This is my cave in the basement where I do my Neanderthal thing. I use two carboys one for primary fermentation and one for secondary fermentation. The blue band around the first carboy is a carboy heat tape and helps to maintain the wine at 75 deg f for ideal fermenting. P1280001 by tsebmj, on Flickr Mt first batch will be Black Raspberry Merlot and when it is bottled, I will be making Green Apple Riesling. I should end up with nearly 60 750 ml bottles of premium wine for app. $2 per bottle. P1290001 by tsebmj, on Flickr Each kit contains all the items to produce six gal of wine P1290002 by tsebmj, on Flickr Here the primary fermentation is on the way and after the fermentation starts to slow I will bring the fluid level up to the bottom of the carboy neck. After five to seven days, I will rack the wine into the second carboy, leaving most of the sediment behind, to complete the fermentation. P1290003 by tsebmj, on Flickr This is an air lock that sits on top of the carboy. It lets the CO2 escape and blocks any air from getting inside the carboy. P1290011 by tsebmj, on Flickr The primary fermentation is complete and I have racked the wine into the second carboy. The second carboy has been placed back up on the bench with the air lock and heat tape installed. It will continue fermenting for another ten days before the stabilizing and fining. P2030002 by tsebmj, on Flickr
You are really into the technical side of making wine. I just make mine in clean gallon milk jugs. Of course I have my own grapevines so most of mine is muscadine. But its pretty good even when young. I did make a batch of mixed fruit in a carboy once but found it a lot more trouble than my milk jugs.
The carboys got to heavy for me to be moving around so I switched to one gallon containers. The wine on the left is the Peach and White Grape and has been fermenting for 13 days. The wine has turned out crystal clear with no additives (you can see the bottles through the wine), 10% alcohol predicted. In the middle is the Pomegranate and Blueberry. It was started about 5 days ago and is percolating away, 12% alcohol predicted. A good friend suggested making Apple Cider. I had been thinking about it and he got me off the pot. It was also started about 5 days ago and is percolating away, 12% alcohol predicted. At this point I don’t know if I will bottle it at the Hard Cider state or go one step further and make Apple Jack. PC070008 by tsebmj, on Flickr
Well, I myself have absolutely no craving for any type of alcoholic beverage. But in this I see a way of manufacturing renewable fuel! I had experimented with Bio-Diesel sometime back (with amazing results)! http://www.gardenstew.com/about25730.html So I think, that with a little tweaking, a similar apparatus can be rigged to produce 200 proof alcohol! Of course, we will need a very strong vacuum pump for it to be 200 proof. Yes, not at all fit for human consumption, but as fuel - I'd say that it will be second to none!
Your pictures bring back so many memories John. My husband first made wine from the fruit I produced in the garden. He then moved on to making wines from celery, potatoes, elderflowers etc. As I'm t.total I can't honestly say that I appreciated his efforts but many other people did. They went down a treat at Christmas especially. :-D
I am looking forward to seeing how your wine turns out! I am sure you will be willing to share with us.
My wine galleria is made up of primarily Riesling and Merlot with a few odds and ends of previous adventures. I have always used wine kits and they have turned out great with the exception of the “Island Mist” kits. The wine is much too light for me and has a very low alcohol content. They are like a wine cooler without the CO2 1 by tsebmj, on Flickr
