Winemaking Tutorial - Lesson One

Obtain Supplies and Equipment

There are a few things one MUST have in order to make a great wine from a kit. Obviously you need a wine kit, but what else is needed? At a bare minimum, we recommend obtaining the following equipment:

• Food-grade plastic bucket with lid, 7.8 gallons* - Used for primary fermentation and bottling. A fast-flow spigot at the bottom is essential.
• 6 gallon glass carboy* - Used for secondary fermentation
• Airlock* - Allows carbon dioxide to escape the carboy during fermentation
• Drilled rubber stopper* - Also called a bung. Placed within the neck of the glass carboy, it provides an airtight seal while the drilled hole in the middle holds the airlock
• Vinyl tubing* - Used for racking (transferring) wine from one vessel to another
• Curved cane and racking tip* - You'll need this doo-hickey to bring your wine UP and OVER the mouth of the carboy during racking
• Wine bottles - You'll need around 30 bottles (750 ml size). Save cash by getting empties from your friends!
• Sanitizer - A chemical used to clean and sanitize your equipment. We recommend B-Brite^® because it comes in a powder (you can make as little or as much as you need) and has a long shelf life.
• Corks - Hey, we want the wine to stay IN the bottle until it's time to drink!
• Corker - You could use a mallet and a steady hand, but who wants hammer on their wine bottles to cork 'em?

NOTE: All items marked with a red asterisk ( * ) above come with the True Brew Gold wine equipment kit, item # 1001.

And of course, you'll need some raw materials from which to make your wine:

• Wine Kit - Choose your favorite red or white! All of our wine kits contain the basic chemical additives you'll need (such as yeast, bentonite, glycerin, etc.)
• Water - Good, clean spring water works best. Depending upon the type of wine kit used (Wine Art, Spagnol's Vino Del Vida, or Cellar Classic), you will need anywhere from 4 to 5 gallons.

The following items are not necessary, but are "nice to haves" because they either improve a process (saving time and/or possible errors) or improve the flavor of the wine:

• Floating Thermometer - Ensure your yeast is pitched at the correct temperature, and that fermentation is occurring within a safe temperature range.
• Wine Thief - A device used to obtain a sample of wine from a carboy (for testing) without having to tip the carboy and pour it out.
• Hydrometer - A device that measures specific gravity, sugar, and potential alcohol. These usually come packaged with a small test jar.
• Floor Corker - Makes corking an easy one-man operation
• Capsules - Usually made from foil or plastic, these are used to encapsulate the top of the bottle. Keeps dust and dirt from the crevice where the cork and the bottle meet.
• Siphoning Equipment - Reduces wine waste due to spills and splashes. No more sucking on a hose to start a siphon!
• Carboy Brush - Because of their small holes at the top, carboys are hard to clean without one of these!
• Wine Conditioner - Sweetens wine (makes wine less dry).
• Oak Wood Chips - Simulates aging your wine in an oak barrel. Selected wine kits already come with chips!

Now that you have the supplies and equipment you need, let's prep your equipment in readiness to make some wine!

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