Folks with young children

[Trubador]

Just wanted to start a thread for those of us with young children in the house who also make wine and beer.



I for one can attest that it adds a whole nother level to the wine making process.



I usually have to make the wine, rack the wine, bottle the wine,
etc....after 8 or 9PM once they've gone to sleep. i would love to
have them help and I'm sure they want to, but my kids are 1.5 and 4
years old and hardly sanitary!



Anyway, like I said, not much of a point to this thread except to ask
others to share experiences they've had with their kids while
homebrewing or making wine. Or ways in which they can help with
the process and feel involved.



Here's one: Sometimes when I bottle, I have my 4 year old help by
handing me the dry bottles to put in the iodophor and helping to remove
them. But I am always leery of him handling anything with wet
iodophor for fear of him putting his hands in his mouth etc....
is there a danger with iodophor at the recommended 12.5ppm
concentration.

 

[PolishWineP]

This is the perfect time to start training that 4 year old to help! Explain the importance of both of you following the rules and of being very clean when working with wine. If you both have a wine making t-shirt that you wear only for making wine, it would be a badge of honor for a kid. Everyone can scrub like a surgeon before starting, and we have to remember to keep our hands away from our face and clothes when helping. Once you've corked a bottle, they can take the bottle from you and move it to the next place. They can case the bottles after you've attached labels. With your help they can sprinkle the yeast. They would be good at holding the hose in the receiving carboy when you start your syphon for racking. As they grow they learn and are able to help even more.


This is also a good time to discuss the fact that the chemicals you use making wine are okay to use the proper way in wine making but it could be a terrible thing if the chemicals got into someone's eyes or mouth.

 

[rgecaprock]

Very Good, PWP


Now if I could just teach Curtis those rules. And he only has a wine drinking T shirt.

Ramona

 

[Angell Wine]

I let my kids put the labels & shrink caps on. Some of the labels are straight, some with bubbles some sideways. They have fun with it. Letthe kidstaste the juice before you add anything.

 

[Waldo]

Thats the way mine look angell and I am putting them on myself

 

[PolishWineP]

Very Good, PWP


Now if I could just teach Curtis those rules. And he only has a wine drinking T shirt.

Ramona

Someone has to do that!

 

[jobe05]

I had my youngest, now 13 start to help me. This past spring he was reading te Dandelion thread and wanted to take a crack at it himself. I thought nothing of it till the wine was fermenting and he wanted to post it on this board.......... Then I started having some pretty bad second thoughts.......... At 13, I didn't think it was a great idea to introduce alcohol as something that is OK........... or even good and fun. He made the Dandelion wine and then I got him interested in other things, like flying. As a matter of fact, I had his gallon jug down stairs that I bottled last week, right from the fermentation stage to racking, stabilizing and bottling..... I must say, it is surprisingly good.

By the way, Timmy had his first flying lesson today. He was able to take Off and fly for over 45 minutes with the instructor there, but having no involvement in flying the plane till they landed. Instructor was very impressed.