Wine Making Equipment

[garic]

Hi All,

I am new member and new to this hobby , I did a search , but there isn't any specific about wine making equipment post. There is whole sub forum for beer making..!

Can someone guide me the equipment I will need if I start with 30 bottle ?, I am not keen on plastic fermenter ( all the starter kits come with plastic it ..! ) and will prefer steel or glass.
I will mostly be making Wine/Mead or other High ABV Drinks.

I have come across Stainless steel distillers from Vevor but not sure if that's the right equipment..!

Thanks
G

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have used a plastic fv for many years and don't know of many if any members who use stainless steel, there are ss fermenter in the HB shops but they are very expensive.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

£173
https://www.geterbrewed.com/brew-monk-stainless-steel-conical-fermenter/

 

[Stevieboy]

Avoiding plastic in the 23litre/30 bottle category is difficult.

There are 23 litre glass carboys out there, but they are expensive, and heavy.

Don't be shy of the plastic - buy good quality, they last forever, and don't give off flavours, if that is your worry. There are plenty of people on this forum who have fermented hundreds of gallons in plastic with no issues.

 

[Cwrw666]

The brew builder one isn't too expensive (though way more than plastic). Shiney.
https://brewbuilder.co.uk/mini-fv.html

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If it must be SS I guess the price isn't going to put you off but as I and Steve said using plastic FV's really isnt a problem.

 

[garic]

Hi All, Thanks for all the replies. If I go for plastic one, then can you please advice which one I should be buying.

 

[Stevieboy]

I use one of these, and have fitted a tap at the bottom.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...=2ahUKEwjIoLWL4sX2AhW6QUEAHYb7B1kQvhd6BAgBEE4

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have a Richies FV with no tap.


If you get a standard bucket type FV make sure the lid has ridges round the top like the one below as this almost guarantees it will be airtight which for some members is essential as they like to see airlock activity.

,

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This looks good value at £17 as it comes with the tap and little bottler, i use a little bottler wand on my syphon tube as i didn't want to drill the FV it makes bottling a lot less of a chore.


https://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/equipment/fermenters/30-litre-fermentation-bucket-little-bottler

 

[garic]

Thanks All, I have Started the journey with below Items..! , They are on order now.
Will Start with WOW

Youngs 25 Litre Fermentation Vessel with Tap

3 x Glass Demijohns 1 Gal

Youngs Simple Syphon

Youngs Rubber Bung Stopper

Youngs Rubber Bung 1 Gal Bored

Youngs Hydrometer

Youngs 100g Cleaner/Steriliser

Youngs 30g Fermentation Stopper

Youngs 25 Litre Fermentation Vessel with Tap

Youngs 60g Super Wine Yeast Compound

Youngs Small Handy Airlock

Youngs CLEAR IT Wine & Beer Finings

Youngs 50 Campden Tablets

Youngs 100g Yeast Nutrient

Youngs 32g Pectolase

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The journey begins.

 

[hedgerowpete]

Why as a novice would you want to spend thousands of pounds on shiney kit when we can produce award winning wines with plastic fermentors. This love of shiney has spread from the rich idiots over at shiney beer brew land.

As a novice a plastic fermentor with a simple bucket will cost you very few pounds and allow you to expland as and when you want to.

stay away from the beer muppets and shiney land, its only there for the dumb and rich. it wont produce better wines and wont make wine making easier or quicker.

 

[Stevieboy]

That's plenty enough! I would only give one word of advice at this point - lower your expectations of your wine, for the first few attempts, until you understand what you need to tweak to make them good.

 

[jof]

Yep, I am still using plastic 5 gallon wine fermenters like the above pictures that I bought from Boots 30 years ago when I was a student. Only just retired my beer fermenter of the same age due to lid splitting beyond the point of being acceptable.

 

[user 44889]

Enjoy the journey, when you make your first country wine and it comes out great the feeling is.... whooohoooo. Lol
You will have failures but it's all a learning curve.
Plastic and glass is the way to go.
Have fun.

 

[garic]

Thanks All, Items will be delivered tomorrow. Will go with simple recipes first.

One Thing , I am not able to find is , how to check the safety of Alcohol in the wine. i.e How will I know that yeast has produced ethyl alcohol ?

 

[Stevieboy]

Thanks All, Items will be delivered tomorrow. Will go with simple recipes first.

One Thing , I am not able to find is , how to check the safety of Alcohol in the wine. i.e How will I know that yeast has produced ethyl alcohol ?

Just use a wine yeast and you'll be fine.

 

[user 44889]

If you want to know the ABV % of alcohol use a hydrometer. It reads the specific gravity of the wine. ie how much sugar in liquid. Take a reading when you first make up your batch and then when you think it's finished. That will tell you how much alcohol is in your wine. Need to take 2 final readings a few days apart and if they both come out the same it's done fermenting.

 

[user 39926]

Also OP - for sanitising purposes you can use something like this :

linky

I tend to drop two in a demijohn and leave for 30mins