Introduce Yourselves here

[Wobblin]

Hi,

I'm Jules and I'm about to start my first ever batch of wine. In the interests of keeping things low-cost, I've bought a starter kit from good old Wilkos. Six bottles Chardonnay, once I recover from the irritating headache bought on by last night's rather unpleasant Rioja.

I'm a customer service admin in Nottinghamshire.

This is a great site and I've already picked up lots of tips from my first trawl!

Anyhoo, onwards and upwards....

[oliver90owner]

Welcome Jules.

You don't by any chance drive a Weliant? Oh, that would be Wobbin, wouldn't it?

Sorry about that on your first post. I only got in first before the rodent in the basement.

RAB

[Cellar_Rat]

Hi Jules

Let us know how it goes. For that lot of people it starts with a simple six bottle kit and before you know it they are converting the spare room to a winery.

This is a great hobby, probably the only one way you can buy all the kit and ingredients and save yourself money from day one.

Makes you realise how much the duty is

Have fun, and shout up if you have any questions..

Brian

[Wobblin]

Thanks Brian,

I do have a question actually. I plan on keeping things small until I'm comfortable so I don't intend doing any brews larger than a 1 gallon DJ. My question is, if I have to take a sample out for the hydrometer before adding the yeast and again after the fermentation, will I still get 6 bottles or will it be more like five? Can I top just top it up?

Thanks,

And oliver90owner? That was weally weally bad!

Jules.

[Cellar_Rat]

take a sample out for the hydrometer

Providing the hydrometer and the jar were clean, put the sample back in again. It is a sin to throw away perfectly good wine! Still fermenting or otherwise.

Once you become an experienced hand, you will end up just dropping the hydrometer in the DJ and then hooking it out again. But that only comes with years & years of practice (or is that idleness )

[fatbloke]

-----snip-----
I do have a question actually. I plan on keeping things small until I'm comfortable so I don't intend doing any brews larger than a 1 gallon DJ. My question is, if I have to take a sample out for the hydrometer before adding the yeast and again after the fermentation, will I still get 6 bottles or will it be more like five? Can I top just top it up?
-----snip-----

Jules, a 1 gallon DJ makes almost exactly 6 bottles, but even if you do manage to get samples etc back in, when you're racking/siphoning, you will, invariably, lose a bit.

So from a 1 gallon/6 bottle kit, plan on 5 good bottles and "cooks perks" for the last bit, unless you always have some kicking around that is similar then a batch is easily topped up. Most of us do seem to work as Brian already mentioned though......

In any case, topping up and other ways to manage a bit of air space that occurs with racking/siphoning and other processes of making, well there's a whole line of questions (and answers for that matter) to be found in the forums.

Oh, and of course, welcome........

[Wobblin]

Thank you sirs, I now know where I stand. Five bottle sounds wonderful, and at that price, tis not to be sniffed at.

Jules.

[oliver90owner]

To be fair, not all demijohns are equal. They should all hold 4.5 litres, but I have some which are considerably over that figure, so beware that you check the calibration. If a little short you can always top off the short bottle with another similar wine and not notice the difference. Easier when you have a stock of similar wines, of course.

Also remember there will only be one short bottle whatever batch size you make and the cost of the larger kits is not proportionate to the smaller ones. OK, do that once you find a pleasing kit, 'cos it will keep for twelve months and likely longer. May not even be at its peak after twelve months maturing...Look forward to your threads on the main forum.

RAB

[Cellar_Rat]

I believe Demi Johns come in two sizes.
5 L which is our European brothers size
4.5 L which is the equivalent of the UK Imperialgallon

The American gallon is different again (3.78 L) and you need to allow for this when using American recipes

[Wobblin]

I have a very cold house (around 50 deg. in winter) I've made a fermentation bath using an aquarium heater but what I need to know is: Regarding the recipe for wine number one, does the DJ have to sit in this bath until complete, or do I move it to a cooler area to finish off, and if so, when?

[Cellar_Rat]

it is all about temperature control. The fermentation bath is giving it the temperature it needs to completely ferment.
Your hydrometer will tell you when the fermentation is complete.
That's when you can whip it out

[oliver90owner]

Jules,

I have fitted out a under-work top kitchen cupboard with 25mm kingspan/reticel insulation all around and above (under the shelf). The floor of the cupboard has only a 10mm layer of correx-type material (I required as much headspace as possible for the demijohns and airlocks) - but warm air tends to rise, after all.

This gives me just enough height to get demijohns in there with the short, two-piece airlocks.

I have a small heater (just so happens to be a twenty five watt solder iron secured in a mug). The temperature is controlled with a Microclimate dimmerstat controller (for vivarium) - where the power to the iron is gradually changed as the set point is arrived at. Pulse proportional controllers are slightly cheaper but very good. I looked at an aquarium heater but they don't usually have sufficient range (22-28 degrees typical?). Both types of controller are better than on-off relay control as there are no hysteresis oscillations)

The standard vivarium controllers have a typical range down to eighteen degrees, but I acquired one with a night-time feature whereby the temperature can be set up to about ten degrees lower, so I can control at sixteen easily, should I wish, at this time of the year. For sixteen degrees it requires about five watts, I think, as typical for our kitchen. I just secure the thermocouple in a suitable place in the cupboard and leave the whole controller in there as well (always night-time!). There is space for about eight demijohns comfortably.

I currently stick a folded paper towel to each demijohn so any contact is 'softened' but I plan to try an old inner tube cut and folded for this (easily removed and replaced). System is working well. I use the same sort of system with an upturned box made of 50mm Reticel and a brew belt for my 23l ferments.

Summer may present a cooling requirement but that can easily be resolved, I am sure (transfer to an old fridge in the garage and set up a suitable cooling regime as necessary). The ale brewing fraternity seem to favour the STC 1000 controller as the basis for an on-off relay system with two separate set points control. I think they are good to better than one degee either side of the set point but have no experience of them.

Regards, RAB

[Wobblin]

Thanks guys.

RAB, that might be a little beyond me at the mo!

I tested my hydrometer earlier and in 15 degree C water, it was reading (I think) 1.0025, should I buy a better one?

Oh, and when will I stop staring at the air lock bubbles and smiling??

Jules.

[Cellar_Rat]

Being able to look away from an active airlock takes years of practise.

[Wobblin]