Suggestions on equipment

[bart7167]

I moved into an old house that has some nice 100 year old grape vines. I figured Id would take up wine making as a hobby. For a beginner would it be recommended to buy a wine making kit or really research and buy equipment piece by piece?
There are millions of recipies out there. Does anyone have a good one that they would recommend. Probably something on the sweet side.
Pardon the ignorance, I am going to start researching but thought Id start by asking some questions here.
Thanks

 

[St Allie]

Hello Bart and welcome to the forum.

question for you..

How many grapes are we talking about?

most recipes make 5 gallons of wine.. minimum equipment needed are..
a primary fermenter
a secondary carboy
siphoning hose
long handled spoon
a hydrometer and wine thief
wine bottles

plus the usual stuff like sodium meta/ potassium sorbate/yeast/pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient/energiser and acid.

Allie

 

[cpfan]

Bart:

Since every retailer seems to have a slightly different starter equipment kit, I have a difficult time saying "Yes get a starter equipment kit."

BTW, Allie is in New Zealand and her 5 gallons might be 5 Imperial gallons which is equivalent to 6 US gallons.

If you think that you will be making the standard wine kits, then you should go with 6 USG. Otherwise Allie is right you have to decide how big each batch will be. For example, in the UK, 1 gallon batches are much more common than in North America.

If you update the Control Panel with a Location, somebody may be able to point you to a good retailer that is nearby.

Steve

 

[Madriver Wines]

If you have alot of grapes you will need a fruit press and several carboys. If only grapes you wont need much in the way of additives. Welcome to a great site full of people who want to help,
Steve

 

[Wade E]

I agree as we need to know where you live so we can recommend a good supply shop for you but if there is none near you here is a good link for internet buying and give him a call and hell customize the equipment kit to your needs. http://finevinewines.com/
We would need to know how much grapes you are thinking you are going to get as that also will tell us if you need bsic equipment or some bigger stuff like a crusher/destemmer and press and bigger fermenting tanks and storage vessels.

 

[ruggierm1]

Welcome aboard. As a newbie myself, I would suggest starting with a kit so that you can get familiar with the process of winemaking. If I had to suggest a list of essentials, I would say that you need the following:

Primary (6 gallons)
Carboy (6 gallons)
auto siphon
bottle filler
tubing
airlock
hydrometer
thermometer
sanitizer
potassium metabisulphite
28 inch long plastic spoon
corker

If you are going to buy a juice kit, I would suggest maybe something aboiut 10 liters. The only reason I suggest is that if you find out you don't like winemaking, then you didn't spend that much money. The folks on this forum are extremely knowledgeable, so don't be afraid to ask "stupid" questions.

Good Luck, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.