Winemaking kits

Winemaking Kits

Winemaking kits are a wonderful option for those who are interested in making wine at home. Not only do they make very high-quality wines, but they are also much easier and less expensive than making wine directly from fruit. Winemaking kits also give the winemaker the option to make styles that would otherwise be very difficult if you were to try to acquire the grapes directly. One of the largest benefits of winemaking kits is that everything you need to make the wine is altogether in one box.

Winemaking kits first became available in the early 1970’s to alleviate many of the hassles that came with winemaking. For the home wine enthusiast to make a six-gallon batch with whole fruit, they would need to purchase and ship up to 90 lbs of grapes as well as have specialty equipment for crushing and destemming the fruit. Because of this, winemaking kits were a great option. Over the years, the quality of these kits has steadily improved. Much of this is due to innovations in packaging that have helped to ensure a fresh product for up to three years.

Wine at Bargain Prices

Even the most expensive kits are a bargain when compared to the cost of buying wine by the bottle in a store. An average kit makes approximately 6-gallons or 30 bottles of wine and can vary in price from $70-180. This equates to only $2.33 – $6.00 per bottle of high-quality wine.

The price range is based on a number of different factors such as the type of grapes used, Where the grapes are grown, how concentrated the juice is and whether or not grape skins and oak are included with the kit.  Kits that have a higher percentage of pure juice will traditionally be of higher quality and more expensive.

Equipment Needed

The equipment that is used in winemaking can also be used in homebrewing.

• Primary fermenter
• Two 6 gallon carboy fermenters
• Long-handled plastic spoon
• Two Airlocks and rubber stoppers.
• Auto Siphon and tubing
• Wine Thief
• Stainless Steel Stir Rod
• Triple Scale Hydrometer
• Spring Tip Bottle Filler
• Bottle Corker
• Cleanser and Sanitizer

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 Making Your First Wine

The first thing that you will want to do is to clean and sanitize all of your equipment. Then you can go ahead and open your kit. The winemaking supplies in each kit may vary depending upon the style of wine that you have chosen. The first step is to carefully pour your juice into the primary fermenter. You will then need to add a measured amount of water. Then you will just follow the recipe by mixing in the supplied ingredients. This may include items such as Bentonite for clarifying, yeast nutrients, wine tannins, sulfites, etc. Once you have finished adding all of the ingredients, you can then sprinkle your yeast on top and close the fermenter. The yeast provided with the wine kit ferments best at room temperature. It may take a day or two before you begin to see signs of fermentation.

After about 14 days in the primary fermenter, it will be time to transfer or “rack” your wine to a secondary carboy. Using your auto-siphon, place the primary fermenter on a table with the sanitized secondary fermenter on the floor. You can then place the auto-siphon in the primary fermenter with the tubing running to the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Now when you pump the auto-siphon once or twice, it should start a nice smooth flow. The style of wine that you have chosen may include having you add oak and fining agents at this time. You can then put an airlock and stopper on it.

In another 14 days, you will want to rack the wine again Now you can leave the wine alone for awhile. After approximately 4-weeks it will be time to bottle.

Bottling

We usually recommend that you rack the beer one more time prior to bottling to ensure that there is no residual sediment. You will then make sure that all of the bottles have been sanitized. You can use the auto-siphon with a spring tip bottle filler at the end of the tubing. This will give you more control when filling the bottles. Now it is time to cork.

There are many different types of corks from synthetic, blends, and pure cork. Each of which will need to be sanitized or prepared in a specific manner. Synthetic corks can just be dipped and sanitizer and placed right in the bottle. When using real cork or a blended cork, you need to both sanitize and soften the cork prior to bottling. The best way to do this is to steam them over hot water. They should only be steamed enough to slightly soften which should take about 2 to 3 minutes. It is important not to over soften them to the point that they become sponge-like.

Now We Wait

It can take some time for wines to age properly and get to their ideal condition. The wine will continue to change and mature in the bottle. Unfortunately, there is not an exact time in which the bottles are ready to drink. On average we suggest letting a red age for about a year in the bottle and white can age for approximately 6-months before they are ready. But there is an old saying with wine that your last bottle is usually your best bottle.

For more information on winemaking or adventures in homebrewing, the staff at The Brew Hut is always happy to help with any questions that you may have. Check out our events page here to see which wine making classes are available