Wine Making
I want to try this approach to get started - it looks cheap and it's supposed to produce a pretty good wine.
http://www.michiganwines.com/buy-sell-grapes
http://www.klinekrestcertifiedorganicproduce.com/KlineKrestCertifiedOrganicSmallFruits.htm
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41825
Equipment
- Primary Fermenter: Just a bucket, $30 / 3
- Glass Carboy: $38
- Bung and Airlock: $10
- Hoses $6.25
- Hydrometer & jar: $6
- Corker $12
Starting Cost: $102
Materials
- Sulphites
- yeast $7 / 10
- yeast nutrient $8 / lb
- juice
- sugar
- bottles
- corks ~ $0.10 each
- Campden Tablets $0.06 each ($5.50/100)
Single Concord Batch Estimates
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRa4vGyyjEU
- http://the-gift-of-wine.com/how%20to%20make%20grape%20juice%20wine.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_483697&feature=iv&src_vid=MVjr2obchpI&v=AWWho1u8FUQ
To make a single batch (~4gal) of Concord Grape wine (basic recipe), about 20 bottles.
- Juice: 2 x $3.50
- Corks: $2.00
- sugar
- yeast nutrient
- Pectolase
- Wine tannin
- 2 Campden tablets $0.10
Need calculations to find the amount of sugar necessary.
So, probably around $15 for everything, coming in just under $1/bottle.
Considering a bottle costs us about $8, the break-even is around 15 bottles.
Time
It looks like it will take about 3 hour, but only about 30 minutes will be active work.
Wine sits in the primary fermenter for 4 days. Secondary fermentation can take up to 2 weeks.
First Batch
I'm going to track the bubbles per minute as rough gauge of CO2 production.
- 6/29 : 22 bubbles / minute
Notes
Look at the price per volume in bottles.
It looks like roughly a 1:4 ratio of juice to water.
Look into using frozen fruit. Watermelon wine looks good. Orange wine. Actually, some pumpkin wine recipes look good (with raisins and cinnamon). Beet wine. Lemon.
Also, look into freeze distilling in the winter.
With our water, I'll want to use a charcoal filter.
For more alcohol look for "high gravity" wine or yeast. When using it, add sugar slowly over several hours while it's fermenting.
Grapes
All the grape juices I've found (at least so far) that are intended for wine-making are highly marked up. I'd like to try making it from grapes. I could do a few batches over the late summer as various types are available.
Beer
I should also make some beer for Lauren.
Malted barley looks like it costs around $2.50/lb and around 2.5lbs/gal. Hops run around $20/lb but only a few oz are needed for a few gallons.
Water Pressure Degassing
Needs ~25 inHg to degas. Which translates to about 30' of water.
I've looked at vacuums, but they're expensive. I can make my own precise vacuum using water pressure. Running a 30'
- Vacuum gauge $4
- Bucket $3
- Lid $2
- Carboy Cap $5.25
- Vinyl Tubing $10
- Brass Fitting 2 x $3
Total: $30 But really only ~15, because I'll need the cap and tubing no matter what.
One barb and the gauge go in the lid. The other barb goes in the bottom of the bucket. Add some silicone caulk to keep it sealed. To use, attack ~40' of tubing the brass fitting on the bottom of the bucket. Throw the tubing down the laundry shoot, but elevate a segment above the bucket (this is the control). Fill the bucket with water. Connect the lid fitting to the carboy fitting and put the lid on the bucket. Lower the control and the water will start to flow. This will create a vacuum in the bucket. It should stabilize around 25inHg.