Tag: wine making

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3 Keys to a Creating a Useful Winemaking Log

Keeping a winemaking log is critically important to your growth as a winemaker. However, if you’re not logging useful information it won’t do you much good.

Short and Long Term Benefits of Keeping a Winemaking Log

A winemaking log doesn't have to be fancy. Just use something to record all your winemaking activitiesIn the short-term a well-kept winemaking log can help you keep the timing of each step straight. It also serves as a double-check of how much of what additives you’ve put in and when you did it.

The long-term benefits, however, can be much more valuable. Continue reading “3 Keys to a Creating a Useful Winemaking Log”

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Studying Wine to Become a Better Winemaker

The more you know about finished wine the better the winemaker you will be. You'll be well on your way with these wine resources.Great winemakers have a tremendous depth of wine knowledge in addition to their understanding of the winemaking process. The more you know about finished wines the wines you make will be.

Why? It’s nearly impossible for a winemaker to make a subtle and complex wine if he/she can’t describe or even pick out subtleties in what they drink. Once you know how to pick out the nuances of a great wine you can start honing your winemaking skills to draw out those characteristics out in your own wines. Continue reading “Studying Wine to Become a Better Winemaker”

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Where to Set Up Your Wine Making Operation

Making wine takes not only time but also space. The right kind of space.

Finding The Best Wine Making Area

With all the sanitizing, racking, and testing you’ll be doing it’s easy to see how wine making can get messy. Without the proper area you’ll definitely be leaving your mark. Let’s look at what sort of area will work best for your wine making operation.

The most important factors are: Continue reading “Where to Set Up Your Wine Making Operation”

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How Much Does it Cost to Make Wine from a Kit?

Wine kits are by far the least expensive way to get into wine making. It requires the least amount of equipment and makes the smallest amount of wine. Let’s take a look at what determines the cost to make wine for the first time.

The Equipment I Purchased

To get started I picked up the Vintner’s Reserve Shiraz wine kit. This included the grape juice concentrate and nearly all of the additives required to make the wine. However, wine kits do not include any equipment.

Both equipment and the quality of the kit determine how much it costs to make wine.
Kit Winemaking Equipment

With that in mind I picked up this wine making equipment kit from Midwest Supplies. This kit included the following:

  • Primary Fermenter
  • Glass Carboy (6.5 gallon)
  • Hydrometer
  • Corker
  • Corks
  • Bottle Brush
  • Sanitizer
  • Airlock
  • Carboy plug

Continue reading “How Much Does it Cost to Make Wine from a Kit?”