Help with converting my equipment from brewing to wine makin

Winemaking
1

Hey guys,
So i currently brew extract and i’m looking to get into wine kits as well. Here’s what I’m working with currently:
-3 buckets (which i could be specific with size…they’re 6-6.5 gallon. 2 of 'em have spigots. let me know if you want me to be more precise and i’ll measure it out)
-2 2.5 gallon plastic fermenters (i think that’s the size…Mr. Beer kegs that I got when i first started)

so clearly i could use a carboy and i don’t have the best set up for wine making. what do you all recommend??

here’s what i’m thinking and let me know if there’s a better way.
-buy a 5 gal carboy (better bottle or glass and i’ll throw it in a milk crate)
-buy a 6 gal carboy (" ")

this way for a cheap table wine i’ll use one of the buckets i already have as a primary and then use the 5 gallon carboy as a secondary. i’ll get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Vino-Italiano-Wee … 147K2I7RA0

and just have a 5 gallon batch since some people recommend that.

but if i want to make something a bit better like a selection estate series. I’ll have a 6 gallon batch going in one of the plastic buckets AND one of the small plastic kegs. and i’ll combine the two after the initial fermentation stage.

would this work? thanks in advance

2

Your plan is pretty much what I did when I gave wine a try. It worked fine.

One piece of advice, when you are degasing the wine make sure you get all the CO2 out of suspension. I didn’t and every botle was lightly carbonated. It was kind of annoying.

Paul

3

thanks paul,
so you you did 6 gal batches and split 'em?

4

If you are planning on using kits, the 6 gallon carboy is the way to go. The vast majority of the kits out there are 6 gallons, and you want to keep the wine in one bulk location if possible. That makes settling/clarifying/racking a bit more efficient.

As an aside, if you’ve been brewing beer successfully, making wine from a kit is a breeze. The process is much simpler. The real skill for great wine making is primarily in how to grow grapes. Once the grapes are harvested, turning it into wine is simple.

5

Personally, I would recommend picking up a larger primary bucket and a 6gal carboy or BB.
If you have fruit available and are planning on making any of your own fruit wines, two 3gal carboys are handy.

6

+1 to the larger bucket and carboy. Almost all of the better kits are in 6 gallon size. :wink: