Trying to be productive, I figured I would take a look at some of my long-term wines. I say long term, because I let them go in the carboys for way longer than most home wine makers. Not intentionally, but because I didn’t have the means to bottle them – I didn’t have the cash to invest in the gear needed.  Plus, the longer you let them sit, the clearer they get and the more refined the flavor gets, (right?) I have 2, 5 gallon batches going – one Baco, and one Riesling. Both purchased from Walker’s farm back in October of 2015.

I dragged the Baco (red) out of my basement, and gave it a taste. something was a little off. It wasn’t bad, but it was very tart and had a very floral flavor – it was good, but there was a residual flavor that I didn’t care for personally. I was able to lighten the flavor with a touch of sugar and a little bit of lime juice – but it still wasn’t right (to me). A wise man told me that if I didn’t like the flavor of home made alcohol – just wait. I also know that a lot of wines are aged in barrels, to pull out some of the weird flavors – so I figured I should let it go longer – and drop some toasted oak sticks down into the carboy. And that’s what I did!

I shlepped the carboy back into the basement, and pulled out my riesling, which looked like a giant jug of piss.

Hopefully it didn’t taste like that – you can see my glass to the left of the carboy – looks like wine, right?

how about a close-up –

That’s a damn fine looking Riesling, right?!  what about the clarity? (shout out to Resergence)

Pretty damn clear! chili beaaans!

What about the taste? aroma? It was very good! Coming off of the red, it took a couple sips to get the gist of what was happening, but it worked! Approved for bottling!

I sanitized some bottles – 30 bottles should do the trick (more than that pictured below)

I don’t have corks or a corker – I plan on buying them tomorrow, but I wanted all my prep-work done for the time I’m ready. I put two wine thieves of sanitizing solution into each bottle, then cover them in moistened towels.

So, I wanted to get the wine racked off the remaining sediment and into an easy to dispense situation – so I kegged it!

I always have a little shim to stick under the carboy to get everything I want out of there.

Why did I keg? I will have wine on tap ready to go with a push of a button! Filling those bottles will be super easy. Hopefully everything goes as planned!