Hello everyone,

I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and this
year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much and
happy new year to all, thanks

Steve in PA

This is an excellent site!

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/starting.asp



"Steve Gibson" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and
this
> year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
and
> happy new year to all, thanks
>
> Steve in PA
>
>

I would recommend that you get a basic starter kit for a 6 gal batch and do
a kit wine. The kit wines age fast and you will have something that is nice
a drinkable in 2 or 3 months. I would recommend that you start with a
white, perhaps a Gewürztraminer or a Johannesburg Riesling. Do a good one -
not one of the cheap ones. They are usually $60 to $75 and are worth it.
Remember, kit wine provides everything you need except the hardware so you
will still need the a basic 6 gal. batch kit.

The kits are nice as they give you step by step instructions so you don't
get lost and they really do turn out some nice wine.

Ray

"Dan" > wrote in message
...
> This is an excellent site!
>
> http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/starting.asp
>
>
>
> "Steve Gibson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and
> this
> > year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> > reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> > there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you
could
> > possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before
diving
> > into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or
tips
> > you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
> and
> > happy new year to all, thanks
> >
> > Steve in PA
> >
> >
>
>

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 15:37:24 GMT, "Steve Gibson" >
wrote:

>Hello everyone,
>
>I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and this
>year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
>reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
>there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
>possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
>into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
>you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much and
>happy new year to all, thanks

I did the same thing. studied for a while, and then made a "starter
kit" of my own. I ordered the whole mess from www.midwestsupplies.com
as they had the best prices of the places I found that would send me a
free print catalog.

(3) 1 gallon carboys
(2) airlocks
(2) universal bungs
(1) Hydrometer
(1) 10" plastic test jar (for hydrometer samples)
(1) bag of 30 corks -- #9 standard
(1) bag of 30 pvc sleeves (only cost an extra buck or so, and
thoght they would look nice...)
(1) EZ-economy corker
(3) Lavlin k1v-1116 all pourpose yeast
(1) jar of 100 pH test strips -- wine range (2.8-3.8 I think)
(1) jar of 110 campden tablets

I also then picked up some clear 3/8 (OD) clear tubing from a hardware
store (cost about 70 cents) for racking, and a tukey baster (less than
a buck) for drawing samples of wine (also works for starting the
syphon if I do it right) I then had to start my hunt for bottles..

I crushed and disolved about 50 tablets in a gallon jug of water for a
sulfite solution and it has been working fine...

the whole mess above cost me about $50.00 including shipping. It lets
me make 2 batches at once with a spare carboy to rack into. I have,
however, already upgraded to a better corker (infact I got thier
6-gallon preassembled kit with a double lever corker)

To save money if you aren't sure about if you want to do this or not
(doing is always differant than reading IMHO...) you could go with 2
carboys, one airlock and bung, omit the PVC sleeves (they don't work
on all bottles anyway) and go with one (or two) packets of cheaper
yeast. Also, if you are getting the ECON corker, I would recomend #8
corks instead. the 9's were a real gripe to use. (had to beat the top
of it with a 2 X 6 to get the corks to go in.. my wife was swearing
that WHEN a bottle broke, I was cleaning it up!!! -- none did, but
still a pain) that would all trim about 10.00 off the price. I
suppose you could skip the pH paper if you had too, (save another 3-4
bucks) but that is about it.

The only thing I wish I had gotten differantly (other than the corks)
was I wished I had gotten some acid blend to bring the pH down. (my
first one was 3.5) I didn't get any additives thinking I would deal
with what I had, and I wanted to keep my cost down.

If you don't know if you will like the hobby yet, and you don't wanna
dump alot of money in it before you know, you should be able to make a
gallon of wine for about 30-40 in equipment, and about 5 bucks in
juice from the store. You can always upgrade and buy nicer stuff as
needed. Like I said, I already upgraded the corker, and am getting
ready to order some additives (bentonite, acid blend, etc) and a
couple more hardware things (bottle washer, etc....)

just my $.02




email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

Try this for some very basic info, including equipment needed.
http://www.thebeveragepeople.com/
--
Regards,
Rex Franklin
"Dave Allyn" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 15:37:24 GMT, "Steve Gibson" >
> wrote:
>
> >Hello everyone,
> >
> >I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and
this
> >year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> >reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> >there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> >possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> >into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> >you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
and
> >happy new year to all, thanks
>
> I did the same thing. studied for a while, and then made a "starter
> kit" of my own. I ordered the whole mess from www.midwestsupplies.com
> as they had the best prices of the places I found that would send me a
> free print catalog.
>
> (3) 1 gallon carboys
> (2) airlocks
> (2) universal bungs
> (1) Hydrometer
> (1) 10" plastic test jar (for hydrometer samples)
> (1) bag of 30 corks -- #9 standard
> (1) bag of 30 pvc sleeves (only cost an extra buck or so, and
> thoght they would look nice...)
> (1) EZ-economy corker
> (3) Lavlin k1v-1116 all pourpose yeast
> (1) jar of 100 pH test strips -- wine range (2.8-3.8 I think)
> (1) jar of 110 campden tablets
>
> I also then picked up some clear 3/8 (OD) clear tubing from a hardware
> store (cost about 70 cents) for racking, and a tukey baster (less than
> a buck) for drawing samples of wine (also works for starting the
> syphon if I do it right) I then had to start my hunt for bottles..
>
> I crushed and disolved about 50 tablets in a gallon jug of water for a
> sulfite solution and it has been working fine...
>
> the whole mess above cost me about $50.00 including shipping. It lets
> me make 2 batches at once with a spare carboy to rack into. I have,
> however, already upgraded to a better corker (infact I got thier
> 6-gallon preassembled kit with a double lever corker)
>
> To save money if you aren't sure about if you want to do this or not
> (doing is always differant than reading IMHO...) you could go with 2
> carboys, one airlock and bung, omit the PVC sleeves (they don't work
> on all bottles anyway) and go with one (or two) packets of cheaper
> yeast. Also, if you are getting the ECON corker, I would recomend #8
> corks instead. the 9's were a real gripe to use. (had to beat the top
> of it with a 2 X 6 to get the corks to go in.. my wife was swearing
> that WHEN a bottle broke, I was cleaning it up!!! -- none did, but
> still a pain) that would all trim about 10.00 off the price. I
> suppose you could skip the pH paper if you had too, (save another 3-4
> bucks) but that is about it.
>
> The only thing I wish I had gotten differantly (other than the corks)
> was I wished I had gotten some acid blend to bring the pH down. (my
> first one was 3.5) I didn't get any additives thinking I would deal
> with what I had, and I wanted to keep my cost down.
>
> If you don't know if you will like the hobby yet, and you don't wanna
> dump alot of money in it before you know, you should be able to make a
> gallon of wine for about 30-40 in equipment, and about 5 bucks in
> juice from the store. You can always upgrade and buy nicer stuff as
> needed. Like I said, I already upgraded the corker, and am getting
> ready to order some additives (bentonite, acid blend, etc) and a
> couple more hardware things (bottle washer, etc....)
>
> just my $.02
>
>
>
>
> email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
> please respond in this NG so others
> can share your wisdom as well!

I would try your local wine or brew shop as they will usually talk to you
forever and its great to support the local shop. If there isnt one or they
are too far away, midwest supplies are excellent. I had something come
broken and they responded and replaced it before i even got my batch
started.
Jason

"Dave Allyn" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 15:37:24 GMT, "Steve Gibson" >
> wrote:
>
> >Hello everyone,
> >
> >I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and
this
> >year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> >reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> >there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> >possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> >into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> >you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
and
> >happy new year to all, thanks
>
> I did the same thing. studied for a while, and then made a "starter
> kit" of my own. I ordered the whole mess from www.midwestsupplies.com
> as they had the best prices of the places I found that would send me a
> free print catalog.
>
> (3) 1 gallon carboys
> (2) airlocks
> (2) universal bungs
> (1) Hydrometer
> (1) 10" plastic test jar (for hydrometer samples)
> (1) bag of 30 corks -- #9 standard
> (1) bag of 30 pvc sleeves (only cost an extra buck or so, and
> thoght they would look nice...)
> (1) EZ-economy corker
> (3) Lavlin k1v-1116 all pourpose yeast
> (1) jar of 100 pH test strips -- wine range (2.8-3.8 I think)
> (1) jar of 110 campden tablets
>
> I also then picked up some clear 3/8 (OD) clear tubing from a hardware
> store (cost about 70 cents) for racking, and a tukey baster (less than
> a buck) for drawing samples of wine (also works for starting the
> syphon if I do it right) I then had to start my hunt for bottles..
>
> I crushed and disolved about 50 tablets in a gallon jug of water for a
> sulfite solution and it has been working fine...
>
> the whole mess above cost me about $50.00 including shipping. It lets
> me make 2 batches at once with a spare carboy to rack into. I have,
> however, already upgraded to a better corker (infact I got thier
> 6-gallon preassembled kit with a double lever corker)
>
> To save money if you aren't sure about if you want to do this or not
> (doing is always differant than reading IMHO...) you could go with 2
> carboys, one airlock and bung, omit the PVC sleeves (they don't work
> on all bottles anyway) and go with one (or two) packets of cheaper
> yeast. Also, if you are getting the ECON corker, I would recomend #8
> corks instead. the 9's were a real gripe to use. (had to beat the top
> of it with a 2 X 6 to get the corks to go in.. my wife was swearing
> that WHEN a bottle broke, I was cleaning it up!!! -- none did, but
> still a pain) that would all trim about 10.00 off the price. I
> suppose you could skip the pH paper if you had too, (save another 3-4
> bucks) but that is about it.
>
> The only thing I wish I had gotten differantly (other than the corks)
> was I wished I had gotten some acid blend to bring the pH down. (my
> first one was 3.5) I didn't get any additives thinking I would deal
> with what I had, and I wanted to keep my cost down.
>
> If you don't know if you will like the hobby yet, and you don't wanna
> dump alot of money in it before you know, you should be able to make a
> gallon of wine for about 30-40 in equipment, and about 5 bucks in
> juice from the store. You can always upgrade and buy nicer stuff as
> needed. Like I said, I already upgraded the corker, and am getting
> ready to order some additives (bentonite, acid blend, etc) and a
> couple more hardware things (bottle washer, etc....)
>
> just my $.02
>
>
>
>
> email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
> please respond in this NG so others
> can share your wisdom as well!

"Steve Gibson" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and
this
> year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
and
> happy new year to all, thanks
>
> Steve in PA
>
>


We started with kits and have done all but 2 wines in the kit form. For
kits you will want to tweak the list already given he

Primary fermenter (plastic bucket type with o ring around top)
7 gallon car boy (allows your wine to finish fermenting with plenty of room)
6 gallon carboy (allows storage with volume to the neck without adding
topper wine)

Since kits have all the required yeast/chemicals you wont have to buy them.
You will also need a siphoning cane (several bucks) and a filling cane with
tubing. $50 will get you everything you need. Many brew shops will loan
you a corker. We borrowed one until we bought a floor model. We love kits.

Good luck,

KB

"Steve Gibson" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have been interested in making wine now for over a few years now, and
this
> year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
and
> happy new year to all, thanks
>
> Steve in PA

Pennsylvania, eh? I guess you're probably not _that_ Steve Gibson (the
internet security dude).

To tell what you need to buy depends a lot on the batch size you're
comfortable working with, how much disposable income you have and the type
of fruit or kit you plan to attempt.

I started small, with about 150 pounds of fruit (Chardonnay), a couple of
carboys, some miscellaneous "gear" (later on that) and a new 7½ gallon
Demptos barrel (which is a French oak barrel, in case you didn't know that).

