Wine Making Equipment for Beginners

You can make wine out of any fruits. The best known one is grapes, but there are hundreds of different fruit you can turn into wine. Some less commonly known ones are elderberry, dandelion, carrot – there are even maple syrup wines. Then there are the brews concocted from apples to make cider and honey to make mead. If you can infuse it or squeeze juice out of it, you can make a wine.

Spoiling: The most important fact when it comes to wine making is that oxygen and fresh produce don’t mix well. If you want to test this, just cut an apple in half and wait for the flesh to turn brown. This is because the fruit flesh is interacting with oxygen and spoiling. This process is happening the minute you pick fruit or harvest the product with which you plan to make wine.

Basic Wine Making: Extracting the juices, adding yeast for fermentation, filtering after fermentation is complete, and storing is how you make any wine. Most wine making kits contain concentrated juice that has been clarified, stabilized, and hermetically sealed so no oxygen, fungi, or bacteria can contaminate it.

What equipment do I need to start making my own wine?

The equipment you need to make wine at home is easy and basic. Most wine kits (and those used to make cordials, spirit cordials, beers, and general beverages) require the following equipment and components:

• Fermenter
• Thermometer
• Secondary fermentation vessel
• Stirring spoon
• Hydrometer
• Siphon
• Sterilizer
• Storage vessels, vats, barrels, or bottles for serving
• Corking kit

The only thing left for you to add to your list is patience! It is worth the wait to see if your home wine making efforts have produced a delicious, drinkable wine.