I have started my first batch of wine... an apple. Since it was my first
try I decided to start with a small batch since I was learning. I will have
two 1-gallon jugs under an airlock once my primary is finished. Once I gain
experience I plan to graduate to bigger batches... 3 gallon and up. What is
everyone's opinions on batch size. By the time you have waste and etc.,
would it be more worthwhile to make larger batches as opposed to 1-gallon
ones? Obviously the bigger the batch the more final product you'll have.
But, in your opinion, do these small batches make themselves more of a pain
than they're worth?

My second question is: how do I know what the approximate life expectancy
of my wine will be after it's bottled? Is there an rule of thumb to go by?

Thanks
Jeff

J Scott wrote:

> I have started my first batch of wine... an
> apple. Since it was my first
> try I decided to start with a small batch since
> I was learning. I will have
> two 1-gallon jugs under an airlock once my
> primary is finished. Once I gain
> experience I plan to graduate to bigger
> batches... 3 gallon and up. What is
> everyone's opinions on batch size. By the time
> you have waste and etc., would it be more
> worthwhile to make larger batches as opposed to
> 1-gallon
> ones? Obviously the bigger the batch the more
> final product you'll have. But, in your opinion,
> do these small batches make themselves more of a
> pain than they're worth?
>
> My second question is: how do I know what the
> approximate life expectancy
> of my wine will be after it's bottled? Is there
> an rule of thumb to go by?
>
> Thanks
> Jeff

I find 3 gallon size about right for experimental
wines. Shelf live varies, but in general, I have
found that for fruit wines 8 months is a good
time to start drinking.

On May 7, 6:32 am, "Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote:
> J Scott wrote:
> > I have started my first batch of wine... an
> > apple. Since it was my first
> > try I decided to start with a small batch since
> > I was learning. I will have
> > two 1-gallon jugs under an airlock once my
> > primary is finished. Once I gain
> > experience I plan to graduate to bigger
> > batches... 3 gallon and up. What is
> > everyone's opinions on batch size. By the time
> > you have waste and etc., would it be more
> > worthwhile to make larger batches as opposed to
> > 1-gallon
> > ones? Obviously the bigger the batch the more
> > final product you'll have. But, in your opinion,
> > do these small batches make themselves more of a
> > pain than they're worth?
>
> > My second question is: how do I know what the
> > approximate life expectancy
> > of my wine will be after it's bottled? Is there
> > an rule of thumb to go by?
>
> > Thanks
> > Jeff
>
> I find 3 gallon size about right for experimental
> wines. Shelf live varies, but in general, I have
> found that for fruit wines 8 months is a good
> time to start drinking.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I would agree with Paul, I think its less trouble to do 3 gallon
batches than anything smaller. It's about the same amount of work
regardless of container, with 3 gallons you get 15 bottles of finished
wine.

As to waste, it varies but 10 to 20% s a rule of thumb might make
sense. There seems to be more relative waste the smaller the
container.

Joe

Ditto what Joe said - and I would add; I find that batches of less than
5 gallons seem like more work for too little wine. 5 gallons gives me
two cases plus a bottle. A nice return on the effort. Less just seems like
a poor ROI on my time.
These days, I will do an 'experimental wine' at 5 gallons. Anything I am
serious about (grape wines) is about 20 gallons, so I can use the 15.5
gallon stainless vats plus a carboy. Fruit wines I shoot for 10 to 13
gallons (2 carboys).

>
>I would agree with Paul, I think its less trouble to do 3 gallon
>batches than anything smaller. It's about the same amount of work
>regardless of container, with 3 gallons you get 15 bottles of finished
>wine.
>
>As to waste, it varies but 10 to 20% s a rule of thumb might make
>sense. There seems to be more relative waste the smaller the
>container.
>
>Joe
>



--

My problem with small experiemental batchs is that they are gone by the time
they are drinkable. If you get a full 2 gallons into secondary (no head),
by the time it has gone through 3 rackings you will be lucky to get 7
bottles. Then you need to have a bottle shortly after bottling to see how
it is going. Then a bottle every 6 weeks to 2 months. By the time it is a
year old and just starting to be drinkable it will be almost all gone. It
would be a good idea to get some split bottles to extend the testing time.

