40 gallons of wine

[bev]

hi new here! Fairly new to wine making too. I've done a gallon each of coltsfoot, lemon wine. 5 gallons of elderflower. Currently, i have two fruit juice wines fermenting plus one gallon of apple rhubarb just started. So, not done too much but am keen for a big batch. I have a few 40 gallon barrels to my avail that were used previously for cidermaking. I want to go for doing one 40 gallon barrel of some fairly cheap but, tasty wine. I'm looking for advice on doing such a quantity and a tried and tested recipe for maybe a fruit tea bag wine. Questions. How much yeast? What is the cheapest way to do it? Can i ferment it outside or is it better to be inside? Will i just get some 10 litre plastic jugs for storing it when finished? Any advice folks i would greatly appreciate.

 

[Moley]

Hi Bev, welcome to the forum, and I like the scale of your thinking :

Answers:
Ferment indoors and try to keep it fairly stable around 20°C give or take a little bit.
When finished I would suggest 5 litre mineral water bottles.
Yeast; no idea, this might need a whole tub, I would get a large starter going first.
I would suggest a Wurzel's, but that's usually around £2.50 a gallon so you're looking at quite a large investment. Get some more practice and experience first.

More questions:
What are the barrels made out of? Are they covered?

 

[Moley]

Ok, I've been giving this some more thought while driving to w**k.

I came back to the hobby last March after many years away, but with a reasonable amount of previous experience. I'm now on brew #74 of which 12 have been beers and 4 ciders, so that's 58 wines in volumes ranging from 1 to 6 gallons.

Every brew carries a risk. We do everything we can to guard against infections and, touch wood, I haven't lost one yet. However, the most I have invested in a 6 gallon brew has been around £15.

The Young's 5 gallon fermenters actualy hold 6 gallons and a pint. That has to be lifted from floor to worktop for racking and fining, and then again for filtering. A pint of water's a pound and a quarter, so a gallon is 10 lbs. 60 lbs plus is quite a lump to lift. 40 gallons plus the barrel is getting close to a fifth of a ton, are you fitting pumps to your barrels or do you have a forklift?

My main concern would still be “what are the barrels made of?” Are you 100% certain they could be properly cleaned and sterilised? I don't know about you, but I would have absolutely no use for a hundred quid's worth of vinegar.

 

[Samarith]

Cheapest way to brew 40 gallons....hmmm...

1) Start rumours about a plague of miniature fruit eating locusts in your area.

2) Offer the local farm/allotment workers a good stiff drink (suitably spiked with knockout drops)

3) Wait for dark

4) Drive car/van/truck to farm/allotment

5) Grab everything that ferments

6) Run away

I suppose the other option would be to ask those people for left over produce. If you have a large grocers or friends inside a major supermarket, you could attempt a deal involving fruit or juices that have just gone past their sell by date.

 

[bev]

heyya! Cheers for your responses. Moley, aye, 40 gallons, i reckon why mess about? Aye, the barrels are pretty thick food grade plastic. My B-I-L is a master cidermaker. He used lots of these same type barrels for many years. He says we'll steam clean then sterlise. He says he used to just steam clean and he never had problems. They have 2x 5 cm screw-in plugs for openings. I reckon i just buy a cork for one of the holes, drill a hole and fit an airlock. Is that ok? My B-I-L says he has equipment to get it all out fairly easy. Indoors. 20c? That could be tricky. In northern scotland and nae permanently warmish rooms. However, i realise at that volume, the temperature fluctuation will not be so, extreme like it is for wee volumes. It's been suggested to me to insulate the barrel wi an old duvet or piece of carpet or something too. I'll have to think about that. My mate who is helping is an experienced winemaker. He's mades a few large loads before and has suggested elderflower wine for something cheap and foolproof. Elderflowers are really easy to get here. Then i would get in a large jug of lemon juice! And lots o' sugar. Yea, nae idea how much yeast to use yet. Not discussed that wi my mate yet.

 

[bev]

samarith, lol, i like yer thinking. ;-)

 

[Moley]

Bev, it sounds like you've thought it through properly and have the right sort of help and advice on hand.

The best of luck with it :

 

[Aleman]

Elderflowers Lemon juice and sugar is not going to make that nice a wine . . . without some sort of vine fruit (raisins or grape concentrate) to give it some body

Yeast Wise . . I would make up a batch(3-5 gallons) of similar wine a week to 10 days before the main batch, and once the main batch is ready, pitch the fermenting batch into it. . . . sort of a super sized starter :lol: . . . . And no I suggest you don't want fries with that :lol:

 

[Tony]

Hey Bev .. nice to meet you.

You just have to take some pics of this - your set up and the process. Love to see it!

Good luck with whatever you come up with. I'd suggest something like carrot wine, as they can be obtained relatively cheaply... but carrot wine has a habbit of turning into knock-out drops (well, mine did!)

have fun!
:

 

[bev]

yea, i used raisins in my previous elderflower excursion but, was looking into maybe an apple or grape concentrate. Dunno how much that costs tho. Aleman, i like the idea for the starter. Ta.

 

[Hawks]

Welcome bev

I've no idea what wine to make at this sort of scale, but I love the big thinking !!! :thumb:

 

[bev]

big? Lol. I havnae mentioned that i have a 330 gallon ex orange juice transport barrel that i use to store water from my borehole in and i know where to get more of these! Lol. : yea, looking at grape juice concentrate. I found one called youngs definitive white grape juice concentrate. 900g for £6.49. One website said this 900g tin could do up to 5 gallons supplementing a country/fruit/flower wine. Anybody disagree with that? Has anybody seen cheaper than the above mentioned? I reckon i can get the sugar and lemon juice from cash n carry if i go for the elderflower.

 

[Springer]

Are you sure about this :) I also like the thinking but 240 bottles and you might not like it :? If you did pilot brew you would have a rough idea was it would be like ?
I think you have already made up your mind so good luck and keep us informed

 

[Moley]

Springer, see original post.

I've done a gallon each of coltsfoot, lemon wine. 5 gallons of elderflower

Elderflower can be good in moderation, or for blending, but even so I don't think I'd fancy 240 bottles of cat wee.

 

[bev]

yea, i will be doing some 5 gallon pilot brews. I'm going to start with a pilot of elderflower with grape concentrate, lemon juice and another of a tea bag wine. Saw a recipe you put up moley of a loganberry, strawberry and raspberry tea bag. You mentioned that blackberry nettle is good too? I'm thinking maybe of a variation of that using concentrates instead. Moley, the tea bag one finishes in about 6 weeks?Perhaps the elderflower and tea bag one would make a good blend too? Perhaps, i could get 3x 5 gallons of fruity ones to blend a big elderflower one with? Put it this way, we arenae interested in winning a wine contest, we're looking for a cheap supply of bevvy to take us through the winter. But, aye, elderflowers 'floweriness' might do my head in by bottle 239. Lol

 

[ohbeary]

Hi bev, may I suggest keeping friedly with your nearest wholesale fruit and veg people, the odd case of overripe nanas might come in handy usually free unless you count bribes :grin: , all sorts of fermentable stuff they can't sell when it gets a bit too ripe and there you willing to help them out by taking it away!! :rofl: :rofl: