Wine Making

Instruments Used In A Begginer's Home Wine Making Kit

All beginner home wine making kits are not the same, you want to be sure that your first wine making attempt is successful and gratifying.  There is some basic equipment that you will have to use in order to accomplish this goal.

The equipment that you will need is an 8 gallon carboy, a drilled stopper to fit the carboy, a 7.9 primary fermenter containing a drilled –gasketed lid, a racking cane, a thermometer, plastic spoon, an airlock, a wine thief, a hydrometer, 5 ft siphon tubing, a bottle filler, a corker, thirty corks, thirty wine bottles of 750 ml size, and a test jar.

Predominantly all wines made with the beginners home wine making kits need to be made in a 6 gallon carboy. Some people attempt to use a 5 gallon carboy to make a 6 gallon wine kit and end up compromising the taste of the wine.  The also end up throwing away part of their wine.  It is also important to use the right size container because during fermentation the level of the wine raises higher than 6 gallons but when this phase is finished, it drops back down.  If you had used a 5 gallon bucket there would have been quite a large clean up task ahead of you because of the over flow of the wine. 

Both the drilled stopper and the airlock are used along with your carboy so that the carbon dioxide has a way of being expelled from the carboy and the oxygen is dept out.

The small neck of the carboy makes it very hard to take an S. G. (specific gravity) reading by placing the hydrometer directly into the carboy.  The best method of accomplishing this is to use the wine thief and remove a sample from the carboy and place it into the jar.  This way it will be easier because you can get your S. G. reading by placing the hydrometer into the test jar.  To avoid any wasting of your wine you can then place the sample wine back into the carboy.

To measure the amount of sugar that is in wine a hydrometer is used.  The hydrometer is used to take the S. G. reading.  Your beginning home wine making kit will inform you of what the S. G. level should be.  Your hydrometer is also used to let you know when it is time to move on to the next step, as the fermentation continues.

The 7.9 gallon Primary Fermenter with Drilled & Gasketed Lid is a bucket used as a fermenter.  With this primary fermenter you will need the top to be wide in order for a lot of oxygen to allow the yeast to grow.  The primary fermenter should be ¼ larger than the secondary fermenter.  This is to make sure that there is lots of room for the fermentation process.

The plastic spoon is used to stir the wine concentrate and water together during the starting process, plus you will need it as you add stabilizers and fining agents.  Secondly you will use the spoon for degassing your wine.

The 750 ml wine bottle is generally used to contain the finished wine.  With this home wine making kit you can expect to get 30 bottles.

You will need a corker and it is advised to avoid the plastic type.