Longevity: Some wines are actually on decline by the time they are a year
old. Others are starting to be drinkable at 3 years. You learn by asking
and by doing. If I know a wine will be short lived I will make a 3 gallon
batch. If longer lived I will make 6 to ... gallons at a time. My
experience with apple is that it takes about 6 months to a year to be ready
and is on decline in 2 or 3 years. But that may depend on how it was made.
I like to make mine from whole fruit, fermented on the pulp. It can be very
different if juice is used.

Ray

"J Scott" > wrote in message
et...
>I have started my first batch of wine... an apple. Since it was my first
>try I decided to start with a small batch since I was learning. I will
>have two 1-gallon jugs under an airlock once my primary is finished. Once
>I gain experience I plan to graduate to bigger batches... 3 gallon and up.
>What is everyone's opinions on batch size. By the time you have waste and
>etc., would it be more worthwhile to make larger batches as opposed to
>1-gallon ones? Obviously the bigger the batch the more final product
>you'll have. But, in your opinion, do these small batches make themselves
>more of a pain than they're worth?
>
> My second question is: how do I know what the approximate life expectancy
> of my wine will be after it's bottled? Is there an rule of thumb to go
> by?
>
> Thanks
> Jeff
>

Hello everyone,
Well, I'm going to sort of agree/disagree - lol, but I will say everyone
has given you the pros of doing larger batches and a lot of good advice.
I started with 1 gallon batches, and I have not gone to larger carboys.
When you're first starting out and trying different kinds of wine, what
happens if you don't like the wine you've made...well, then instead of 5
bottles to figure out what to do with, you have 10, 15, 20, 25. There are
wines I won't make again after trying them two times - once just to try, the
second to see if I can improve, and then if I still don't like them, I won't
make them again. I always thought I'd go to a bigger carboy after a couple
of years, but I never have. I'm still trying to get rid of some dandelion
wine which no one liked. I gave my last bottle to a friend's husband - I
told him better him than me to toss it if he doesn't like it. It took me a
couple of years to build up my cellar, but I have not run out of wine yet
making just 1 gallon batches.
As to shelf life, that depends on the fruit, veggie, herb, and your
taste buds. Follow the guidelines everyone has given you, write down how
things taste when you try one of your wines, and work out what you like/or
don't like.
Darlene

"J Scott" > wrote in message
et...
>I have started my first batch of wine... an apple. Since it was my first
>try I decided to start with a small batch since I was learning. I will
>have two 1-gallon jugs under an airlock once my primary is finished. Once
>I gain experience I plan to graduate to bigger batches... 3 gallon and up.
>What is everyone's opinions on batch size. By the time you have waste and
>etc., would it be more worthwhile to make larger batches as opposed to
>1-gallon ones? Obviously the bigger the batch the more final product
>you'll have. But, in your opinion, do these small batches make themselves
>more of a pain than they're worth?
>
> My second question is: how do I know what the approximate life expectancy
> of my wine will be after it's bottled? Is there an rule of thumb to go
> by?
>
> Thanks
> Jeff
>

I'll cast another vote for 3 gallons as a reasonable minimum batch
size. The right answer is to some extent going to be an individual
one, as it involves trading off time, money and effort. I suppose it
also depends a bit on just how experimental you want to be.
Personally, I find that much of the effort of winemaking relates to
the batch, not the number of gallons, so three 1-gallon batches would
be nearly three times the work of one 3-gallon batch. Also, since it
can easily take 6 to 12 months or more before you can really tell if a
given batch is successful, it makes more sense to me to make a bigger
batch. If it is successful, you have at least a case or so to enjoy;
with a smaller batch size, you need to start the production process
over again and wait another 6 to 12 months or more. Yes, there is the
risk of "waste" if/when you decide that a particular batch just didn't
work out. But (at least for me) that is a pretty rare event, and the
cost of the ingredients is a minor one compared to the investment of
time and effort.

As for life expectancy, I'm not sure there is any real rule of thumb.
I've been told that three things contribute to longevity in the
bottle: alcohol, acidity and tannins. To the extent you have medium
to high levels of all three, the wine (under good storage conditions)
should last longer. In the case of fruit wines, they generally don't
have tannins; the alcohol is likely to be normal or a bit on the low
side, and the acidity normal to high. In most cases, I would expect
fruit wines to be at their best within a year or two, and to start to
decline somewhere between 3 and 5 years. Individual wines are bound
to vary, however.

Doug