Selfsufficientish.com

recently i got a load of demijohns off freecycle, along with a press and something else....cant remember as havent opened the box again!!.

i now have to move out of my flat and am going to store my stuff for a few months due to a holiday. i dont want to have to shift and pay for things i dont need so am having a major cull!.

i'm wondering how many demijohns you'd need/like if you're just going to dabble in making your own.
i guess its a little like how long is a piece of string!!!.

however your opinions would be interesting.
thanks.

Difficult one - what does that term dabbling actually mean? You always need one more demijohn than the number actually containing fermenting wine, so that you have something to rack into. If you have only two, that means that you can make one batch of wine every month or so. So, if six bottles a month is what you're into, two demijohns is fine. However, if that's what you're going to do, I'd advise making wines only from pure juices and/or fruit teas - they'll ferment and mature much quicker and there's much less waste.

I'd say that the optimum "small" kit is four demijohns - one fermenting, two maturing, one spare - which can be hidden away reasonably easily, even in a flat.

at least 2 - i would keep 4

that means you can do 3 wines and have a spare for racking

hang on to the press - lucky to get that on freecycle!

I have 9 but need an extra one when racking off. That said, they're 50 litres each.

The quantity is capped, as it's as many as my wine-making room will hold.

thanks for your views.....i'm definately keeping the boxes of stuff, just think i dont need 20+ demijohns really!!.

Lots of answers to that one. I've wondered this myself. I like MKG's the best. "I'd say that the optimum "small" kit is four demijohns - one fermenting, two maturing, one spare - which can be hidden away reasonably easily, even in a flat."

what i failed to mention in my orginal post and i only realised as i looked at them the other day, is, i have 6 brown ones and 15 clear ones. so think i will keep 4 brown and 4-6 clear. that still halves the amount and gives me options for next year.

Wish I lived near you, I'd be round to borrow your demijohns! pbf

A thought - there are surely enough Ishers to form a fairly complete chain around the country. Now that would be a delivery service par excellence, if a little slow.