There is no real backward. I assume you had some advise for instructions
from some source. Ask questions. They will get answered. Even the basic
ones. A primary is the container you start your fermentation in. It is
usually a food grade plastic bucket about twice the volume of the wine you
are making. It is usually not sealed but is covered to keep out bugs and
other undesirables. This brings us to the secondary with is usually a large
glass jug or carboy that can be tightly sealed to keep air out. You move
your fermenting wine from the primary to the secondary after the violent
part of fermentation has finished and, if you are using fruit, the fruit is
no longer floating. You keep it in the secondary under an airlock, an
airtight seal, until fermentation is finished.

A wine kit is a kit of ingredients, not hardware, used in making a certain
type of wine. You can buy a Riesling or Gewürztraminer, or a Merlot or any
of dozens if not hundreds of styles of wines. The better (more expensive,
$60 plus) kits can be quite good. I personally think the white kits are
better than the reds but that is my opinion. Cheaper kits are mediocre.
There really is a rough relationship between what you pay and what you get
here. They give you very detailed instructions and are a good way for a
beginner to get started or for an advanced winemaker to make wines when he
has no access to the type of fruit required.

Enjoy the hobby.

Ray

<Susan (Susan S)> wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:26:27 GMT, "Chris Hertling"
> > wrote:
>
>> Well, I have finally done it... after months of lurking in this newsgroup
>> and researching the process, I have started my first batch of wine. I
>> received a 5 galon starter kit for christmas and am using Sun Cal
>> zinfindel
>> concentrate for my first batch. I put it in the primary fermenter on
>> Tuesday. After trial and error in finding a spot in the house that was
>> warm
>> enough for fermentation, I moved the bucket to a closet in my home
>> office...
>> and it has really taken off.
>>
>> Any tips for a first timer??
>
> Er, golly.I guess I did it backwards. I started my first batch a
> few hours ago, and THEN found this newsgroup. I have no idea what
> a wine kit is, http://holtsmoke.org/wwjd shows my first attempt.
>
> "Primary?" "Secondary?" Gods damned if I know what that means.
>
>> Chris Hertling
>> North Kansas City, MO
>
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>
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> the criticism." -- Henry David Thoreau, from _Life Without Principle_
>