DIY
Having successfully completed the cider experiment, subnaught cellars has embarked on the process of making wine. Grapes were obtained from the good people at Brehm Vineyards with the vital assistance of Laser Jock J and the Vac Line Villain (who also took the above photo).
No SO2, no added yeast, no acidulation, no chaptalization, no temperature control other than a 30 year-old gas furnace without a thermostat. The must spent a total of 28 days on the skins. Pressing, shown below, occurred on New Years Day, as per the biodynamic Gregorian calendar.
Those of you who are especially curious can follow along here.
Posted at 12:10 on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 in category wine | Comments (7)
Sun Jan 3 12:57:12 2010
ishapiro: You aren't going to throw that cake away, are you? It would provide some good material to liven up a batch of bran muffins.Sun Jan 3 14:56:40 2010
subnaught: The assistant winemaker and I decided it would be a good idea to taste a bit of that cake. Never again...Sat Jan 9 02:10:00 2010
milkshake: If you are into home distilling (very easy but somewhat illegal) you could use the pomace for making your own grappaSat Jan 9 13:33:43 2010
subnaught: Yeah, I considered that, but I didn't really have anything on hand with which to rig up a still. And I didn't really have anywhere to store the pomace while I figured it out. Next year...Sun Jan 10 00:40:55 2010
milkshake: You could have put that pomace into a bucket with a lid, add some sugar water and let it go for awhile with the bubbler on top, it would not spoil. One can rig a home still from a pot with tight-sealing lid and outlet - a pressure cooker pot or a giant kettle would work - and for the condenser you just use a two feet of copper tubing and you jacket it with a piece of plastic water pipe stoppered on top and bottom, and you add the water inlet and outlet connectors to the jacket, seal everything with silicone putty, get some garden hose or tubing for the cooling water and you get yourself a nice water-cooled condenser. You connect it to your pot through a cork stopper. I suppose you could buy all that material for less than $90.
