mromilio
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2013
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 6
Hello all-
I'm new to this hobby. Started last christmas with a Mr. Beer kit, made 5 or 6 batches of mediocre beer, and unsatisfied with the fruits of my labor, decided to branch out into more advanced beer brewing using more sophisticated equipment.
Instead, I ran into a few articles about making fruit wines, and decided to get into small batch 1 gallon winemaking. Picked up a winemakers kit from Midwest Supply and got a recipe for Strawberry from the included booklet that came with the kit. The recipe was bare bones, and as it sat fermenting, I began to eat up research on the web on winemaking. I came across the app for this forum on the iPad, and haven't looked back since.
Based on the posts by the helpful, experienced and friendly members of this forum, I learned the basics of the right way to make wine. I learned recipes like DD's Dragon Blood, Welch's Concord Grape from frozen concentrate, and a Cherry Pie recipe that I will be starting next week.
I've got the Welchs in secondary right now, waiting to be racked again in about 2 months, the Strawberry aging right now, a white berry grape from concentrate has just been racked, and the beautiful Dragon Blood about to be bottled in a week's time. I took a taste right after backsweetening the Dragon Blood and realized at that point, I can make drinkable wine! That clinched it for me. I can't see another period of the rest of my life that I don't have a gallon fermenting some sort of wine.
Thanks to the experienced members who offer their help and advice to all who need it. I hope to be able to add my 2 cents as I become more experienced, but I feel like I know what I am doing already. If you read my winemakers log, you'd think I was the manager of a winery with all the technical jargon I am throwing around.
I've attached a few pics of what I have working. Thanks again for fueling my new obsession!
Mario
I'm new to this hobby. Started last christmas with a Mr. Beer kit, made 5 or 6 batches of mediocre beer, and unsatisfied with the fruits of my labor, decided to branch out into more advanced beer brewing using more sophisticated equipment.
Instead, I ran into a few articles about making fruit wines, and decided to get into small batch 1 gallon winemaking. Picked up a winemakers kit from Midwest Supply and got a recipe for Strawberry from the included booklet that came with the kit. The recipe was bare bones, and as it sat fermenting, I began to eat up research on the web on winemaking. I came across the app for this forum on the iPad, and haven't looked back since.
Based on the posts by the helpful, experienced and friendly members of this forum, I learned the basics of the right way to make wine. I learned recipes like DD's Dragon Blood, Welch's Concord Grape from frozen concentrate, and a Cherry Pie recipe that I will be starting next week.
I've got the Welchs in secondary right now, waiting to be racked again in about 2 months, the Strawberry aging right now, a white berry grape from concentrate has just been racked, and the beautiful Dragon Blood about to be bottled in a week's time. I took a taste right after backsweetening the Dragon Blood and realized at that point, I can make drinkable wine! That clinched it for me. I can't see another period of the rest of my life that I don't have a gallon fermenting some sort of wine.
Thanks to the experienced members who offer their help and advice to all who need it. I hope to be able to add my 2 cents as I become more experienced, but I feel like I know what I am doing already. If you read my winemakers log, you'd think I was the manager of a winery with all the technical jargon I am throwing around.
I've attached a few pics of what I have working. Thanks again for fueling my new obsession!
Mario
