Hi. Just bottled my first 6 gallon batch of red, truly fun experience. Now I am looking at some speciality 1 gallon batches (like cranberry, blueberries, etc.) and need some advice.
I have a 1 gallon jug with air-value thingie, but what should I ferment first step in? the jug? or a small bucket? Can't use the 6 gallon bucket since I've started a Pinot Noir in it. But it's too big anyway for a gallon batch. I don't see anything in the normal "online retail" stores.
What do you all use? Tupperware work? Glass mixing bowl?
I've recently begun using an 8qt stainless steel stockpot with lid. Found it when I was up at the local Family Dollar store for 6 bucks. I had done some batches in my regular 5-6 qt stockpot, but, as with most of my cookware, it's teflon coated, and while there was no signs of pitting or anything, was really concerned that chemicals might leech out of it in the extended acidic contact of fermenting, where I'm not concerned for normal cooking. I also have a big 8 qt or so stainless steel mixing bowl I use on occasion, but it's 16" or so wide at the top, and doesn't have a lid, so I have to try to stretch two lengths of paper towel over the top and tape the edges. With the strawberry wine(think that was the one), when my grainbag floated to top, top part of it was high enough to contact the paper towel, and was worried about the must soaking in the paper towel attracting bugs. So now I use the aforementioned stock pot. It's not of quality I would buy for normal cooking, bit thin, etc, but for just holding must on my counter, has worked great so far. Think current batch of grapefruit wine is third batch I've done in it.
Joel
"DAve Allison" wrote in message news:LADQe.13910$2 snipped-for-privacy@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
Hi, At first I bought a 5 gallon food grade plastic pail, and used that for my 1 gallon recipes. Then I started looking around for a 2 gallon container which I could leave on my counter. It was pricey, but I found a 2 gallon glass cylinder container with a top at Walmart for about $13. I really like it for fermenting my fruit wines in - there's just enough room for that bag of fruit and a little extra top-up. I use it all the time now, and it is easy to siphon from - so for me it works out well. Darlene
I use a 2-gallon glass jar also, and it's terrific. I found myself needing many small fermenters, though, and I didn't want to keep spending $20 a pop (I went to Target and didn't get as good a deal as Darlene). So I started collecting 2-gallon plastic buckets. I bought 2 gallons of honey to make mead and got a "free" fermenter. I buy dishwashing detergent at Costco, which comes in 2-gallon plastic buckets, and lo and behold another free fermenter (yeah, I buy there laundry soap in the 5-gallon plastic buckets too).
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I looked for my wife's stock pot, it was 16 quart, so i'm off to target/walmart/Costco to find 8 quart containters. I might end up with 2 or 3, so must be creative. smile. thanks, DAve Pastic, glass, stainless steel.. seems they all work.
DAve Allis> Hi. Just bottled my first 6 gallon batch of red, truly fun experience.
Hi, I have been using a 2 gallon stainless stockpot, it has handles and a lid and cost $8 from the cheap shop. I decided they were ideal and purchased another 2 of them and also a 5galloner. Recently, for the last 10 brews or so, I have been using the stainless lid to cover the must as I found if I stirred the must 2 times a day to add some oxygen there were no hassles. This to me is easier than a tea-towel pegged to the top of the fermentor and have had no problems with vinegar flys. Hope this makes sense. I am interested in what others are doing also and wondered if there were any reason not to use the lid in this way. Chris.
You said you would be interested in Cranberry. You might check out the cranberry recipe on Jack Keller's site. I made it and it came out great. However, I think his Highbush Cranberries are a bit sweeter and less tart than what we get in the store and I would suggest a little less fruit. Maybe 2.5 lbs rather than 3. But that is me.
One warning about that recipe and many others on Jacks site. It is designed to yield one gallon so if you follow it you will start with more than one gallon. This caught me off guard. I was aiming at a 6 gallon batch and when I strained it to secondary I had something like 8 or 9 gallons. But by the time I finished aging and all the racking it was done to 6. This is not bad as it insures that you will have enough for topping through out the process.
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