof...AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS...the only thing you should be altering is the kits timelines, they tend to rush you to bottle.

Simplified steps:

Mix juice and water and whatever else is in the kit that it tells you to do. Sprinkle yeast over top. Cover with a loose lid

in about 10 days rack into a carboy, take as much as will fit through the siphon hose Airlock

in about 20 days rack off of the lees (the stuff at the bottom) and add the rest of the stuff Airlock

In 3 to 6 months rack to a bottling bucket and bottle. Drink in anlothe 3 to 6 months (The longer the better)

All you should see different is time, the rest of the kits instructions will work as they are intended.

Piece of cake!

 

Have any of you made a "wineExpert" wine kit?

They seem quite cheap. My LHBS has kits starting at about $130 but claims they are excellent.

The "wineExpert" kits I found online for $59, and no, my LHBS wasn't selling these for $130.

 

Wine Expert is a well known kit manufacturer (http://www.winexpert.com/our-brands) but like all of them, they have different priced kits. Unfortunately, you do get what you pay for with kits. The lower dollar versions require you to add lots of water because they have concentrated the juice so much. That leads to less "grape solids" in your wine. Grape solids are what give wines their depth and intensity. The $130 kits not only have less concentrated juice, but some actually come with grapes to add to the solid counts.

 

If you pick up a wine expert Selection kit ($100-$150), After 3 months of carboy aging (for clarification) and atleast 3 to 6 months in a bottle you will have a good bottle of wine.

Most my wines I have oaked and aged for about atleast a year and they are equivalent to a commercial $10 may $15 of wine.

If you are not going a kit route,
Lavlin 1118 for yeast is a beast! it is about all I use.
You will also need atleast 2 carboys to rack between.
K-meta for sanitizer , (it also helps against oxydation, and you have to add 1/4 tsp every 3 months, so it helps if the carboy is still wet with Kmeta).