Beer or Wine, which is easier to make?

[kzimmer0817]

I almost hate to post this in the beer section as it might make me look like a heretic. But . . . I figure that there are many of you who brew BOTH beer and wine. To be perfectly honest, I'm a little more of a wine drinker than a beer drinker. A few people have told me that it's easier to make wine than it is to make beer. I read thru the processes for red wine and white wine on another site, and the process for wine seems a bit more complicated than that for beer. While there doesn't appear to be a boil, there's a lot more "checking" on things and more stuff that has to be added during the process.

I'd appreciate hearing from those who brew both. I'm certainly not asking which is BETTER: beer vs wine. I'm asking which process is EASIER.

Respectfully,
Keith

 

[Xpertskir]

I'd say they are both easy to make. Now to do a good job of it that's another thing all together.

 

[Yooper]

The actual process for wine is easier. No boil, no hops additions, no real "work" at all.

But, getting wine perfect is harder than for beer. Acidity, pH, balance, fruit sweetness, etc, all play a role and are more difficult to control.

But as far as which is easier to make? Wine, by a long shot. It's just harder to make great wine than great beer.

 

[Onihige]

It really depends on what beer/wine you're making. And HOW you're making it.

You can make both as easy and hard as you possibly can.

Some extract brewing doesn't even require boiling. It's just mixing it with water, same as many wine kits.

And wine doesn't have to come in kits, either. You could be picking, cutting, pressing... etc your fruits/berries.

And, don't quote me on this, when it all comes down to it beer and wine was probably quite similar 5000 years ago.

 

[timewasted]

I agree with Yooper. I've done a few wine kits at this point they are much less labor intensive to make. From start to pitch, you can usually get a wine kit started in about 30 minutes. They tend to require much more patience though, especially the reds.

 

[kombat]

Wine is definitely easier. My wife makes wine, I brew beer. Yesterday I spent 6 hours cleaning equipment, milling grains, heating water, stirring, straining, heating more water, straining again, then an hour and a half boiling, then 30 minutes chilling, then whisking up a nice froth, transferring into a sanitized carboy, measuring specific gravity, taking notes, dumping in the yeast (which I started 4 days ago), and finally gently lowering into a temperature-controlled freezer with an airlock. Then more cleaning.

My wife spent 30 minutes cleaning out a bucket, dumping in a bag of wine extract, stirring in a couple packets of who-knows-what, sprinkling in some yeast, and putting the lid on, as it sits on a bench at room temperature for the next 3 weeks.

Granted, she'll have to do a couple more additions along the way, but I doubt it'll negate the 5.5 hour time investment advantage she's currently sitting on.

As others have mentioned, kit extract brewing is much faster, but you don't get the infinite flexibility of all grain.

 

[MalFet]

For any comparison will depend on exactly how much "making" your making beer or wine involves. Making a pre-juiced wine kit is undoubtedly easier than managing an all grain batch, but starting from a bushel of grapes is substantially harder than diluting a pre-hopped extract and sprinkling a yeast pack over the top.

In either case, you can choose to make either process as easy or as complex as you'd like. That said, I've made a few really nice wine kits and I was surprised by how good the results were for how little work they involved. In contrast, I wasn't happy with my beer until I got a few moderately technical things under control, particularly temperature control. The only piece of unsolicited advice I'd offer is to spend the extra money to get a higher end kit if you decide to take the plunge.

 

[Yooper]

For any comparison will depend on exactly how much "making" your making beer or wine involves. Making a pre-juiced wine kit is undoubtedly easier than managing an all grain batch, but starting from a bushel of grapes is substantially harder than diluting a pre-hopped extract and sprinkling a yeast pack over the top.

In either case, you can choose to make either process as easy or as complex as you'd like. That said, I've made a few really nice wine kits and I was surprised by how good the results were for how little work they involved. In contrast, I wasn't happy with my beer until I got a few moderately technical things under control, particularly temperature control. The only piece of unsolicited advice I'd offer is to spend the extra money to get a higher end kit if you decide to take the plunge.

I guess "easier" isn't the right word, but I've made tons of wine and even starting with fruit there isn't as much to know/do. It's just much more difficult to get it to turn out "great". Acid adjustments and things like that aren't difficult at all.

With brewing, there is water chemistry, mash pH, hops additions and figuring IBUs, boiling, etc, so there are more steps to learn. But once you know that, it's pretty easy to make great beer.

I wasn't talking about kits- as making a kit wine is no harder than making kool-aid.

 

[kzimmer0817]

Thanks for your responses thus far. Regarding the sort of brewing I've done: I've done 5 batches of beer on my own: 1 extract kit, 3 extract w/specialty grain kits, and 1 all grain. The all-grain recipe I brewed a few weeks ago was my first AG beer. I used BIAB and followed Reno_eNVy's recipe for Punkin Ale.

So, if it helps, my beer making from now on will be all-grain done via BIAB. I also "no-chilled" this last batch. I bottled it a few days ago. The details and pictures are in the thread in my signature.

So, I think I'm comfortable with following someone's AG recipe, as well as with scaling it to make it larger or smaller. I'm not yet ready to make significant changes in a recipe or to come up with my own.

In wine making, I imagine that I would start with a kit - or, at least fruit that was already prepared. I really liked a muscadine wine that a friend made a few years ago. I like moscato (Barefoot, sorry?!?). I enjoy Robt Mondavi's White Zinfandel.

I'm getting the feeling that one must be very patient in waiting for the results. With beer, you usually wait several weeks; with wine, you wait over a year. I'm sure it depends upon the style of wine.

Anyway, I would want to make easy-to-enjoy wines for table and for simply enjoying in the evening after work.

So, I was mainly asking about the processes compared from folks who have done both.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for your responses thus far. Regarding the sort of brewing I've done: I've done 5 batches of beer on my own: 1 extract kit, 3 extract w/specialty grain kits, and 1 all grain. The all-grain recipe I brewed a few weeks ago was my first AG beer. I used BIAB and followed Reno_eNVy's recipe for Punkin Ale.

So, if it helps, my beer making from now on will be all-grain done via BIAB. I also "no-chilled" this last batch. I bottled it a few days ago. The details and pictures are in the thread in my signature.

So, I think I'm comfortable with following someone's AG recipe, as well as with scaling it to make it larger or smaller. I'm not yet ready to make significant changes in a recipe or to come up with my own.

In wine making, I imagine that I would start with a kit - or, at least fruit that was already prepared. I really liked a muscadine wine that a friend made a few years ago. I like moscato (Barefoot, sorry?!?). I enjoy Robt Mondavi's White Zinfandel.

I'm getting the feeling that one must be very patient in waiting for the results. With beer, you usually wait several weeks; with wine, you wait over a year. I'm sure it depends upon the style of wine.

Anyway, I would want to make easy-to-enjoy wines for table and for simply enjoying in the evening after work.

So, I was mainly asking about the processes compared from folks who have done both.

Thanks,
Keith

I think you would be very happy with a moderately priced ($100) wine kit. They make 6 gallons, a total of 30 bottles, and are easy. The better kits make better wine, but the $100 kit makes a very nice wine and is easy. You need a 6 gallon carboy, but otherwise should have everything you need.

 

[Big_Cat]

Wine is way easier ....

 

[kzimmer0817]

You need a 6 gallon carboy, but otherwise should have everything you need.

My son has a 6 gallon glass carboy. I have two 6 gallon ported Better Bottles, two 5 gallon ported vintage plastic carboys, 6 gallon True Brew fermentation bucket, True Brew bottling bucket, and other beer making stuff.

Thanks,
Keith