Introduce Yourselves here

[wurzel]

Funny question, one of which I can relate & give a positive answer, often excessive alcohol consumption can be due to boredom, this hobby gives one a time consuming---boredom reducing hobby, we often project more time and effort into making wine /beer than we do drinking it.
Making wines & beers at home has actually reduced my consumption due to the fact I am busy processing fruit etc for my wines/beers.

Well put Duff.....you would be hard pushed to find an alcoholic home brewer TC, although I could come close LOL

[rjb222]

Funny question, one of which I can relate & give a positive answer, often excessive alcohol consumption can be due to boredom, this hobby gives one a time consuming---boredom reducing hobby, we often project more time and effort into making wine /beer than we do drinking it.
Making wines & beers at home has actually reduced my consumption due to the fact I am busy processing fruit etc for my wines/beers.

Hey Duff you still suffering from bouts of narcolepsy? Welcome TOMCat

[Mamgiowl]

Hello I'm Tomcat and I hve never been on a forum before,so I don't know where to go or what to expect. I have done some wine and beermaking in the distant past but Ive only recently rediscovered it.
What is the future of winemaking going to hold for me? How many people get addicted to the results of their hobby Is it really safe? I'd like your views.Cheers for now

Hi Tomcat, welcome to the forum.

Rest easy - it's not the results of your hobby you'll get addicted to, but to the hobby itself.

Oh, and the only danger is that you might have to move house to accomodate all your fermenting and finished wines.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hello there!

Hello All,

I've finally got around to introducing myself on here, as i've been stalking the forum for a few weeks now . . sorry about that!

And yes, i'm posting at an ungodly hour - sadly i'm on a night shift at the moment (last one today and got a bit of time at home to get some more brews on!).

So hello everyone! I've been playing around with this fermenting business for just 2 years now. Learning off of Owl Senior (my old man) who's been at it for nigh on 40 odd years or so.

I do mostly kit stuff - Beaverdale and Kenwood, but have played around with a country wine / cider from my apple tree last year (managed to produce about 4 gallons of nice dry apply wine. Sadly only the odd bottle left now!) and also got on the go a country wine / perry beasty from my pear tree thats going through its second racking. Oh, and a few Belgian fruit beers and abbey beers.

I really like the idea of the Ancient Orange Mead, so might give that a try this week - as i've got an order from Wilkinson's for 6 more demijohns . . .

Cheers and speak to you all soon!

Owl.

[goldseal]

Hi Owl.

I recommend Tesco 5 litre water bottles for use as fermenters - much cheaper than demijohns, and each one comes with 5 litres of free water

You'll enjoy the AOM - just give it a few months to age.

[Mamgiowl]

Hi Owl, nice to meet you and I absolutely endorse what Goldseal says about the water bottles. I've even aged wine in them with no noticeable disadvantages.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hi Goldseal and Mamgiowl,

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yep, i've gone ahead with the AOM and its going mental as we speak! I could drink it already!

I'll have a look into the Tesco barrels. I read somewhere about the PET stuff passing oxygen? Always thought glass was the best, being inert and all? I have plenty of 5 gallon drums to ferment primary in, its just the secondary stuff: have to keep nicking Owl Seniors stuff. Still, he does get to drink it with me!

All the best!

Owl.

[Mamgiowl]

Well I've heard that about PET bottles too, Owl, but as I say, I've never had any problems with them. I have aged the same wine in both glass and PET for over a year and there was absolutely no difference in any way. I've also been told that they could discolour or taint subsequent wines but again, I've never had this happen.

The advantages of PET bottles for me is that they are so much lighter and more easily managed as well as being cheaper.

[clayhill]

Hello Owl, never sure about plastic . . . i worry about the alcohol or something could degrade the plastic during longterm storage . . . but that's just me! As for passing of oxygen . . . wine likes it! They use oak barrels with reds to allow it to breath, all part of the maturing process and when they first tried screwcaps 20 years ago they found that bottled wine was going off in the bottle, they soon found out that a screw cap must immitate a cork and let the wine breath!

