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酒这个东东, 千人千味 + 我仍在学习. . . . . 欢迎更正内容！ (不答问题)

(Store name(s) will not be listed here, don't want my posting to get deleted by web master AGAIN.)

montrealpost

From my poor memory, please bear with me.

History:
"The first "wine kits" sold in North America were bricks of compressed grapes, shipped to eastern states from California during prohibition. Home winemaking was as illegal as any other alcohol producing activity under the 18th amendment, so these helpful raisin bricks came with stern instructions. "Do not add this to five gallons of warm water", they stated, "and do not ten pounds of sugar, and yeast, or it will become wine, which would be ILLEGAL!" It was a tough and funny time to be a home winemaker.

We've come a long way from the raisin bricks of the 1920s . . . These days, wine kits are sourced from vineyard all over the world. Using high-quality juice and concentrate, you can make Chardonnay from California, Shiraz from Australia or Cabernet Sauvignon from France . . . " WineMaker Magazine, Summer 2001.

Home Wine Making(=自酿酒)
- Categories: "fresh must"(=refrigerated grape juice) or "kit(=concentrates)" for wine.
- Juices come in 20 or 23 Litre buckets, 95% Kits are for 23L=~30 x 750ml
- Ice Wine/Port/Sherry normally only come in half batch size, 11.5L = 30 x 375ml.
- Beers come in small can of concentrates or cans+hops, for 23L=60 bottles x330ml.
- Production time: 4 weeks -> 8 months, depending on what u buy/make.
- Drinkability: 1st day -> 1 year bottle aging. (Generally: better wine requires longer aging)
** Make sure u get info on "~required aging time", else u could be drinking a great bottle of wine before its time and find it completely awful, even undrinkable.

Brew On Premise (=BOP in Ontario =Bottle your wine on premises=自灌酒)
- IDENTICAL to Home Make Wine, u pay them to "make wine" at their store.
- Not sure if BOP will make beer for u, check yourself.
- LEGALLY they are not allowed to make wine for u, hence u need to (1)"sprinkle the yeast" yourself (only takes 1 second) and (2) bottle your own wine(depending on the store, 15-30 min. for 30 bottles)
- Standard Process: u go to the store, pick your wine, pay the money, "sprinkle yeast", return to store after 4-6 weeks and bottle your own wine there. U can either bring your own bottles or buy bottle @$.65-$1 @ store.
** NO store in Quebec/Ontario will age wine for anyone.

Wine Making in Montreal:
- Fresh juice: from Wine Stores year round or Jean Talon market++ in Sept/Oct, >50 varieties.
- Kits: from wine stores year round, >100 varieties to choose from.
- Prices: ~$25-$150 for 1 batch of 20/23L of wine(=~juice), $1X-$? for beer.
- Making wine@home: one time setup $50-$100+ for equipments, last for years, don't have to pay for BOP below.
- BOP: ~$35-$55 for labour/space/equipement rental PER BATCH of 20 or 23 L, don't need to buy equipement above.
- Other expenses: ~$0.50-$1/wine bottle, $0.1-$0.4/cork, $0.1/wine label, $0.1/cap (shrink wrap on top of bottle)

Stores listed in Yellow Pages under "Vin & biere - Production Equipement & Fournitures", more companies listed under the French section. Ask if they can make wine on their premise for u. Don't ask for "BOP", not in Quebec.

Misc.:
- Beer and wine making processes are similar, just a few more steps. 95% of equipments are identical.
- Process of wine making is too long for me to write. I'd suggest u do a web search with the word "home make wine" or "home make beer" before going to the stores.

montrealpost

1. Cheaper - yes and no! Per bottle price is cheaper, personally I find my $3(~$100/kit) bottle better than $15 store bought. Becareful, most people ended up drinking more, becareful.

2. Never fail gift - a bottle of wine is always welcomed, even for non-drinker. They appreciate the bottle for their next thirsty guest(s)! Christmas presents, when u are invited for dinner, or a thank u gift. See LABEL @ Reply #6 of http://www.sinoquebec.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=305829 EXCEPTIONS:
a) ex-alcoholic, and
b) no ICE WINE for caucation, most of them DISLIKE it.

3. Value of home make wine: U cannot put a price on someone's "labour of love"! THE LEAST - replacement cost. Even for BOP wine, once it gets into your home, replacement cost THE LEAST. Most times much more than u expect.

4. Great hobby/passtime - more than 20 years for me/friends. Only if u can manage to lift the weight. Heavy!!

5. ** No Headache ** - due to much lower tannin and sulphite level, home make wine does not cause headache comparing to some commercial wine.

One example - I've got over $30 of desserts from a neighbour, they wanted 1 more bottle, they never did. To volunteers who prepaid, I've already promised 1 bottle @your wine for @big chunk of meat, to be delivered. Believe u won't mind!

*** PATIENCE for aging wine, your last bottle will always be the best bottle. PATIENCE ***

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冰酒 (Ice Wine) is dessert wine, one type of 葡萄酒. Similar process/info on 自制酒 written below, not popular in NA.
苹果酒 (Apple Cider) - There are kits for regular cider, cheap but not popular. Low acohol level.
苹果冰酒 (Ice Cider) - no kit nor juice for home made.

For those who used to buy from BOP in Ontario, see if u can find out which brand they sold. Taste of kits from different companies varies a lot. Generally, BOP in Ontario tend to use cheaper kits to lower cost, poor quality.

