Wine Making Supplys - What you need to get started

What wine making supplys do you need to get started? Great question! Thanks for asking...

I will list your mosts needed wine making supplys for you here and provide a brief description of each one.

Here we go... You will need...

� A Food-grade plastic bucket and lid - This is used for primary fermentation and also for bottling. Some people call this a pickle bucket... and by some people I mean my family...

� A Spigot for the plastic bucket... this is optional but nice to have - This can be used to drain the wine into the carboy, instead of siphoning and can be used to bottle your wine... you will develop your own preference...

� A 6-gallon glass or Better-Bottle carboy - This is used for secondary fermentation and aging. This looks like the big water bottle on the water cooler at work... many a great story has been told around the water cooler... perhaps you can tell great stories around your carboy... start a tradition...

� An airlock - This allows the carbon dioxide to escape from the plastic bucket or carboy during fermentation while keeping the oxygen out. A very important process...

� A drilled rubber stopper called a bung - I prefer to call it a rubber stopper... This goes in the neck of the glass carboy, it provides an airtight seal while the drilled hole in the middle holds the airlock. A very nice set up.

� A Hydrometer - This measures specific gravity, sugar, and potential alcohol... this is a very important piece of equipment... I keep a spare one in case I invariably break it... a very important wine making equipment...

� Some vinyl tubing - This is used for "racking" or transferring your wine from one vessel to another. You can use this with the racking cane, auto-siphon, bottle filler and/or spigot.... very handy to have around...

� A plastic spoon or paddle to stir your wine.

� A curved cane and racking tip or Auto-Siphon - This is used in conjunction with the vinyl tubing that I mentioned to be very handy... to siphon the wine out of the carboy.

� Some cleanser - A chemical used to clean your equipment.

� Some sanitizer - A chemical used to sanitize your equipment.

� Some Wine bottles - You'll need around 30 bottles (750 ml size) for most kits. I reuse bottles and my friends and family save them for me. My attic would make someone think I was a closet wino... but the truth is I am pretty much out there... no secrets here...

� New Corks - do not reuse corks... they will leak - Corks keep the wine in and the oxygen out.

� A Corker � A device to insert the cork into the bottle. If you have ever tried to replace a cork on a recently opened bottle you will appreciate this piece of equipment. If you plan on using screw caps then you dont need this...

� A Wine Thief - Nope... not what you are thinking... this is a device used to get a sample of wine from a carboy for taste testing without having to tip the carboy and pour it out.

� Test tube or the Wine Thief/Test Jar combo - To hold your wine and hydrometer while you test for the Specific Gravity (S.G.)

Okay... now... for a list of wine making supplys that you dont "have" to have... but is "nice" to have...

� A Drill Mounted Stirrer - This is an attachment for your power drill. This not only saves wear and tear on your arms but it also encourages the hubby to help... power tools seem to have that effect...

� A Carboy Brush - Similar to a baby bottle brush... only for your carboy... will make cleaning it much easier!

� A Bottle Rinser or Vinator - This will spray your cleaner and sanitizer into your bottles and make it a whole lot easier to clean and sanitize your bottles

� A Bottle washer - This attaches to your kitchen faucet and allows you to rinse your bottles... hence the name "Bottle Washer"

� A Bottle Washer Adapter - This attaches to your Kitchen Tap so you can fasten your bottle washer to the faucet.

� A Bottle Drainer - You hang your bottles on this to allow your bottles to drain after you have cleaned and sanitized them.

� A Floor Corker - This is a corker that as its name suggests stands on the floor and makes the job of corking an easy one-man operation.

� A Carboy Handle - This attaches to neck of carboy to make it easier to carry and reduce the chance of dropping it.

� Capsules - Usually made from foil or plastic, these are used to cover the top of the carboy bottle and keeps dust and dirt from the crevice where the cork and the bottle meet.

There you go... well... what are you doing still standing around?!? Go get your Wine Making Supplys!!

PS...... If my hubby asks what I want for my birthday... tell him wine making supplys...

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