Sunday, June 26, 2011

Wine Equipment - What Every Home Winemaker Needs!

Interested in learning how to make wine at home? Since the Roman era, lots of people have been doing it, but without the right equipment, it's not an easy thing to do. Here's a few ideas and tips as to which winemaking accessories and equipment you should probably think about investing in is you want to make some fantastic homemade wine for a price that will surprise you !
To start off with, you should look at the price of the equipment to see if it is compatible with your budget. You can find lots of online vendors who can give you special deals on winemaking equipment. Most of them will probably have a "Starter Kit" where all the basic equipment is included. A Starter kit could be the best thing to purchase at the beginning, especially if you are new to the home winemaking hobby. It shouldn't break the budget, as these kits tend to cost $100 or less. The best thing about purchasing everything in a Starter Kit is that most of the equipment can be reused over again, so you don't need to be constantly paying for a new kit. With all the money you'll soon be saving from making your own wine, the kit will pay for itself in a very short time!

What's in the Starter Kit?

The largest piece of equipment will be a large bucket of at least 25 litres which will act as your fermentation vessel. You will also need a secondary container, which is usually a clear glass container that will be about 20-30 litres. This is known as a carboy. Although glass is better, you could use plastic if funds dictate.
Also included with this kit will be several rubber stoppers that are used on the fermentation containers. An airlock will also be included with the kit. This device prevents external air and bacteria from getting into the fermentation containers while allowing excess carbon dioxide to be released. Starter kits that are a little more expensive will likely include a couple brushes that are different sizes. These will be used to thoroughly clean the carboy and the bottles that you'll be filling with your finished wine. If corks are included with the kit, you'll also need a corking device to put the corks in the bottles easier than by hand!
The difference between a great homemade wine and sour vinegar will come down to cleanliness and sterility of all your equipment. You should make sure that a suitable sterilizing agent and cleaning chemical. This is a step you want to get right the first time, as you can't get a second chance! There will also be a device called a "racking tube", which allows you to transfer wine from one container to another as part of the whole process.
The last piece of equipment you should expect to see in your kit is called a hydrometer. This essential accessory measures the amount of dissolved sugar in the mixture before you add the yeast to it. By measuring this, you can get an idea of how much potential alcohol will be in the wine when it's done. It also allows you to know when all the sugar in the mixture has been consumed by the yeast, so you'll know if fermentation has stopped because of the lack of sugar, or if the yeast has died early.
These are a few of the essential but more common winemaking equipment you'll find in the majority of homemade wine Starter kits. You'll probably need to purchase the ingredient kit separately, as the type of wine you make is your personal choice. You could probably get a good deal on an ingredient kit from a wine kit vendor if you buy the starter kit from them as well. No matter what kind of wine you want to produce, if you have the correct winemaking equipment, you'll be spending many productive hours perfecting your new hobby of home winemaking and making your very own special wine vintage!

Doug has been writing articles online for over 3 years now. Although he specializes in financial topics such as commodities and equities, you can check out his latest website, TheWineSpot.org, which gives all the latest news, reviews and helpful articles about all topics wine-related, such as the white wine to use for seafood, recipes, and all other wine-related accessories

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