Synopses & Reviews
Make Great Wine Without Spending a Fortune on Equipment
Whether you have a cellar stocked with homemade vintages or are a recent convert to the rewards of home winemaking, you are likely to need some new equipment. The Homebuilt Winery provides complete building plans for 43 winemaking projects, pieces that facilitate the entire process of turning grapes into wine -- from crushing and destemming to bottling and labeling. Each project includes thorough step-by-step instructions, building diagrams, an illustration of the completed piece, and instructions for use.
A home winemaker and experienced builder himself, Steve Hughes understands every step in the winemaking process and has designed projects that are useful and durable, yet easy to build with only basic carpentry skills and materials. Using his building plans, you can do anything from replacing a few worn pieces to building an entire home winery.
Review
"Steve Hughes' recently released reference guidebook, The Homebuilt Winery, is all you need to get on your grape-fermenting way"
Review
"If you're an armchair winemaker or actually thinking of starting a winery at home, this is a must-have for your library. Fun to read through and dream of what could be, but also incredibly practical as it can make those dreams a reality."
Synopsis
Here is all the information you need to set up a home winery and build all of the basic equipment -- for just a fraction of the cost of store-bought. Steve Hughes includes building plans and step-by-step instructions for more than 30 winemaking essentials, including a crusher, a de-stemmer, presses, pumps, and a bottle filler. He even offers a range of options for cellar racking. Along the way, Hughes leads readers through the entire process of winemaking--how to use the equipment, how to set up a winery, the best ways to store and analyze wine, and the best ways to filter, bottle, cork, and label. With this guide, you'll have everything you need to affordably enjoy delicious, high-quality, homemade wine.
About the Author
Steve Hughes is a home winemaker who also has more than 40 years of experience as a building designer and contractor. He regularly contributes articles on building winemaking equipment to WineMaker magazine.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Daniel Pambianchi
Introduction
Chapter One: The Home Winery, An Overview
Chapter Two: Grape & Fruit Processing
Crusher
Manual Destemmer
Foldable, Rollable Wine Press
Punch-Down Tool
Fermentation Cooler
Fermentation Chamber
Chapter Three: Moving Wine
Winery Dolly
Racking Canes & Hoses
Siphon Pump
Vacuum Pumping Setup
Wine Hoist
Barrel Dolly
Chapter Four: Container Management
Barrel Room
Diamond Wine Bottle Rack
Silicone Bungs
Chapter Five: The Home Wine Laboratory
Hydrometer
Lab Support Stand
Malic Acid Test
Chromatography Chamber
Free SO2 Testing Setup
Gram Scale
Chapter Six: Sparkling Wine (Methode Champenoise)
Riddling Rack
Disgorging Freezer
Disgorging Key
Disgorging Receptacle
Chapter Seven: Filtering, Bottling & Labeling
Bottle Tree
Wine Filter
Rinser-Sparger
Four-Spout Bottle Filler
Label Alignment Jig
Chapter Eight: Your Wine Cellar
Drawing Cellar Plans
Ladder Racking Jig
Ladder Racking
Curved Corner Racking
Waterfall Racking
End Cap Shelves
Diamond Bins
Chapter Nine: Building the Backyard Vineyard
Cutting Propagation Bed
Vineyard Trellis
Chapter Ten: Barrel Fun
The "Winedirondack" Chair
Decorative Barrel Stand
Winery Stool
Making Your Own Toasted Oak
Index