# New Winemaker Equipment



## rlynge (Aug 20, 2018)

Good morning, everyone!

I am a long time homebrewer who took about a two year hiatus due to the arrival of my daughter and am looking to get back into the fermentation sciences. I had previously sold all of my beer brewing supplies and have decided to move into the wine making realm as both my wife and I really enjoy wine whereas I am the only one that enjoys beer. 

Anyhow, I am trying to determine what the best equipment kit to purchase would be. In my research, I have found that the Deluxe Vintners Best Winemakers Kit w/ Plastic Carboy from Adventures in homebrewing looks to be the best option and deal however I thought I would run it by the group to see what everyone else's thoughts are. Aside from chemicals, bottles and other miscellaneous items, I feel this covers many of the items I will need. I should notate that our first several batches of wine will be from Kits. 

What are your thoughts? Is this the Kit to get? Do you have a better suggestion? Is there other major pieces missing that is needed.


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## pgentile (Aug 20, 2018)

rlynge said:


> Good morning, everyone!
> 
> I am a long time homebrewer who took about a two year hiatus due to the arrival of my daughter and am looking to get back into the fermentation sciences. I had previously sold all of my beer brewing supplies and have decided to move into the wine making realm as both my wife and I really enjoy wine whereas I am the only one that enjoys beer.
> 
> ...



This is fine for starting out with kits. But be forewarned this hobby can be addictive and before you know it, you'll need more carboys, larger fermenting vessels, floor corker, etc, etc.

Good luck and welcome.


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## richmke (Aug 20, 2018)

Don't buy. Don't buy.

If you keep up in the hobby, you will eventually have:
Glass Carboys
Floor Corker (italian or portuguese)
All-in-one Wine Pump (can work with plastic carboys, but better with the glass ones).

This one has a glass carboy.
https://www.homebrewing.org/Vintners-Best-Wine-Making-Equipment-Kit-wglass-carboy_p_6060.html
All you need to add is the floor corker.
https://www.homebrewing.org/Portuguese-Floor-Corker_p_504.html
Although, I do believe the Burgundy model is a little better (3" taller). Don't know where you can find it.


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## rlynge (Aug 20, 2018)

pgentile said:


> This is fine for starting out with kits. But be forewarned this hobby can be addictive and before you know it, you'll need more carboys, larger fermenting vessels, floor corker, etc, etc.
> 
> Good luck and welcome.



Thank you, pgentile! I tend to have pretty good self control when it comes to equipment acquisition syndrome. Having homebrewed for 10 years, I made it a point to keep it under control for the sake of my marriage.


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## rlynge (Aug 20, 2018)

richmke said:


> Don't buy. Don't buy.
> 
> If you keep up in the hobby, you will eventually have:
> Glass Carboys
> ...



Adventures in homebrewing does have a kit with a glass carboy however it sacrifices several items from this kit. Also, I don't think I have seen a kit that includes a floor corker, unfortunately.


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## Ajmassa (Aug 20, 2018)

I gotta agree with richmke. Plus if you stick with this forum for the kit venture, which I recommend, then you have plenty of time to secure a floor corker. Not just the 6/8/10 weeks like the kit suggests. But that’s a whole other convo. 
Many times I’ve purchased a cheaper/smaller piece of equipment, not sure I wanted to make a larger investment just yet— and then ended up buying the proper one soon after anyway. 
I have 3 plastic 5gal carboys. They just sit there collecting dust. Never even been filled with wine.


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## Mismost (Aug 20, 2018)

Craigslist is your friend. People jump in and out of this hobby....like you did brewing. All my gear was bought for pennies on the dollar, not retail price.
Just a thought.


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## rlynge (Aug 20, 2018)

Mismost said:


> Craigslist is your friend. People jump in and out of this hobby....like you did brewing. All my gear was bought for pennies on the dollar, not retail price.
> Just a thought.



Yeah, I gave that some thought however that would mean I have to piece everything together over time. However, I know that craigslist is a good option for gathering additional carboys and such relatively inexpensively.


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## pgentile (Aug 20, 2018)

rlynge said:


> Yeah, I gave that some thought however that would mean I have to piece everything together over time. However, I know that craigslist is a good option for gathering additional carboys and such relatively inexpensively.



