Hello,

My father recently passed away and when we went up to his house to clean up
we found a lot of tools to make wine. Now my son really wants to give it a
try. So we went up to the library to get a good book, but there are still
some things that are not very clear and we were hoping you might fill in our
questions. let me explain :

We understood that hygiene is one of the most important assets. These tools
we found in my father his house are coloured slightly "green" because they
haven't been used in a very long time. We didn't even know they were there.
Can I clean them in some way or is it better to buy new tools?

The only thing that was missing were those very large glass bottles. We do
however have four of those plastic waterbottles. Can we use these instead?
they are 18,9 liters.

Is it wise to use "used" bottles of wine? after cleaning them of course.
there's a lot of yes and no's about this in different books and sites.

and one last question, there was lying a ripped paper around that said
koffiewijn (translated coffee wine) but the recipe was not readable anymore.
We searched google from top to bottom but came back empty handed. does
anyone have or know where we could find this recipe?

friendly regards
Guy and Jonathan

Guy and Jonathan

One of the nice things about winemaking as a hobby is that the
"tools" required are really pretty minimal. You can make quite nice
wine without barrels, pumps, filters, big grape presses, etc. I have
no idea what kind of "tools" you have that turned green with
inactivity, but if you can get them clean enough to eat off of, you
should be OK.

Lots of folks use the plastic bottles for bulk aging, instead of
carboys. Some people believe they are not quite as airtight as glass,
but I have not read any real horror stories from folks who use them, so
I would guess that they should be fine for at least a couple of months.
If you wanted to store a batch for a year or more in bulk, I'd
recommend glass.

Nearly everyone in this hobby re-uses wine bottles, as they are
pretty easy to find, and buying new bottles for every batch would be
expensive. Just make sure they are thoroughly cleaned, and use a new
cork each time.

About the coffee wine -- search this newsgroup or the forums on
Winepress.US, as there have been a number of posts and comments
recently on coffee wine recipes. You can also check out Jack Keller's
site, the best source on the internet for "country" (non-grape) wine
recipes. The URL is:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net

I would recommend that you start out making wine from a kit once or
twice, before you branch out to using fresh grapes, or trying some of
the more exotic things like coffee wine. Kits are not expensive, come
with nearly everything you need, and have good instructions. After a
couple of those, you should be familiar enough with the basic process
to start experimenting a bit.

Coming back to the "tools" question briefly, there are some things
like plastic tubing (for racking the wine out of one container and into
another) that are so cheap (and hard to clean) that you really might as
well buy new ones. On the other hand, things like a corker, or press,
are more expensive. For those kinds of things, it's worth some time
and effort to try to clean up what you have.

Best of luck, and happy fermenting !

Doug

Guy and Jonathan

One of the nice things about winemaking as a hobby is that the
"tools" required are really pretty minimal. You can make quite nice
wine without barrels, pumps, filters, big grape presses, etc. I have
no idea what kind of "tools" you have that turned green with
inactivity, but if you can get them clean enough to eat off of, you
should be OK.

Lots of folks use the plastic bottles for bulk aging, instead of
carboys. Some people believe they are not quite as airtight as glass,
but I have not read any real horror stories from folks who use them, so
I would guess that they should be fine for at least a couple of months.
If you wanted to store a batch for a year or more in bulk, I'd
recommend glass.

Nearly everyone in this hobby re-uses wine bottles, as they are
pretty easy to find, and buying new bottles for every batch would be
expensive. Just make sure they are thoroughly cleaned, and use a new
cork each time.

About the coffee wine -- search this newsgroup or the forums on
Winepress.US, as there have been a number of posts and comments
recently on coffee wine recipes. You can also check out Jack Keller's
site, the best source on the internet for "country" (non-grape) wine
recipes. The URL is:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net

I would recommend that you start out making wine from a kit once or
twice, before you branch out to using fresh grapes, or trying some of
the more exotic things like coffee wine. Kits are not expensive, come
with nearly everything you need, and have good instructions. After a
couple of those, you should be familiar enough with the basic process
to start experimenting a bit.