For those who think Ice Wine is too sweet, u can try other white wine or White Zinfandel. Ask wine store for suggestions. Sweetness for all wines, including Ice Wine are adjustable, only done at last minute.

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Someone wanted to try Ice Wine ~20-30%, whereas average ice wine ~10%. While its not recommended, u can add any kind of neutral alcohol (=no taste) or just pour some Volka into the glass. 94% alcohol is preferred over 40% as it'll "LEAST dilute" the taste of ice wine.

Enter "alcool" at saq.com to get full listing, 94% vs. 40% vs. Cheapest (?, can't remember what it was, should be one of the ALCOOL just different %)

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A.  If u are not fussy about wine, u are better off to 自灌酒 @ SAQ, @~$5.5 x 6 bottles, taxes included. +~0.20/cork. (SAQ changed to screw cap now, don't know price)

2 locations within Montreal island, look for DEPOT on SAQ web site. 1 or 2 times per year they give 12 bottles+12corks for free. Sometimes u find sales of good regular wine @ excellent price.

B.  The wine store in Ville St. Laurent REstarted selling small batches of Brew on Premise wine.  
(Store name will not be listed here, don't want my posting to get deleted by web master again.)

montrealpost

TIPS 1: Ice Wine/Port/Sherry comes in 11.5L(half-batch size). Make 2 batches(60瓶) SAME TIME, pay 1 batch BOP. (some wine stores refuse this)

TIPS 2: Monthly specials(=discount) on selected kit(s), most places offer 10% or volumn discount when u buy 4 or more kits. Ice/Port/Sherry are special kits, may not get any discount.

TIPS 3: 7.5% QST (tax) on all Wine Kits in Quebec, lower in Ontario. (Anyone has details, please share info)

TIPS 4: BOP per batch service charge + taxes much lower in Ottawa, ~$20+ in Ottawa vs. ~$35+ in Montreal.

montrealpost

A) Video for 自酿 葡萄酒/冰酒/啤酒:
http://www.rjspagnols.com/resource/wine_making.asp (believe all 3 videos are same, similar for all companies)

B) Info on 自灌 葡萄酒/冰酒/啤酒:
Most BOP has info on their web site, BOP in Ontario has much longer history and stores are better equipped.
Sample wine BOP web: http://www.carafe.ca/make_a_batch.html
Sample beer BOP web: http://www.barleyandgrapes.com/beer.htm
* Most BOP in Montreal do not provide automatic bottle washer. Clean+disinfect your bottles GOOD at home. *

C) Wine Kit for fun or gift (Do not buy this if u intend to make wine on regular basis):
Look for them yourselves on the web, at least 3 companies that offers equipments and kits for 11.5L red/white wine

D) Beer Kit for fun or gift (Do not buy this if u intend to make beer on regular basis):
http://www.mrbeer.com (this one doesn't ship to Canada, look for other companies on web)

E) Advice on wine making equipment:
1. Upgrade to glass carboy right away, try not to use plastic (except "Better Bottle")
2. When buy 23L glass carboy, buy "red/orange handle" right away. ($6-$10)
3. *ONLY* buy 23 litre carboy or half batch size of 11.5L *ONLY*. DON'T BUY 20L, DON'T BUY funny Italian ones.

F) Advice on wine kits/juices
1. Juices are frozen/refrigerated. Instead of sterile juice, check out kits. Size doesn't matter here!
2. Juice vs Kit - Kits more reliable. Juice generally lighter/$ + taste fluctuate (some company=Russian Roulette)
3. $30 to $150/bucket/kit for 20L or 23L of wine. Quality = U GET WHAT U PAY FOR!
4. 3 or 4 product lines @~$30/kits(23L). Get BOP to do these if u want to try, don't do these as your 1st wine.

* Most people @ wine stores are friendly, hard working people with a passion for wine making. Please be nice! *

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Wine Label Alternatives:
1. Die cut - Preprinted, professional looking labels, big choices @ wine store. ~$3/30.
2. Custom - Semi finish or blank label pkg, bring your picture or do your design, by wine store/@home,~$6-$10
3. Software for printing label @ home - available @ wine store/internet. Not sure, ~$20-50 may be.
4. Home make - WORD, Photoshop, Avery Label software with Avery Label paper or plain paper with glue stick from Dollar Store. e.g. your family photo or create your "x'max wine labels". Sample below:

montrealpost

*** BOP in Ottawa are cheaper, if u go to Ottawa sometimes, have your wine made there ***
*** If u have a cool basement, wine from concentrate good for 2+years, wine from juice good for 3+++ years ***

3 different methods to find a BOP or wine store:

A. "Vin & biere - Production Equipement & Fournitures" in Yellow Page, more listed in French section.

B. >30 kit manufacturers, find them on the web then look for suppliers on thier website.

C. We believe there are a total of ~62 BOP in Quebec, roughly ~42 belongs to the association @ http://www.acvq.org/listemembre.html.%20(Advice: don't go to those that do not belong to the association)

*Ottawa - Many stores BOP~$25+(labour cost)/batch, kits + must + grape skins, please look for them yourselves.

In Montreal, mostly $3.X-$4.x/bottle, 30瓶/batch(=桶), >10 stores(零售商not 酒厂), >100 varieties. 冰酒相似价格.