Winemaking For Beginners Pt.2

Cheap, fast and now! Of course this is ideal. Even 2 out of 3 aint bad. But, this is rare in life if u consider quality. Anyhow, today I would like to focus on cheap. Cheap doesn’t mean u have to settle for less quality. Without quality all is in vain as far as im concerned.

Make due with what u have or can easily get. I have shopped at the same grocery store for many years. I know the guy that does the produce. This equals free fruit. Because they have to throw it out before it totally rots. This is great because this fruit will have a higher sugar yield. Even though at this stage of my wine hobby I like to use concentrates. I know where I can get some FREE fruit.

Find a restaurant that serves a lot of wine. One day I had a free day and I went to eat in a restaurant that I had wanted to try for a long time. It was a nice Italian restaurant. So as I was going by the bar I ask the guy if he went through a lot of bottles and he told me the days he threw away the most. I simply ask him if I could have them and he said yes. Even at a restaurant where they don’t serve that much wine they usually throw it out every 4 or 5 days. This equals FREE bottles.

Buy in bulk. This goes for buying anything that u can easily store. I have to drive about 15 miles to get campden tabs. So I don’t buy 1 bottle at a time. This is a waste of time and gas money. And of course I like to drink wine, so I go to the pharmacy and buy the big 4 liter bottle of wine. U can get a good glass one full of wine for about $12(I only like Sangria in this cheap wine). This makes a great secondary fermenter and a great bottle for bulk aging. When u are ready to make 5 gallons, buy the big 5 gallon water bottle from Wal-mart or where ever. These are much cheaper than a glass carboy. Also they are easier to clean and move.

For a filter or fruit bag use cheap pantyhose. For a siphon use aquarium tubing. For a primary container or a sanitizing container use a 1 gallon pickle jar. Before I start a batch of wine I make a gallon jar of sanitizing solution. In this I put my airlocks, tubing, stirring rods, bungs etc. Also I use this solution for sanitizing my primary container. Keep this solution and when your ready to check the must with your hydrometer u will have the sanitizer ready. When you are ready for your secondary u can use this solution again. Put this water in your airlocks too. After this I figure I have got my use out of it. I saved time and money by not have to keep making the sanitizer.

Buy only what u need. If u read a lot about your new hobby u can get overwhelmed. Don’t. Figure out what you want to make and then buy only what u need. No need for a TA kit or a PH meter at this stage. You can make great wine without anything fancy. But do take the trouble to get a hydrometer. They only cost 3-5 dollars. This is money well spent.

Last, make sure u are ready to transport your yeast. I have to go to a giant “liquor barn” to get mine. So be prepared and take a cooler with some ice in it if its hot outside. Or u can do like I do and buy some nice cold beer and put your packets between the bottles. it really sucks having all your stuff ready and discovering your yeast is dead.

Cheaper and faster. Its up to u to make it good.

Good luck

Damage