Not very usefull to you I know but hey . . . a little bit of info.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hey Clayhill - dig the Bowie pic by the way!

Thanks for the input. I've got my 6 demis ordered from Wilkinsons - they're about the cheapest you can get on the 'tinernet if you pick up from store. The only other places i've seen for glass at a bargain is Ebay - but most of the stuff isn't around around gods own country - thats Saaf yorkshire to you.

In Mamgiowl's defence, i think plastic has come a long way in the past 10-15 years ('i'll just get my slides out: here's a P.E.T botle from Drewsbury in May, 1962 . . .), but like you, i like glass. It's that smooth, cold feel. Like steel . . . Hmmmm.

Oooo. Just slurpin' through a nice bottle of my Beaverdale Rioja that i've opened (well, to be honest, the second bottle of the evening!). Did it in November last year, and its come out trumps! Hic!

Honestly though - probably needs another 3-6 months. At a year old, its lovely and smooth with hints of vanilla from the oak packet you get with the kit. Colour is lovely, tannins are not too strong at all. Its got promise, if only i can keep my hands off the last 12 bottles! Eeek!

Owl.

[Missus]

Hello everyboddies!

Thought I'd best introduce myself as mother brought me up to be polite is such exalted company!!
My maternal Granda made wine - I remember visiting him and seeing the demijohns on each side of every step as we went upstairs to bed! My Dad followed suit when I was in my teens - now in his 80's but still has a kit on the go most of the time! Guess it's inherited from both sides.....I'm surprised I managed ro resist for so long!!
I started this malarchy about 8 months ago with a teabag wine....never looked back!! Have 21 gallons at various stages at the minute, and about 6 more bottled. OH and I managed to pick about 140lbs of 'free' fruit this year.... so have a cupboard full of jam and chutney too! Down to the last 10lbs or so now.....so have just posted for ideas on what to add to make up a 5G batch.
It's a fantastic hobby - and I am truly addicted. This site is the DB's for advice - and makes me realise how much I still have to learn!!

[Duffbeer]

Welcome Missus, enjoy the forum, it sure is an addictive hobby

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Welcome Missus, enjoy the forum, it sure is an addictive hobby

Hi Missus!

Addictive?!?!?

I'm having a nightmare at the minute: when i'm at home, i'm constantly tiptoeing over to my gallon demi of Ancient Orange Mead to "listen-in" on its progress!!

And when i'm at work (like now, unfortunatley as i work shifts down in the 'Smoke), i scan the 'tinternet for sites such as this and think about my next concoction!!

Eeeekkk!!!

And that's not even the drinking part!

[fullmoonwinery]

hi all, this is steve and i live in a tropical island in south Thailand. originally from the UK i picked up 10 or so beer kits (brupacs brewers choice) and wine kits (belvino) on my last UK trip and have been making them with great success. so much success that my friends keep popping round way too often and drinking my stash!

so now i'm branching out and starting making wine and perhaps cider with mostly local ingredients and yeast and misc chemicals from ebay.

i'm making some banana wine at the moment and plan to start wine #1 in a couple of days. once i've perfected my skills, i'm going to try selling to local wine shops, restaurants and bars. wine is very expensive here because of import duty and often not kept well (too warm) so i'm hoping to change that with a locally produced wine(s).

some of my crazy ideas are here http://www.fullmoonwinery.com/

i'm sure i'll be asking a lot of stupid questions of this forum over the next few month, thx steve

[hcostin]

Hi from a returning home brewer

Hello there, just returning to kit brewing of wine and beer after a 4 year absence - don't know why I stopped (I guess I convinced myself I didn't have the time, but the best homebrew is never rushed, is it?) but have really enjoyed getting back into it. I definitely take after my parents in this department, having fond memories of demijohns gurgling in the garage with all kinds of hand picked fruit - based wine. I haven't so far haven't ventured from the kits (hi quality ones though, all malt beer and Selection kits for wine). Have posted a question elsewhere on the forum as I think I might have made my first major mistake, so any help for this semi-newbie would be much appreciated. Looking forward to sampling the current brews this Xmas....