This picture makes me smile.
(http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pU2P7dj-p7zomyFkypB6Djv4T_a4L-epc03vj_huxTXwPlwcadG4GRQYTg3YMFv6qUIl1LE16NN5bTRn7lAcuGQ/DSC_0009.jpg)
And so it should. I think my chest might swell a bit too it it were mine.
Well done.
I am trying to wait patiently for some more honey to arrived, as I have two 6 gallon and one 3 gallon batch that I am wanting to start.
Actually I like those straps, I think I am going to have to invest in a few of them too, and the cheese mould is not calling my name anymore, it is turned into a loud shriek. sigh
Sweet! How many carboys are there? At least four from the picture but looks like that may not be the whole lot! That is a pretty good supply of shear goodness!
I have 7 carboys with young wine in them.
I have 6 cases of wine left from 2007
I have 2 cases of wine left from 2006
I have 2 bottles left from 2005...
Are those your babies? With the straps they looks like those baby slings for wearing your children on your chest.
Those straps are a lifesaver.
Wayne,
Where did you get the straps? We just finished bottling a batch of beer and that sure would have been handy.
They are called a "The Brew Hauler". I get mine from Leeners (http://leeners.com/equipment-fermenter-carboys.html), but only because Leeners is local for me.
I would recommend that you find a better deal for them online (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=THE+BREW+HAULER+&aq=f&oq=).
I have found that they are a life saver. It is difficult and dangerous handling full/wet 6.5 gallon carboys.
When I was wee lad I had come home from college and I was making mead in my dad's kitchen and I added the hot wort to the carboy before diluting it with cold water. I pulled the carboy from the top to lift it up and the bottom, from thermal shock, had cracked. 5 gallons of sticky mead all over his floor. I must have mopped 10 times and it was still sticky. It was a disaster.
Yow, Cartierusm! Yeah, I'll bet that was a mess. Wayne, thanks for the info and the links. We'll try the local brew store first and then online if need be.
Carter, you are lucky that the only damage to you was a possibly a callous on your hands from mopping... A carboy breaking is my wost fear.
Someday, i will move up to some SS fermentation tanks and oak barrels for aging.
Although my glass is worth more these days.... Has anyone else noticed the jump in price for glass carboys?
That's because apparently one of the major Italian glass carboy supplier's has gone out of business. Leaves only one or two other companies in the race.
Interesting Tea. All my carboys say Made in Mexico on the bottom. I don't have to worry about carboys I've got a ton, way to many. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach. I almost bought a 100 liter SS jacketed vat a few years ago, but ended up not. I was being called upon to possibly be involved with Joe Montana's winery, but nothing ever came about it.
Quote from: Cartierusm on January 18, 2009, 09:22:39 PM
When I was wee lad I had come home from college and I was making mead in my dad's kitchen and I added the hot wort to the carboy before diluting it with cold water. I pulled the carboy from the top to lift it up and the bottom, from thermal shock, had cracked. 5 gallons of sticky mead all over his floor. I must have mopped 10 times and it was still sticky. It was a disaster.
Oh GOD!!! I can just imagine. We've made mead too, but we keep it in the fermenter, and it's upside down and even then we've gotten it on our floor when we were bottling it (I actually enjoy that process), but to spill a WHOLE carboy??? Oh MAN! You poor thing! What a waste of the Gods' gift too!
Ya know, in Irish mythology, if you spill beer during your life, you will be lowered into the vat of all the beer you've spilt until you drink it all down, and then have to do it again and again, EXCEPT if you are a brewer. I can just imagine what a hellish afterlife it will be for bud drinkers... hehe ;)
My father was a commercial beer brewer. He died when he fell into a vat of beer.
Whats worse is that i heard it was not a quick death, as he had to get out 3 times to pee.
Thanks Wayne, I started to believe you for a second and got sad...dam you...dam you all to hell.
lol -admittedly that was an old one.
Did you gas the headspace? Theres seem to be ALOT of it in the two left carboys.
Im aging about 100L of 2010 syrah and 25L Syrah-Muscat of alexandria sweet Fort (fortified+port=Fort , rights reserved to me ;) ) the aromatics of this thing are out of this world,
I highly recommend the combination.
It came about from left over skins and left over fruit after I pressed 20L of muscat (for a 19L carboy).
It was my first time pressing white for juice so I bought more fruit then I needed since the buyer gave me a great price for over ripe fruit.
I crushed it with the syrah intended for port and macerated all togther,
I was afrid of bitter phenols from the muscat skins but it wasnt there.
Quote from: Wayne Harris on January 25, 2009, 03:48:49 AM
My father was a commercial beer brewer. He died when he fell into a vat of beer.
Whats worse is that i heard it was not a slow death, as he had to get out 3 times to pee.
lol....well, since this ghost of a thread is up again n' stuff....I, too, was saddened by this, until I got to the end. Too funny, Wayne, surprised I never heard this in the industry.
True story....working for Goose Island, the packaging line super messed up one day, and back-pressured the bright tank while packaging. Bottom line, the PRV blew, and all of us were treated to 200 bbls of beautiful beer - kolsch, I seem to recall, the summer seasonal - geysering monstrously, tragically from the tank, a torrent. I did my yeoman's service, and attempted to cap the beer several times, to no avail. I was, however, thoroughly soaked in the most refreshing blowhole this side of Halona, Hawaii. 8)
LMAO! What a great thread. I was picturing Wayne walking around with a carboy strapped to his chest with a siphon wand for a straw yelling, "I love juice!" from lips stained red by the wine.
I do!
But these are now my backpacks...
Wayne,
You've been sampling more out of the backpack on the right. ;)
Did you use aragon to fill that head space?
Quote from: Wayne Harris on January 24, 2011, 01:20:42 AM
I do!
But these are now my backpacks...
Nice tanks, Wayne! Jealous of the tri-clovers....
Almost big enough to swim in, if one tried.
Can I try? 8)
Quote from: Tomer1 on January 24, 2011, 12:19:08 PM
Did you use aragon to fill that head space?
Yes.
That, and a floating skin, inside the tanks
Quote from: Sailor Con Queso on January 24, 2011, 04:09:39 AM
You've been sampling more out of the backpack on the right. ;)
Strictly for quality control reasons.
Are frozen grapes good enough to make wine???/
people do it all the time.
i would become a member of this site.
www.winepress.us (http://winepress.us)
Its free and they have discussions about many winemaking styles, including frozen.
Frozen is just a way to preserve and sell them during non season, your paying extra for the refrigeration.
They are also usually destemed and crushed during the process so it saves you the need to buy some processing gear.
You will need to buy or make a press if you want to get a decent yield once fermentation is complete,aswell as some aids like potassium bisulfit mlf bacteria to consume malic acid for stability, glass carboy for aging,corker and some corks.