I did get a new winemaking kit. dont panic about the below.

But I did dig out some "stuff" someone gave to me that was winemaking
related, just to see what was there that might be usefull.

please note, this stuff was stored in poor conditions, as in out in a
leaky garage all last summer, fall, and winter(and this early thaw)

Looks like there is a hand corker of poor design, #9 corks in plastic
bags the vendor folded then stapled(instead of heat sealed, couple of
airlocks, couple of tapered corks whith holes, bottle of camden
tablets, lots of envelopes of chenicals,yeast, and such(all ruined to
to temp and water), and a tiny hydrometer

the chemicals I am gonna toss, as i got plenty from my new kit, the
corker i might play with, to help me appreciate what a real corker
saves me from. I suppose i can test the old hydro against the new one
and see if it works. and maybe soak the corks in water then sanitizer
and use them for practice.

anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
decalibrate, etc.)

On Mar 17, 4:33 pm, "Tater" > wrote:
> I did get a new winemaking kit. dont panic about the below.
>
> But I did dig out some "stuff" someone gave to me that was winemaking
> related, just to see what was there that might be usefull.
>
> please note, this stuff was stored in poor conditions, as in out in a
> leaky garage all last summer, fall, and winter(and this early thaw)
>
> Looks like there is a hand corker of poor design, #9 corks in plastic
> bags the vendor folded then stapled(instead of heat sealed, couple of
> airlocks, couple of tapered corks whith holes, bottle of camden
> tablets, lots of envelopes of chenicals,yeast, and such(all ruined to
> to temp and water), and a tiny hydrometer
>
> the chemicals I am gonna toss, as i got plenty from my new kit, the
> corker i might play with, to help me appreciate what a real corker
> saves me from. I suppose i can test the old hydro against the new one
> and see if it works. and maybe soak the corks in water then sanitizer
> and use them for practice.
>
> anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
> decalibrate, etc.)

just saw a kit similar to the parts of this old pile of stuff i got.
It appears to be one gallon winemaking kit. was able to read some of
the (spoiled) ingredients packages, has a 1 gallon nylon mesh bag,
uses screwtop caps for the airlocks, and has a plunger type corker.

cleaned all the hardware in hot water, gave some corks a bath and
tried the plunger device. why do you guys hate hand corkers so much? i
was able to force the cork thru the cone with only one hand.

admittedly, it looks like you need 4 hand to hold plunger, bottle, and
everything steady while corking.....

> > anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
> > decalibrate, etc.)
>
> cleaned all the hardware in hot water, gave some corks a bath and
> tried the plunger device. why do you guys hate hand corkers so much? i
> was able to force the cork thru the cone with only one hand.
>
> admittedly, it looks like you need 4 hand to hold plunger, bottle, and
> everything steady while corking.....- Hide quoted text -
>

Use that corker for about 100 corks and then lets see what you
say... They work, but inconsistently. The corks should be a
little soft to the touch if they are any good. If they feel like a 2
x 4 soak them in warm sulfited water and let the drip dry in a
colander. If they are still hard pitch them. Cut one apart and smell
it and feel the wood inside. Hydrometers are not affected by time or
storage unless extreme. Get some distilled water; it should read
1.000 at it's calibration temperature.

Joe

Joe Sallustio wrote:
>>> anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
>>> decalibrate, etc.)
>> cleaned all the hardware in hot water, gave some corks a bath and
>> tried the plunger device. why do you guys hate hand corkers so much? i
>> was able to force the cork thru the cone with only one hand.
>>
>> admittedly, it looks like you need 4 hand to hold plunger, bottle, and
>> everything steady while corking.....- Hide quoted text -
>>
>
> Use that corker for about 100 corks and then lets see what you
> say... They work, but inconsistently.

What he said. I tried the hand corker from my "starter kit" on my
first wine kit - a mere 30 bottles. Suffice to say, I now have a floor
model.

Abby



--
The ChildFree Abby Archives - http://www.dismal-light.net/childfreeabby/

On Mar 18, 6:49 am, "Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
> > > anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
> > > decalibrate, etc.)
>
> > cleaned all the hardware in hot water, gave some corks a bath and
> > tried the plunger device. why do you guys hate hand corkers so much? i
> > was able to force the cork thru the cone with only one hand.
>
> > admittedly, it looks like you need 4 hand to hold plunger, bottle, and
> > everything steady while corking.....- Hide quoted text -
>
> Use that corker for about 100 corks and then lets see what you
> say... They work, but inconsistently. The corks should be a
> little soft to the touch if they are any good. If they feel like a 2
> x 4 soak them in warm sulfited water and let the drip dry in a
> colander. If they are still hard pitch them. Cut one apart and smell
> it and feel the wood inside. Hydrometers are not affected by time or
> storage unless extreme. Get some distilled water; it should read
> 1.000 at it's calibration temperature.
>
> Joe

the corks i did have, I soaked them for abotu 15 min and tried them.
they did feel soft after soaking but are back to being hard after
letting them dry overnight. not real hard, but somewhat difficult to
push thru the plunger.

I think i do agree that i wouldnt keep the plunger after 30 bottles,
but if for some reason I dont end up doing this after one batch the
floor corker will be one less thing for me to try to get my
investment back from.

Personally I would toss out the corks, although would be OK for test
runs with the corker. You other steps seem very reasonable.

Steve

On 17 Mar 2007 14:33:32 -0700, "Tater" > wrote:

>I did get a new winemaking kit. dont panic about the below.
>
>But I did dig out some "stuff" someone gave to me that was winemaking
>related, just to see what was there that might be usefull.
>
>please note, this stuff was stored in poor conditions, as in out in a
>leaky garage all last summer, fall, and winter(and this early thaw)
>
>Looks like there is a hand corker of poor design, #9 corks in plastic
>bags the vendor folded then stapled(instead of heat sealed, couple of
>airlocks, couple of tapered corks whith holes, bottle of camden
>tablets, lots of envelopes of chenicals,yeast, and such(all ruined to
>to temp and water), and a tiny hydrometer
>
>the chemicals I am gonna toss, as i got plenty from my new kit, the
>corker i might play with, to help me appreciate what a real corker
>saves me from. I suppose i can test the old hydro against the new one
>and see if it works. and maybe soak the corks in water then sanitizer
>and use them for practice.
>
>anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
>decalibrate, etc.)

I agree, don't trust any of the chemicals. They are cheap anyway. If the
corks were improperly stored and dried out, even if you rehydrate them,
their structure will not be sound and I would not trust them. If the did
not dry out but were improperly stored, they could be infected and I would
not trust them. (You cannot sanitize the center of the cork by soaking in
solution.) In other words I would not trust them unless they werre stored
with (not in) a sanitizing solution. To properly store corkes for any
extended period of time, put the corks in a plasic bucket with a tight lid.
A good primary works gread. Then fill a wine bottle half full of Na-Meta
solution and stand the bottle up in the bucket so it will not fall over.
Put the tight lid back on and put it in a safe place where it will not be
bumped hard enough to spill the solution. The solution will evaporate and
keep the corks hydrated properly and the keep any baddies from growing.

As far as the corker goes, the old one will probably clean up and work as
well as a new one. But then I would not have a new one or an old one. But
then I have been making wine for a long long time and have a good floor
corker. Go ahead and use the hand corker but if you decide this is a hobby
you will continue with, let a good corder be one of your first serious
purchases. You will never regret it.

Ray

"Tater" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I did get a new winemaking kit. dont panic about the below.
>
> But I did dig out some "stuff" someone gave to me that was winemaking
> related, just to see what was there that might be usefull.
>
> please note, this stuff was stored in poor conditions, as in out in a
> leaky garage all last summer, fall, and winter(and this early thaw)
>
> Looks like there is a hand corker of poor design, #9 corks in plastic
> bags the vendor folded then stapled(instead of heat sealed, couple of
> airlocks, couple of tapered corks whith holes, bottle of camden
> tablets, lots of envelopes of chenicals,yeast, and such(all ruined to
> to temp and water), and a tiny hydrometer
>
> the chemicals I am gonna toss, as i got plenty from my new kit, the
> corker i might play with, to help me appreciate what a real corker
> saves me from. I suppose i can test the old hydro against the new one
> and see if it works. and maybe soak the corks in water then sanitizer
> and use them for practice.
>
> anyone see any issues i should be aware of(corks wear out, hydrometers
> decalibrate, etc.)
>