Wine Making Kits

in Home Cooking

The Tools and Ingredients Found in A Good Kit

If you're just starting out making wine at home you'll likely want to begin with a wine making kit. This makes life so much easier for the beginning hobbyist.

There will be no last minute rushes to the wine supply store or ordering express delivery of one or two items that you didn't think you'd need!

A Good Wine Making Kit Contains Everything You Need

One of my favorite places to shop for kits (for friends who are just starting out) as well as supplies for on-going wine projects, is this online wine supply store. You'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and look on the left hand side for the link - you'll think you've landed in the wrong place at first at it appears to be more of a beer store than wine kit shop, but you'll soon find what you need.

I really like this resource for kits as everything is well explained on the site and customer service is fast and friendly. This is what every beginner needs! Help and information accessible to them exactly when they need it.

On the other hand, you could, with the list below, set up your own kit.

Put Together Your Own Wine Making Kit

A kit contains the fruit (or concentrate) required for your first batch so you'll have to arm yourself with a recipe and these ingredients: fruit, water, sugar.

To round off the kit, you will also need:

• Bucket
  For primary fermentation. Ensure the bucket is a food grade plastic preferably without prior use.

• Carboy
  Available in glass or plastic. Glass is preferred by many enthusiasts, but plastic won't smash if you drop it and is easier to move around.

• Air Lock with Rubber Bung
  Together they seal the carboy keeping air and bugs out.

• Empty Wine Bottles
  For storage - colored bottles are best for reds, clear are fine for white wines.

• Peptic Enzyme
  Prevents cloudy wine.

• Campden Tablets
  These sulphite tablets are used to sterilize the must and/or equipment.

• Wine Yeast
  Activates and accelerates the fermentation process.

• Yeast Nutrient
  Feeds the yeast so that it doesn't die out or slow down.

• Sieve or Cheesecloth
  For straining out large particles.

• Siphon Hose
  Six foot (2m) plastic hose to move the wine during the racking process, approximately 1 cm diameter.

• J-Tube
  A plastic J shaped hose - to be inserted into the carboy during racking. Ensures sediment is left behind.

• Hydrometer
  Accurately measures Specific Gravity or percentage of sugar.

That's it for your own kit!

Finding and/or buying those items one by one and you've just put together your own wine making kit. However, if you're just starting out, I strongly suggest the kits in the middle column. They are cost-efficient and make your first batch fun and easy!