Coming back to the "tools" question briefly, there are some things
like plastic tubing (for racking the wine out of one container and into
another) that are so cheap (and hard to clean) that you really might as
well buy new ones. On the other hand, things like a corker, or press,
are more expensive. For those kinds of things, it's worth some time
and effort to try to clean up what you have.

Best of luck, and happy fermenting !

Doug

Doug gave good advise. In general used equipment is used a lot. Glassware
can generally be cleaned. Plastic or wood that has been discolored is
another issue. If stuff is too hard to clean you might want to think twice
about whether it is easier to buy new. Everyone begs for used wine bottles
and reuses them forever.

I agree with Doug and recommend against using plastic carboys (the big
bottles). Get some glass ones.

Also, do spend some time on Jack Keller's site and get some good books. I
like any of C.J.J. Berry's Books. They are old but timeless. Lots of good
recipes and good ideas and very basic. But it would be a good idea to try a
kit wine first. I would recommend a white wine kit in the $85 range to
start with. They are reliable, will teach you good practices and are
generally ready to drink in about 3 or 4 months which gives you fast
feedback on your hobby.

Ray

"Doug" wrote in message
oups.com...
Guy and Jonathan

One of the nice things about winemaking as a hobby is that the
"tools" required are really pretty minimal. You can make quite nice
wine without barrels, pumps, filters, big grape presses, etc. I have
no idea what kind of "tools" you have that turned green with
inactivity, but if you can get them clean enough to eat off of, you
should be OK.

Lots of folks use the plastic bottles for bulk aging, instead of
carboys. Some people believe they are not quite as airtight as glass,
but I have not read any real horror stories from folks who use them, so
I would guess that they should be fine for at least a couple of months.
If you wanted to store a batch for a year or more in bulk, I'd
recommend glass.

Nearly everyone in this hobby re-uses wine bottles, as they are
pretty easy to find, and buying new bottles for every batch would be
expensive. Just make sure they are thoroughly cleaned, and use a new
cork each time.

About the coffee wine -- search this newsgroup or the forums on
Winepress.US, as there have been a number of posts and comments
recently on coffee wine recipes. You can also check out Jack Keller's
site, the best source on the internet for "country" (non-grape) wine
recipes. The URL is:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net

I would recommend that you start out making wine from a kit once or
twice, before you branch out to using fresh grapes, or trying some of
the more exotic things like coffee wine. Kits are not expensive, come
with nearly everything you need, and have good instructions. After a
couple of those, you should be familiar enough with the basic process
to start experimenting a bit.

Coming back to the "tools" question briefly, there are some things
like plastic tubing (for racking the wine out of one container and into
another) that are so cheap (and hard to clean) that you really might as
well buy new ones. On the other hand, things like a corker, or press,
are more expensive. For those kinds of things, it's worth some time
and effort to try to clean up what you have.

Best of luck, and happy fermenting !

Doug

I would reinforce what Doug and Ray have said. A kit wine is a very good
idea with which to start off .

If you are going to dive in the deep end then buy a wine kit - preferably a
white wine kit.( I am a red wine man). And buy a kit which is a price higher
than you think you want to do. ( I really mean it!). White wine kits always
produce a wine that is much nearer to the commercial product than red wine
kits do.

Please follow the instructions as given down to the last "T". They are
basically foolproof and you want to have a good result for your first
efforts.

Do visit Jack Keller's site but do not be overwhelmed by it. It is a place I
still dip into frequently but it has a vast amount of collected knowledge
and a huge amount of experience as does "Lums" site. But to a beginner it
can be just to much to take in.

As an Englishman I still find Berry's book of tremendous value. But a good,
very readable, book is Terry Garey's "Joy of Home Winemaking" written for
the US beginner (and others) -- it is also a book that you can keep on your
bedside table for a last 10 minutes before nodding of into a good nights
sleep.

I also recommend that you have a look up and down this NG. Most questions
have been asked many times before! Try a "Google" search on any particular
topic you can think off and it will produce a wealth of knowledge ( and a
lot of garbage too!)

This hobby can be a bit addictive in more than one way!



Welcome!


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Trevor A Panther
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