Winemaking Designer Carboys?

I was recently reading a monthly newsletter I get from one of the local wine making supply shops I frequent and came across a new cool "toy" I HAD to get and try out - a plastic clear carboy.

These carboys are made by "Better-Bottle" (www.Better-Bottle.com) and seem to have an OEM relationship with RJ Spagnols.

This new carboy caught my attention for a number of reasons:

1) It's made up of the same material (PET) that is used in regular water cooler bottles so I knew my wine wouldn't get a plastic taste to it. They are also almost "unbreakable" (mind you so was the Titanic) and can be cleaned with hot water.

      PET = polyethylene terephthalate

2) At 1.5 lbs it is about 1/10th the weight of the equivalent glass carboy so wouldn't hurt the back as much when I move a full carboy around.

3) It is clear (unlike the current opaque plastic carboys - which stain from what I hear) so you can see how well your wine is clearing.

4) Cost wise it is about the same as a glass carboy ($24.99)

5) The wider neck makes it even easier to clean the a a regular carboy.

Note: Due to the increased size of the neck you'll have to use a size 10 bung for the airlock.

I've quizzed wine making shop owners about what they see as the main drawbacks to using this new plastic carboy is that it tends to scratch on the inside when using a carboy brush. Apart from that it appears to be pretty equivalent to a glass carboy.

I haven't used it yet so would be interested in hearing from you if you have one and your experiences with it.

If you have used it before please let me know via the "comments" option below!

- Scott

An Ingenious Way To Degas Your Wine

I was recently shown a very interesting and effective way to degas your wine and wanted to share it with you all.

I couldn't do this method justice by trying to describe it in writing so I shot the video below over the weekend so that I could post it to my website and to my Blog.



Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!

Prawn Wine Anyone? Proof That You Can Make Wine Out Of Just About Anything!

One of the things I love about helping people with their wine making is hearing about all of the crazy things people make wine out of! I guess I'm a "traditionalist" though as I typically make wine from wine kits and fresh fruit.

For example, I currently have the following wine kits from Winexperts on the go:

1. Piesporter (Vintner's Reserve)
   
2. Pinot Noir (Vintner's Reserve)
3. Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot (Estate Series)
   
   (my wife and I are big fans of Stag's Leap Artemis, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon so we thought this kit would be interesting to try - cost us $150 though so BETTER be good ... ).
   
   You can view the PDF for this one by clicking here.
   
   
4. Chocolate Raspberry Port (Limited Edition)
   
   (one of my readers has made this kit as well and said it was a big hit at Christmas)

On the fruit side I currently have on the go:

1. Blueberry Wine
2. Crabapple Wine

I have also completed a batch of Canadian Wheat Ale, which is quite tasty (need to tone down the carbonation though) and have a Mexican style beer waiting for it's turn as well.

So needless to say, our house has been a perpetual "fermentation zone" for quite some time now.

In any event, I figured the wines that I make are pretty much what everyone else makes and man was I wrong!

In fact, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I discovered that people actually make wine out of "non-grape" fruit as well. My ski patrol friend Brian, for example, loves making wine from rhubarb, choke cherries and raspberries and this is mainly because he both loves the wine he can produce and he gets his fruit for free (not a bad deal).

Then there were the wines made from fruits I've never heard of including:

1. Pomerac
2. Otaheite Apple (Pomarosa, Malacca Apple, Plum Rose)
3. Samarangense

Next, there was Rob who emailed me today and mentioned that he was making wine from Ribena. Well ... I guess all you need is sugar right?

There's Peter from the UK who loves to make wine from Beetroot (claims it went over quite nicely).

>> By the way, he sent me the recipe if you'd like it. You can contact me by going to www.AllWineMaking.com/Contactus.html

Then there's Ian (also from the UK) who I think gets the award for pushing the wine making limits with his wine made from:

1. Tomatoes
2. Coconuts (ok ... this one doesn't sound toooo bad)
3. Sycamore (maple)
4. Prawns (yes ... that's right ... prawns ... as in ... shrimp)
   

Don't believe me that you can make wine from prawns? Here's Ian's recipe and I double dare ya to try it!

"You have to cook and blend 1lb of prawns in with flour, I found that half a banana helped with them . Get it to room temperature, add 2 lbs of sugar, leave them for a few days and then add the yeast. " -> He did admit though that it took him a few tries to "get it just right"

I could go on with a bunch more entertaining wine recipes that I've heard but I'll spare you the details.

It goes to show you though that once you feel you have your wine making skills honed and under control that you shouldn't just limit yourself to just one style of wine as you never know what new and exciting flavours are waiting for you just around the corner.

It's just a matter of getting out of your comfort zone and trying something completely different.

Now get out there and make some wine damn it! :)

To your wine making,

Scott
www.AllWineMaking.com

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