The following year, I moved to 228 liter barrels and haven't done much else
since.

Assuming you wish to start at the 5-15 gallon size, beginning with clear
grape juice, you'll need the following "gear" right away:

1) One or more fermenters. This can vary from a number of glass jugs (1
gal) to carboys (3, 5 or 6 gal) to pony kegs (7½ gal) to kegs (15 gal) or
even to oak barrels. Whatever size you aim for, you'll need a collection of
the smaller sizes too (1 liter and smaller). There's always just a little
extra wine that needs to be put somewhere - besides your glass!

2) A racking cane and plastic tubing. This is used for siphoning the wine
or juice from one container to another. A good racking cane is a cane
shaped piece of plastic tubing with a little plastic gizmo on the end of the
straight section that helps you to avoid sucking up the sediment on the
bottom of the container you are siphoning from.

3) A hydrometer and jar. Get a nice one with a thermometer and a
temperature compensation scale built in. The Brix range should extend to
about 30 or so. The jar is for floating the hydrometer in when you're doing
a measurement.

4) A turkey baster. This is your "wine thief". You use it for pulling
samples from a carboy for tasting.

5) A selection of several sizes of plastic funnels.

6) White gum (good) or silicone (best) stoppers for the carboys and/or
barrel. Get some solid and one hole versions for each container.

7) Fermentation locks. You need these to keep air out of the fermenter,
but let gas escape.

8) Potassium metabisulfite (1 kilo). That'll last you awhile, but keep it
_very_ tightly sealed. Air exposure decomposes it.

9) Tartaric acid (2-5 lbs)

10) Plastic bucket(s) and tubs. I like to have several sizes of buckets,
from 1 to 5 gallon capacity. A dishwashing tub is handy to have too.

11) Bottle brushes. Several different shapes, for both inside and outside.

12) Access to a pH meter is *highly* advised.

13) You'll need a balance (scale), calibrated in grams. It should have 0.1
g resolution, and at least several hundred grams capacity.

If you plan to make red wine, you'll also need a wide-mouth plastic drum to
ferment in, something to stir/punch down the grapes with, and a press (which
I'd suggest you rent - at least at first). Some plastic collanders and
strainers are also handy to have.

I also recommend that you get some cultured yeast and yeast nutrient. Ask
about this at your homebrew shop.

That's all that comes to mind for openers. Later on, you'll need bottles,
corks, fining materials, a bottle filler, lab chemicals and labware etc.
That can all wait awhile.

Tom S

Speaking from being from a beer background, the most important to your
enjoyment is to start at a level comfortable to you. You'll have plenty of
complex batches. I just started my first wine batch and have enjoyed and
learned a great deal just from the kit with minimal equipment. Could i
improve the wine? Of course, but thats where the fun comes in. I would
suggest fro the basics you take a look at
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/produ...p?category=160 this will
make a great wine and then add on all the little things. For about $50
you'll get a great deal of enjoyment. From there you can add an infinite
amount of processes and equipment to further improve your wine.

