How Wine Making Kits Work, Part Two
Wine Making Kits
Now that we know how wine is made in commercial wineries, let’s take a look at what to expect from making wine on your own with a kit.
The term “wine making kit” can actually refer to a couple of different things. There are kits that only provide the ingredients for the wine, there are kits that provide the equipment for the wine making process, and there are kits that combine the two and provide both. It’s important to note what is included in the kit that you’re buying, so you can make sure to get everything you need and not a lot of stuff that you don’t.
Let’s take a look at what you need in an ingredient kit first. Most kits of this sort are going to include a juice concentrate and a crushed grape solution. They will also include the yeast, sugars, and other ingredients to be put into the wine for the fermentation process. Finally, depending on the type of wine that you are buying, the kits will include oak chips and other flavoring ingredients to increase the quality and taste notes of the wine. In short, ingredient kits such as these will include everything you need to make wine short of the equipment. Not every kit will contain the same items, but that’s to be expected as not every wine is made the same way.
Equipment kits, not surprisingly, contain the equipment needed to make your wine. There are several types of kits out there, and lots of pieces of equipment, so it’s easy to get confused as to what exactly you need. I’m going to go through the equipment included in most kits, and divide things into categories based on how essential each piece is to the overall process.
Absolutely Must Have Items
Here are the items that you can’t make wine without.
Fermenting Bucket & Lid
Carboy & Stopper
Bottle Filler
Airlock
Siphon Tube & Tubing
Hydrometer & Thermometer
Sanitizer
The primary fermentation process takes place in a food-grade plastic bucket. It’s generally recommended that you use a large pail or bucket for this process, as the grape sediment can prove difficult to remove. Using a pail, instead of a carboy, allows you to take a brush to it and makes for an easier cleaning process.
The secondary fermentation takes place in a carboy, a large glass container that looks a bit like a large beer bottle. You can buy brushes specially made for cleaning their insides.
The hydrometer and thermometer are used in conjunction to determine when the fermentation process is completed. When it is done, the yeast is pulled from the wine and special additives are put in to prevent any additional fermentation.
Optional Equipment
Bottles
Labels
Corks & Corker
Auto Siphon
Bottles are optional in the sense that you don’t necessarily have to purchase them in your equipment kit. You definitely need some sort of container to put your wine into, but you can easily reuse old wine bottles. Just make sure to wash and disinfect them thoroughly.
You can also purchase screw cap bottles instead of using a corker, or rent a corker on your bottling day instead of purchasing one.
In my next post we’ll take a look at the actual process you’ll go through when you begin making your own wine!