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old winemaking kit parts

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.)

Reply to
Tater
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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.....

Reply to
Tater

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

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

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

Reply to
Childfree Abby

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.

Reply to
Tater

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

Steve

Reply to
Steve

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

Reply to
Ray Calvert

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