Most of all - ENJOY

Jason
"Tom S" > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Steve Gibson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I have been interested in making wine now for over a few years now, and
> this
> > year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> > reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> > there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you
could
> > possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before
diving
> > into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or
tips
> > you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much
> and
> > happy new year to all, thanks
> >
> > Steve in PA
>
> Pennsylvania, eh? I guess you're probably not _that_ Steve Gibson (the
> internet security dude).
>
> To tell what you need to buy depends a lot on the batch size you're
> comfortable working with, how much disposable income you have and the type
> of fruit or kit you plan to attempt.
>
> I started small, with about 150 pounds of fruit (Chardonnay), a couple of
> carboys, some miscellaneous "gear" (later on that) and a new 7½ gallon
> Demptos barrel (which is a French oak barrel, in case you didn't know
that).
>
> The following year, I moved to 228 liter barrels and haven't done much
else
> since.
>
> Assuming you wish to start at the 5-15 gallon size, beginning with clear
> grape juice, you'll need the following "gear" right away:
>
> 1) One or more fermenters. This can vary from a number of glass jugs (1
> gal) to carboys (3, 5 or 6 gal) to pony kegs (7½ gal) to kegs (15 gal) or
> even to oak barrels. Whatever size you aim for, you'll need a collection
of
> the smaller sizes too (1 liter and smaller). There's always just a little
> extra wine that needs to be put somewhere - besides your glass!
>
> 2) A racking cane and plastic tubing. This is used for siphoning the
wine
> or juice from one container to another. A good racking cane is a cane
> shaped piece of plastic tubing with a little plastic gizmo on the end of
the
> straight section that helps you to avoid sucking up the sediment on the
> bottom of the container you are siphoning from.
>
> 3) A hydrometer and jar. Get a nice one with a thermometer and a
> temperature compensation scale built in. The Brix range should extend to
> about 30 or so. The jar is for floating the hydrometer in when you're
doing
> a measurement.
>
> 4) A turkey baster. This is your "wine thief". You use it for pulling
> samples from a carboy for tasting.
>
> 5) A selection of several sizes of plastic funnels.
>
> 6) White gum (good) or silicone (best) stoppers for the carboys and/or
> barrel. Get some solid and one hole versions for each container.
>
> 7) Fermentation locks. You need these to keep air out of the fermenter,
> but let gas escape.
>
> 8) Potassium metabisulfite (1 kilo). That'll last you awhile, but keep
it
> _very_ tightly sealed. Air exposure decomposes it.
>
> 9) Tartaric acid (2-5 lbs)
>
> 10) Plastic bucket(s) and tubs. I like to have several sizes of buckets,
> from 1 to 5 gallon capacity. A dishwashing tub is handy to have too.
>
> 11) Bottle brushes. Several different shapes, for both inside and
outside.
>
> 12) Access to a pH meter is *highly* advised.
>
> 13) You'll need a balance (scale), calibrated in grams. It should have
0.1
> g resolution, and at least several hundred grams capacity.
>
> If you plan to make red wine, you'll also need a wide-mouth plastic drum
to
> ferment in, something to stir/punch down the grapes with, and a press
(which
> I'd suggest you rent - at least at first). Some plastic collanders and
> strainers are also handy to have.
>
> I also recommend that you get some cultured yeast and yeast nutrient. Ask
> about this at your homebrew shop.
>
> That's all that comes to mind for openers. Later on, you'll need bottles,
> corks, fining materials, a bottle filler, lab chemicals and labware etc.
> That can all wait awhile.
>
> Tom S
>
>

"Steve Gibson" > wrote in message t>...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have been interested in making vine now for over a few years now, and this
> year I have decided that I am going to do it, now I have been doing some
> reading on the net and some magazines. There is so much information out
> there about wine making. I am asking you guys (the experts) if you could
> possibly give me a list of equipment I will need to acquire before diving
> into this. I am very excited to get started, and any other hints or tips
> you could give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you very very much and
> happy new year to all, thanks
>
> Steve in PA

Presque has a wine kit right on the top page of their catalog
for $32. I've heard that they are reputable for internet ordering
but I haven't ordered anything from them myself.

http://shop.piwine.com/shopsite/prwc/index.html

Winemaking Kit 5 Gallon
$32.85
Kit contains: 5 gallon glass carboy, Potassium Metabisulfite,
Rubber Bung, PIWC Bottling Siphon, PIWC Beginner's Book of Winemaking,
Two-Bubble Plastic Airlock, Hydrometer (0 - 30 Brix), Plastic Hydrometer
Jar, Yeast Nutrient, Wine Yeast (5g pkt)

That and a kit would about do it. Not sure about the
5 gal US size vs the 23l in a normal kit but you could
probably get them to switch carboys if you call them.

Don