New guy/equipment advice

[junit83]

hi there... brand new to forums, and wine making... Ive done a little researh and im not too fimilar with the wine making lingo, but i think i got the process down... for your basic fruit wines.... Seems kinda like making a stock and then just clairfying it....with a couple other things in between... either way.. i want to dive in head first and do a couple 6 g batches right off the bat... though looking at these kits... im wondering if there is a cheaper way to go... Some of these containers look like just plain old 5 g buckets. and some seem just like something i can get from an empty water cooler.

My question is.... Can i successfully brew a semi large batch of wine with stuff from say walmart... rather than buying $150 kits?

 

[Luc]

Yes you definitely can !!!

Remember that nowadays we have the financial means and infrastructure (read internet and Home brew shops) to buy all kinds of fancy equipment, which is fine of course. But people have been making wine for centuries without even a hydrometer. And there were some pretty decent wines among that, otherwise the art of winemaking would have ceased to exist long ago.......

Just make sure that all things you buy for this hobby are "food-grade".
And then even a discussion is going on that we do not really know how plastic will react on alcohol.
So preferred is a glass carboy as a secondary.

Luc

 

[cpfan]

junit83:

Although there are some items that you can use from a Wal-Mart or kitchen store or whatever, there are other things that you should get from an HBS (local or online).

I used to run an HBS, and customers often came in with what I considered 'dumb' ideas. For example, one customer wanted to borrow my big funnel to pour 23 litres of wine from a primary to a carboy. I suggested that pouring was a bad idea because of the inital weight of the wine & primary and that the sediment would be disturbed and some transferred over, plus the fact that he would likely make a mess pouring into the funnel. A proper racking cane and hose was $5, but apparently he didn't want to spend the money.

A plain old 5 gallon bucket isn't much use for 5 gallons of wine. Get an 8 gallon pail (or larger) to allow head room for foaming, floating fruit, and vigourous stirring. I won't use the water jugs, bunt many people do. Note that they are usually 5 US gallons. You started out wanting to make 6 US gallons.

Putting corks into a bottle requires a corker. Understanding the progress of your ferment requires a hydrometer. Yes, I read Luc's reaponse. You don't need a hydrometer. But if you have problems the first things we will ask for are recipe, specific gravities (from a hydrometer), and temperatures.

So there are some wine making specific items that you cannot do without. And some other things that you might get better results with.

BTW, there are two types of kits in wine-making. Wine equipment kits, and wine ingredient kits.

Steve

 

[Wade E]

I say get a hydrometer, food grade bucket such as the 8 gallon primary bucket from a wine supply store or a food grade garbage can from Walmart (Brute which I think are usually white) and I will say to get a glass carboy or plastic better bottle from a wine supply store. you are going to have to get some stuff there anyway like yeast, yeast nutrient, acids, k-meta, racking cane, corker, corks, racking hose bungs and airlocks. The initial investment is a little big but the money saved by actually getting a complete kit instead of instead of separate items. Dont know where you live but if you dont have local wine supply store then heres a good place to buy all this stuff and if you give him a call he will mix and match some items for you also.
http://finevinewines.com/