Winemaking at Home: What Are the Basic Things That You Need?

Before you venture into winemaking at your house, you need to understand what basic things you need to purchase to perform winemaking at home in an efficient, successful manner. The first thing on your list should be to purchase a book on winemaking that details all the step by step instructions of the process. There are many on the market and once you have this book, you will then need the following items and supplies.

Crushing and Pressing Equipment

You will need some type of crushing and pressing equipment to process the washed grapes into must to receive their juice for the rest of the winemaking process. This equipment ranges from manual options to automated versions such as the Europress TX1 100L Tank, which is a closed take press that has a capacity of 100 liters.

Fermenting Containers

Glass jugs of the five-gallon variety are ideal for fermenting wine at home, but you can opt for barrels if you so choose. What size barrels that you select to purchase depends on how large your batch will be each time. Barrels come in various sizes and impart a unique flavour to the wine, but you can add oak chips to the glass jugs to simulate the effects that the barrels have on a batch of wine.

Air Locks

Use air locks to allow gas to escape from whichever type of fermenting container that you select. By doing this, you prevent oxygen from negatively affecting the quality of your wine. Various versions are available for this purpose.

Yeast and Additives

Yeast is an important element in the fermentation process of the wine. Other additives that you may also need include such things as tannins, stability agents, acid adjustment agents and sulphur just for some examples.

Clarifying Agents

All wine can develop impurities that you must remove to produce a wine that is appealing looking and clear. It takes time for these impurities to settle naturally as you rack your wine the appropriate amount of times, but you can reduce this time by adding a clarifying agent such as diatomaceous earth. Various filters also are available for this purpose.

Other Basic Things Necessary for Winemaking at Home

• Bottles and Corks or Caps
• Bottling Equipment
• Siphon to Transfer Wine
• Hydrometer
• Wine Thief
• Ideal Cellar Setup and Conditions

For further facts about the basic things that you need for winemaking at home, contact Grapeworks Consumables. We specialise in providing a wide assortment of supplies, equipment and machinery for winemaking.