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WineEasy^TM Home Winemaking System

If you have been shying away from making wine from grapes because it seemed too messy or complicated, the folks at Blichmann Engineering — the same company that brought you other brewing and winemaking equipment, such as the conical fermentor — have developed the WineEasy^TM system that makes winemaking from grapes a piece of cake (no pun intended). Fermentation and pressing is all done in the SAME vessel without the need to transfer grape solids to a separate press, and the wine is transferred to a carboy under the action of a vacuum pump. It couldn't get any easier.

The system comes fully equipped with all the components shown in the figure on the left, except the carboy, although tanks are sold separately from the pump and racking kit, which can be used with any tank volume. All you need to supply are grapes, and you're on your way to making great wine the easy way.

The system includes a stainless steel fermentation tank, available in volumes of 20/30/55 gallons (76/114/209 liters), tank lid, piston assembly that acts as the pressing mechanism, tank stand, tank racking fittings (7/8"), ball valve and tri-clover clamps and a 1/2" barb fitting, 1/6-hp vacuum pump, plastic tubing for wine transfer to carboy, and miscellaneous parts for completing the vacuum racking system (stainless steel racking tube, check valve and tube, 2-hole bung, and piston bung).

The tank is designed with a false bottom and screen to allow wine to be racked free of seeds and other grape particles.

Operation is very simple. You can either crush grapes using your crusher and transfer the pomace and juice to the fermentation tank, or transfer a portion of whole-grape clusters to the tank and crush the grapes using, for example, a potato masher and then continuing adding and mashing grapes. Remove the stems, inoculate the must, place the lid on the tank, and proceed with fermentation as usual making sure to punch down the pomace daily. When fermentation is complete, wine is partly transferred by gravity to a carboy. The piston assembly and vacuum pump kit are then used to press the pomace and transfer the wine to a carboy. How easy is that! As a bonus, the vacuum pump can be used to degas the wine prior to bottling.

The manufacturer's suggested retail prices in US$ are listed below. Note that the same vacuum press and degas kits can be used on the different volume fermentors. The leg extension kit is only available on the 20- and 30-gallon models.

I have never quite been this excited about a new piece of winemaking equipment particularly that it has all the quality and precision attributes of German engineering.

I have conducted a thorough, independent testing of the system; I was very impressed. Read the product review. You can also read a more detailed product review I had posted previously, or get more info from Blichman Engineering's website or watch the promo video.





Home SO₂ Test Kit

I easily get excited when there is a new winemaking product or wine analysis laboratory equipment that makes my winemaking (and life) easier. And it's a bonus if it saves me money. So you can understand my excitement when I found out about the new Home SO₂ Test Kit from MoreWine!.

Until now, home winemakers relied on Titrets for testing free SO₂ in wine. Titrets worked fine for whites, but polyphenols in reds skewed measurements making free SO₂ determination a guessing game. The alternative was expensive laboratory equipment, costing several hundreds of dollars, not easily accessible to home winemakers.

The Home SO₂ Test Kit now replicates the Aeration-Oxidation (AO) method used in enological laboratories but at a fraction of the cost. At US$99.95, you get all the paraphernalia, reagents and detailed instructions to accurately test for free SO₂ in white and red wines.

I tested the new kit and was impressed with the ease of use and accuracy of results. Actually, there were no concerns with test accuracy since the method is identical to what is used in commercial laboratories; it is simply a matter of the equipment being simplified for affordability.

Check it out where you can download instructions and view instructional videos.

INTRODUCTION TO WINEMAKING Instructional Video (DVD)

Joel Sommer is no stranger to home winemaking; he is the owner and founder of WinePress.US, one of the largest winemaking and grape growing discussion forum on the internet. And now, he has just released a new instructional video in DVD format for new winemakers that teaches all the basics from equipment needed to making wine and filtering and bottling. It includes how to make wine from a kit, fruit wine from cherries, and wine from grapes.

Joel hosts this video that only runs 1hr 50 mins and so it's an easy watch with a bottle of wine by your side. And be sure to watch the Outtakes ... after the bottle of wine!

The DVD sells for US$55.95 (plus taxes) plus $4.99 shipping. You can watch a sample trailer or order directly from the WinePress.US website.

I highly recommend this instructional video for any amateur getting into home winemaking.














Carbonated Beverage Filler

I receive a lot of queries about purchasing the counter-pressure bottler (carbonating system) featured in my book on page 404 of the 2008 edition. The unit has limited distribution; however, I just came across another unit advertized in Vineyard & Winery Management. I have not had a chance to perform a product review, but I thought I'd make you aware of it in the meantime. It retails for US$695; it's not cheap, but if you belong to a club, you can share the cost. The unit is the creation of Mr. Alvin Cohodas, who has extensive experience in industrial gas applications as a food processing consultant, food technologist, and professional winemaker. I'll provide more information soon; in the meantime, take a look at it.

















Gas Getter

If you are tired of stirring your wine or waiting for it to degas on its own, worry no longer, the Gas Getter is here to the rescue.

The Gas Getter is the invention of one Rhone Lahr. With a name like that, you'll have confidence in the effectiveness and quality of this winemaking product.

The Gas Getter is a set of attachments and bungs that connect to a compressor (not supplied, available at home reno centers) to degas wine. It is available for degassing one carboy or 4, 6, 10 or 12 carboys for those of you serious winemakers. And if you have fewer carboys to degas than the total number of the model, unused ports can be easily closed off with the supplied plugs. The picture at the left (top) shows a 4-carboy model in operation while the picture at the left (bottom) shows what you get with this model. Prices range from US$69.95 for the one-carboy model to $199.95 for the 12-carboy model, plus shipping.

The one- and 4-carboy models require a 1-HP compressor, the 6-carboy model requires a 2-HP compressor, and the 10- and 12-carboy models require a 5-HP compressor.

I tested the 4-carboy model ($89.95). I snapped all the attachments together and then to the bungs, and then inserted the bungs in the carboys to be degassed. I plugged in the compressor, turned it on, and away it went. It takes approximately 30 minutes to degas 4 carboys of very young wine. Time decreases considerably as the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide gas (CO2) decreases from aging the wine. Be sure to read all instructions and safety warnings carefully.

For more information, visit the Gas Getter website.

FERRARI Automatic Filler Tap

Ferrari has developed a new gravity-fed, easy to use, single-bottle filler for home winemakers: the Automatic Filler Tap.

Simply attach a 5/16, 3/8, or 1/2-inch racking hose, insert the filler into a bottle, insert the racking hose in the carboy, and start the wine flowing by suction. The filler will stop automatically at the adjustable preset level. Transfer the filler to another bottle, press on the flow tap to start the wine flowing again.

And as a bonus, the Automatic Filler Tap comes with an anti-foam attachment that replaces the tap cap at the top of the filler for bottling carbonated wine.

A great investment for $15.99 for small-batch winemakers.

Available at The Wine Maker's Toy Store.






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