newbie here

[sixfinleys]

Hi, my name is Josh. I'm new to winemaking, my wife bought me one of those 1 gal. kits from Bed Bath & beyond, I haven't started it yet it loooks pretty old. I'm definately interested in giving this a go though. I've been doing a lot of research and reading. I see most people kind of graduate up to the 5 or 6 gal. kits. I was wondering if it's OK to do your primary fermentation in carboys like they do for beer or do you have to use the buckets for that stage? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.
Josh

 

[grapeman]

Welcome to the forum Josh. You will find a lot of friendly and helpful people here.!


I'm not familiar with the particular kit you got, but yes most folks do use a bucket or tub for the primary. If you try to put it in the gloon jug, it will boil over and make a huge mess. If you can find a bucket or tub that is food grade(food safe) and will hold about two gallons, that would be better.
Also check the age of the kit if you can. They do have a practical shelf life and if you go beyond that the chemicals, addititves and juice can go bad. Since you have it, you might as well try it, but I would try to get a bucket for the primary.


Again, Welcome!

 

[sixfinleys]

Thanks, it came with some sort of collapsable bag/jug, but it already smells like plastic and I definately don't think that would be good to use. Would the white 2 gal. buckets from Home Depot be good to use?

 

[Wade E]

Bed,Bath& Beyond has wine kits??????? I guess they really went beyond with this one. Definitely give it a try BUT DO NOT judge what you can make by this kit. I highly dought it will come close to any kit that you could get from this website or MOST others but will be drinkable. Please tell us what kit this is and what it includes so that we may figure out if they left something out you may need to know! Welcome to the forum and hope you continue to make wine with us Josh.

 

[sixfinleys]

It looks like it's made by Lakeview Valley Farms as a make your own wine, complete Merlot wine making kit. Includes 4 bottles, and all materials including labels, t-corks, and thermo capsules. it cost $29.99, I can't find any dates anywhere in/on it for exp. or manuf. the chemicals look kind of old, one of the powder bags look like it has mold inside (blue splottches) I also can't find the directions, so maybe I'll use the juice and buy some new chemicals and foolow some concentrate recipe like the one for whech's or something.

 

[Wade E]

As far as the chemicals go, throw them all out if there appears to be mold. You will need a packet of yeast, potassium metabisulfite, potassium sorbate, and a hydrometer. As for the Home Depot bucket, it probably is not food grade. If it only came with 4 bottles which is very unusual, then it might fit with enough room to ferment in the gallon jug. A gallon would require 5 bottles so this is a weird size kit!

 

[Joseph1]

Check the bottom of the bucket. If the Home Depot two-gallon bucket is manufactured by Argee Corp. and is made of HDPE, it is food grade. This is the white buckets only. Do not use their colored buckets.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

 

[OldWino1]

my first bucket was a 13 gallon trash can plastic bought from Zayre. does any one remember them? i started my 5 gals in it under the house in a large crawl space you could not stand up but you could sit hence the desk chair on wheels. yes the bucket was covered with layers of cloth on prim ferment.
THis takes me back our first kit was a 1 gal gift took 5 months to be up to multipule 5 gals. Now 6 gals with kits or 7.5 ltr kits going into 5 gal carboys. Keeps the flavor up.

 

[rgecaprock]

Welcome six,


Better yet........put that one away and order a starter package from George. You will be very happy with the results. Start out with a white wine. You will have 30 bottles to enjoy and we will help you along the way.

Ramona

 

[geocorn]

I field a lot of questions about those wine kits. They only appear to be a good value. At end of the process, you have 5 bottles of poor quality wine for $6.00 per bottle, plus sales tax. If you really want to make quality wine, look at my kits. They only appear more expensive. Even with my deluxe starter package, your cost including the reusable equipment is around $7.00. After that, you can spend anywhere from $2 to $7 per bottle.


BTW, quality wine is based on quality fruit and juice. The better the fruit, the better the wine. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call.

 

[sixfinleys]

So maybe I should be looking to make some vinegar with this then?

 

[Wade E]

Give it a try but just dont expect too much out of it and remember that the kits nwe buy here are WAY better! If your really interested in making wine give George a call and he will tailor a kit and some equipment to fit your budget and your wine taste. Trust us!</font></font>

 

[Waldo]

welcome to the forum sixfinley. Save the bottles from that kit and get you a good kit ordered from George.

 

[masta]

Welcome and looks like you have been well taken care!

 

[dfwwino]

Welcome sixfinley,


I'd follow the prior advice. If possible, return that kit to Bed Bath and Beyond (based on the apparent mold, old ingrediants) and then take a look at what George has to offer.If you're bent on making only one gallon, you can find many one gallon recipes on this forum or at Jack Keller's site:


http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/


You're much better off buying your first-time supplies from a reputable homewinemaking supplier like George. You don't want your first batch of wine to taste terrible and keep you from enjoying a very rewarding hobby.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Hey Six! I'm like you, a newbie. Have to tell you this sport is
addictive, though, on at least two levels. First the wine making
process is fun and a constant state of learning. Second this forum.
Lots of sincere people sharing info and helping guys like us out. I
check it every day!



On your kit, I don't know anything about it but why not try it. Unless
something is spoiled and you can get a refund, youv'e spent the money.
And, it won't take much effort to go for it.



On buying stuff from George, I can't recommend him highly enough.
He makes a true effort to make his customers satisfied. I live a long
way from Texas but still pay the extra shipping to buy from him because
of his cust service and his support of this forum. For instance, I
recently bought a kit which developed a small leak during shipping. It
looked real bad when I opened it. He sent me another without me even
asking and then gave me advice on how to recover the damaged kit so I
might get wine out of it yet!

 

[sixfinleys]

Thank you for all the advice...
Has anyone used the colonnacombination corker/capper? Any feedback on this unit would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh

 

[scotty]

Thank you for all the advice...
Has anyone used the colonnacombination corker/capper? Any feedback on this unit would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh

I was looking at that but many folks steered me away from it. I have a hand corker and now have a floor corker. You are already making beer in your mind i think.
My guess is a separate capper for beer and soda pop.
If you get the wine making bug as i have you will never be sorry for starting with a floor cotker.
You will end up uing it a lot