Physical requirements of winemaking v. brewing

[user 246304]

I'm pretty badly screwed up medically and as much as I hate it, and even though I just built my rig, it's doubtful I can continue to brew.

Can anyone tell me how the physical requirements (lifting, etc.) of winemaking compare to brewing?

I love wine....my cousin is a California maker....give me good pinot noir, and I'm lost till the bottle is dry. That, Loire sauv blanc, minerally Rieslings off the Mosel. Willamette Pinot Noir, California Chardonnay (where the fog and daylength licks the vines just right, mostly RRV), ... OK, I'll stop.

 

[passedpawn]

Wine is far easier on the body. In fact, it's pretty darned easy to make wine. No mashing/boiling, so it's akin to the no-boil kits that some of us started with. There's still a bucket and carboy that needs to be lifted though. And, the fact that it produces acceptable product at room temperatures means I don't have to move carboys from a brewing area to a chest freezer.

I make it in a large (~8g) bucket. After that, I need two transfers (rackings) and it's bottling time. If one were clever, he could probably figure out a way to avoid lifting 5g of wine. Easiest way would be to use gas to push it.

 

[SEndorf]

I have an electric system with pumps, and push fermented beer to kegs with CO2.
The only lifting involved is 5 gal. jugs of water into the HLT, kegs into the keezer, and various pails of cleaner.
I'm not getting any younger and see one of these types of lifts in my future.
http://mobilept.com/product/5-gallon-pail-lifter/

 

[ncbrewer]

Since wine is (typically) roughly twice the ABV of beer, you can make smaller batches. My wife makes 1 gallon batches of wine.

 

[user 246304]

Thank you guys. That's pretty encouraging.

Much appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

Pumps for bottling wine and racking wine run about $200 but they are self priming and you can either filter or not as desired. I may be getting one in the near future, just to make my life even easier on racking/bottling days. Physically, winemaking is far less demanding for me. Partly because my boil kettle and MLT are kegs, and even empty weigh 30+ pounds. I can clean in place, but even so it's much more demanding for me. I don't have nearly the cleaning requirements with winemaking; I just hose my winepress off.

 

[user 246304]

Thank you Yooper! Yep, it's dealing with a full mash tun and the rest that is getting too hard to manage. My family was seriously concerned I was having a stroke last session - aside from crazy tremors, get massive migraines and shower-like sweats that are so bad I can't even talk without exacerbating everything. So I'm hopeful to keep in the game, and I really do love wine so much so thank you.

Is there a particular brand of pump you like to use? And you mention a winepress. I do expect to start with kits, but like my cousin used to say, "I'm not a maker, I'm a grower." I'd love to start with grapes. I'm getting several books but if you have the time, would you mind sharing your press setup, and how you source your grapes?

 

[AkTom]

Check out allinonewinepump.com I love mine. It’s a vacuum pump. Racking, degassing, and bottling. Easy on my back.

 

[user 246304]

OK, thanks AkTom, will check it out. Have a couple books from the library and already getting pretty geaked about it. Love brewing, have for a long time, just acknowledging reality, I guess. I know my cousin's going to get sick of my peppering him with questions.

 

[Yooper]

Grapes are bought via homebrew store/winemaking shops. I don't usually get any, because of where I live. But occasionally I've bought them frozen.

I make a ton of non-grape wines though. Blackberry, chokecherry, dandelion, apple, crabapple, etc. My best wine is an oaked blackberry!

 

[user 246304]

Grapes are bought via homebrew store/winemaking shops. I don't usually get any, because of where I live. But occasionally I've bought them frozen.

I make a ton of non-grape wines though. Blackberry, chokecherry, dandelion, apple, crabapple, etc. My best wine is an oaked blackberry!

In season we're lucky to get juice, though I do have some concerns about travel and how they were maintained in their long way to the midwest. Some from Chile, some from NZ, and some from California. Several varieties. I'd very much like to know more about the CA grapes. Other than that my local store has concentrated kits. Outside the possibility of these seasonal juices, I'll do everything I can to find either grapes, or a known, quality supplier of frozen grapes.

Hear you on the fruit wines, they can be delightful. My grandfather in law, who is about to pass, lived decades on a 40 up in the U.P. Not an inch of land that tough little Estonian fireplug didn't put to use. Every year, you could count on wonderful red and black current wines. I loved the black. We also used to reduce it down for the most awesome ice cream sauce topping. But on its own, an unctuous, intensely flavored fruit wine. I'm going to miss him for so many reasons, and this is just one.