Craiglist is how I gather most of my stuff, sometimes someone is selling everything you need to start sometimes not. There is no right or wrong with new or second hand. Some don't like plastic carboys, others have no issues with them.


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## rlynge (Aug 20, 2018)

pgentile said:


> Craiglist is how I gather most of my stuff, sometimes someone is selling everything you need to start sometimes not. There is no right or wrong with new or second hand. Some don't like plastic carboys, others have no issues with them.



I used quite a bit if plastic when brewing beer however I didn't store beer in it near as long as wine. Does anyone know how long one can store wine in a Plastic Carboy without detriment?


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## mainshipfred (Aug 20, 2018)

I don't use them but the Pet carboys are made for wine making so they shouldn't be a problem. I'm with everyone else about Craigslist if you have the time or energy. The basic equipment is similar to beer making so you already know what you need.


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## dralarms (Aug 20, 2018)

Gotta warm you, once you get a car boy wet it seems to multiply. Welcome to winemakingtalk. Great bunch of folks here. We’re all here to learn.


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## Venatorscribe (Aug 21, 2018)

A


rlynge said:


> Thank you, pgentile! I tend to have pretty good self control when it comes to equipment acquisition syndrome. Having homebrewed for 10 years, I made it a point to keep it under control for the sake of my marriage.


Add a bottle tree to your list. A viral tool that you won't really appreciate until you use.


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## bstnh1 (Aug 21, 2018)

richmke said:


> Don't buy. Don't buy.
> 
> If you keep up in the hobby, you will eventually have:
> Glass Carboys
> ...



Agree to all but the glass carboys. Glass carboys are heavy, fragile and make an ungodly mess when they break - not to mention the loss of 6 gallons of wine!


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## rlynge (Aug 21, 2018)

Thank you to everyone!

I appreciate all of the feedback and hope to put it to good use.


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## richmke (Aug 22, 2018)

rlynge said:


> Yeah, I gave that some thought however that would mean I have to piece everything together over time. However, I know that craigslist is a good option for gathering additional carboys and such relatively inexpensively.



All you need right now are:
Pail
Carboy
Hydrometer
Small auto siphon & Tubing (I recommend the small because you can use the small one to transfer from the wine kit bag to the pail)

You have a few months to watch craigslist for a floor corker and more carboys



Venatorscribe said:


> Add a bottle tree to your list. A viral tool that you won't really appreciate until you use.


I love the Fastrack: https://www.homebrewing.org/2-FastRack-Wine-and-1-Tray_p_4359.html
Also great for letting single bottles dry after you use them.
If you have sheet pans or broiler pans for your oven, you can use them for the drip tray on bottling days, and save a few bucks. Make sure you get the wine bottle version. The beer bottle version will work, and is great if you start doing dessert wines and 375ml bottles.


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## winemaker81 (Aug 22, 2018)

I recommend buying locally when you can. For heavy items it saves on shipping, and when you need something *now*, a short drive will get it.

I lucked out, I have one shop 5 minutes from my office and another 5 minutes from home.


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## mainshipfred (Aug 22, 2018)

rlynge said:


> Good morning, everyone!
> 
> I am a long time homebrewer who took about a two year hiatus due to the arrival of my daughter and am looking to get back into the fermentation sciences. I had previously sold all of my beer brewing supplies and have decided to move into the wine making realm as both my wife and I really enjoy wine whereas I am the only one that enjoys beer.
> 
> ...



What part of the world do you live. There may be someone close that has extra equipment.


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## rlynge (Aug 23, 2018)

mainshipfred said:


> What part of the world do you live. There may be someone close that has extra equipment.


I live in Tampa, FL!

I have a LHBS near me that sells beer and winemaking equipment as well. They have a brewpub as well so I make frequent visits however I will be purchasing this equipment using a digital gift card so that is why I was initially looking at on line kits.


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## mainshipfred (Aug 23, 2018)

rlynge said:


> I live in Tampa, FL!
> 
> I have a LHBS near me that sells beer and winemaking equipment as well. They have a brewpub as well so I make frequent visits however I will be purchasing this equipment using a digital gift card so that is why I was initially looking at on line kits.



Makes perfect sense to use the gift card and get the equipment kit.


