Hey Ya'll from NC

[Tadley58]

Well I hope I have stumbled into a good thing. I am brandnew to making wine and have just finished my first batch in a 5 gallon bucket. Strawberry wine. 6 weeks in the bucket in the bathtub down stairs. Now wondering what the heck to do............have filtered as much as I can and am now looking at some pretty good lookin fresh wine that is essentually clear except for this opaque blob that seems to either rest at the bottom of the jar or broken up somewhere in the middle. The taste is sweet..........not over powering but has a great strawberry taste.

I guess you could say I am bitten by the bug of making wine. Thinking about the other possibilities and actually have three large watermelons in my mini Cooper waiting to be made into watermelon wine.

I was taken under the wing of a local old timer who gave me his recipe and told me that there was no way to screw it up. It is basically sugar, water, fruit and believe it or not..........just plain old yeast. Nothing fancy.......he said that this was "poor man's wine". so I am now looking for a bit more directions....

I am a registered nurse by trade, a motorhead by birth. My husband builds custom cars and I love to hang out and help in the 7500 sq foot shop that we built after he retired from his business in California. Now in NC our lives are simpler and happier..........downstairs in the house we bought as a repo we discovered a fairly large room.....6 ft by 15 feet that is dug into a granite rock and it is already equiped with a large wine rack. I am hopin that I can stock it with some more of my own home brew!!!!!

 

[jtstar]

Welcome it sounds like you have the bug on the wine you have started can you tell us more about it how long has it been since you made it have you rack it yet for the first time yet and I know from this forum you will need an f-pack towards the end to give it more flavor.

 

[PCharles]

Greetings

Greetings from Morganton, NC. I too have some strawberry wine in progress. I noticed your greeting and had to say hello.

Have you been following a recipie? Make sure to post it and the details of what you've done here.

The folks here will be glad to share their good advice with you.

Best regards and a happy and safe 4th.
Paul

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you guys are headed for a lot of fun.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Welcome to the forum.

Why not drop the Introductions thread and let us know a little about yourself.

 

[Wade E]

Built in wine rack, you lucky SOAB!!! get off our forum!! LOL, that is totally awesome!!! I think we can fill er up in no time!!!!!!!!

 

[Julie]

Hi Tadley58,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. Well I think you better start paying attention to craigslist for carboys. Sounds like you have a fantastic wine room.

My step-son doesn't live too far from you, he is in Fort Mill, SC. Do you visit any of the wineries in NC?

 

[pwrose]

Welcome to the forum, and to NC as well. Glad to hear some people got thier heads screwed on straight and moved east instead of west. LOL
Being the time of year just about everyone that makes fruit wines has strawberry going, and will soon have the mid summer to fall fruits starting soon. Make sure you post recipes and steps and this group will certainly help you make some good decisions on making your next batch. Its funny no matter how long you have been making wine that every so often the experienced one makes a newbie mistake.

Welcome again

 

[Tadley58]

well, geesh, I guess I have alot of reading to do..........my "wine"has been out of the bucket now for 1 week, was 'workin" in the bucket for 6. I have done a straining leaving it a nice pink red color, tastes pretty good at this point.

Now I guess I have to "rack it" and buy a "carboy".

Yep can see that the learnin curve is going to to mighty high for a while............

thanks everyone...........I look forward to tryin to keep up with the rest of you all.

Tad

 

[Tadley58]

just learning what it means to "rack it". don''t know what an "f" pack is...........so......well here goes nothing, gotta get up that learning curve, feel the burn already!!!!!

 

[Redtrk]

just learning what it means to "rack it". don''t know what an "f" pack is...........so......well here goes nothing, gotta get up that learning curve, feel the burn already!!!!!

See my user title under my name? If I can figure it out you will too.

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Mike93YJ]

Welcome to the forum!

just learning what it means to "rack it". Racking - To transfer a liquid from one vessel to another. Normally done to remove the wine from the lees. Part of the clearing process.
don''t know what an "f" pack isF-Pak - Flavor Pack. Usually a concentrated juice of the original fruit ingredients or similar. Can also be simple syrup, honey, or other flavorings added once fermentation is complete. Sorbate and K-meta should be added prior to any F-Pak to prevent secondary fermentation.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14045&postcount=7
...........so......well here goes nothing, gotta get up that learning curve, feel the burn already!!!!!

From the Common terms post in beginners forum

 

[PCharles]

Learing about wine making

Tad, here is a sight I went to first. It covers the bases. Jack Keller is well known for his fruit wines.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/winemake.asp

This page will discuss the essentials such as adding acid to the wine, measuring total acid, ect. Many here believe Jack's recipies are short on fruit. I've made some and do enjoy the tast. Advise from those here is good also. F-pack is what the call a flavor pack. If you search "how to make an f-pac" you should find the pdf instrucions. Essentially it is adding sweetness and flavor to the wine after fermentation is complete.

May your fermenter be full,
Paul

 

[Tadley58]

Thanks PC.....I have to admit that my wine was made with regular bread yeast, it tastes fine...........but from what I have been reading today ( as suggested by you and other people here) I am ready to do it the right way!!!! THanks guys............makin an order right now for some real stuff............

 

[grapeman]

I had a guy at the market the other day comment that he makes wine, but his always comes out sweet when he uses real grapes. He asked if I knew how to get it drier. I asked him what yeast he used and he said Fleischmans. There's your problem I told him. The yeast can die off well under 10% resulting in a fair amount of residual sugars.

Welcome to the forum and keep on posting.

 

[Sirs]

Welcome to you another north carolinian in the group.........even bread yeast will do fine for making wine if done right it's like anythnig else you can do it a number of ways none are worng it's according to what you want

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Tadley58]

Hey thanks for the support. Just took my new wine to a friend who threw a hydrometer into it...........though it is real raw she said that it tasted well and just needed to be racked a few times. We actually cut some of her aged strawberry wine with my sweet wine and came up with a great tasting brew...................I am going to throw down some watermelon wine in the next day or so using the same old recipe from the olde timer up the road. Wish me luck!!!!