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## Okie Parrish (Oct 30, 2018)

dralarms said:


> Gotta warm you, once you get a car boy wet it seems to multiply. Welcome to winemakingtalk. Great bunch of folks here. We’re all here to learn.


Ain't that the truth, my brother gave me my 1st kit witch included a primary fermenter, 1 gal secondary, siphon hose, bung, airlock, and some starsan I started 1gallon of blackberry that night. The vary next day bought another primary and started 5gal of strawberry.......here we are only 4 months later and 5 different wines going (17gal total) still aint bottled anything but I'm getting another carboy this week trying to decide what to start next


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## CDrew (Oct 30, 2018)

The best advice I got 2 years ago when a group of us at work started making wine is to have different size storage containers and to just go ahead and buy two five gallon glass carboys, two 3 gallon, two 1 gallon, and re purposed two glass growlers (1/2 gallon). Get appropriate stoppers and airlocks and you're set for what ever happens. You always want your containers full with minimal airspace, hence the need for multiple sizes. And Craigslist this time of year will have Carboys. I just looked and locally a guy has (3) 5 gallon carboys for $20. I'm sure it's similar where you are.

For primary fermentation, plastic buckets are commonly used, but they are small, and you'll quickly graduate to 20-30-40 gallon size Brute trashcan style fermenters. Buy at Home Depot (gray or white have appropriate NSF certs, but all colors can be used).

A hydrometer (which you may have from brewing), 3/8 racking cane, and appropriate tubing and you are good to go. You'll get better gear as you go.

You are likely already smart about sanitation from brewing, but unlike brewing, bleach is generally not used. I clean everything with PBW, and sanitize with Star San, just like brewing. 

If you enjoy making wine, within 1 year you will have at least double the above carboys and will be looking at real storage vessels.

Forget the bottling stuff for now. You are many MONTHS away from needing that. But if a used Itialian corker does not come up on Craigs, Amazon has it reasonably priced and can get it to you in 2 days, so buy it just before bottling and let someone else store it. In floor corkers, the blue Ferrari is the one you want. 

I have found that wine making at a home level takes up 10x the storage space of brewing on a home level so make sure you can make room.

Florida is going to be tough. You'll need temperature control of some sort, just like for brewing.

To get ready for next year's grapes, start with one (or two)of those frozen Must buckets. That's a more realistic start.

And read this excellent free document from MoreWine:

https://morewinemaking.com/web_files/intranet.morebeer.com/files/wredw.pdf

My two favorite retail winemaking shops are MoreWinemaking and Lodi Wine Labs. The local shop, which I would love to support more, is beer focused, unfortunately. Morewinemaking has essentially everything you will need at any level of home winemaking and I hear they have an East Coast outlet to speed shipping there.


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## NorCal (Oct 30, 2018)

Here ya go, in your Tampa Bay Craigslist(nearby). I bet $200 would buy the whole thing.

*Complete wine making set up - $275*
Very nice set of wine making equipment. High end elnova corker 3 glass and 2 plastic containers bottle washer testers various chemicals to sterilize equipment, corks bubblers etc.


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## CDrew (Oct 30, 2018)

Ha. That’s perfect!


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## dralarms (Oct 30, 2018)

Okie Parrish said:


> Ain't that the truth, my brother gave me my 1st kit witch included a primary fermenter, 1 gal secondary, siphon hose, bung, airlock, and some starsan I started 1gallon of blackberry that night. The vary next day bought another primary and started 5gal of strawberry.......here we are only 4 months later and 5 different wines going (17gal total) still aint bottled anything but I'm getting another carboy this week trying to decide what to start next




Lol. I’ve got 30 to 45 gallons going all the time.


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## Okie Parrish (Oct 30, 2018)

dralarms said:


> Lol. I’ve got 30 to 45 gallons going all the time.


Its addicting for sure....and I still aint bottled anything I just started like 3 months ago....kinda worried how much worse it'll get once i actually get a batch finished and start drinking it


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## dralarms (Oct 30, 2018)

Okie Parrish said:


> Its addicting for sure....and I still aint bottled anything I just started like 3 months ago....kinda worried how much worse it'll get once i actually get a batch finished and start drinking it




That’s when it really gets ya.


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## wrongway (Oct 31, 2018)

I don't have enough experience to give advice but WELCOME and have FUN!!


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