looking for some advise

This is an excellent site!

I did the same thing. studied for a while, and then made a "starter kit" of my own. I ordered the whole mess from

as they had the best prices of the places I found that would send me a free print catalog.

(3) 1 gallon carboys (2) airlocks (2) universal bungs (1) Hydrometer (1) 10" plastic test jar (for hydrometer samples) (1) bag of 30 corks -- #9 standard (1) bag of 30 pvc sleeves (only cost an extra buck or so, and thoght they would look nice...) (1) EZ-economy corker (3) Lavlin k1v-1116 all pourpose yeast (1) jar of 100 pH test strips -- wine range (2.8-3.8 I think) (1) jar of 110 campden tablets

I also then picked up some clear 3/8 (OD) clear tubing from a hardware store (cost about 70 cents) for racking, and a tukey baster (less than a buck) for drawing samples of wine (also works for starting the syphon if I do it right) I then had to start my hunt for bottles..

I crushed and disolved about 50 tablets in a gallon jug of water for a sulfite solution and it has been working fine...

the whole mess above cost me about $50.00 including shipping. It lets me make 2 batches at once with a spare carboy to rack into. I have, however, already upgraded to a better corker (infact I got thier

6-gallon preassembled kit with a double lever corker)

To save money if you aren't sure about if you want to do this or not (doing is always differant than reading IMHO...) you could go with 2 carboys, one airlock and bung, omit the PVC sleeves (they don't work on all bottles anyway) and go with one (or two) packets of cheaper yeast. Also, if you are getting the ECON corker, I would recomend #8 corks instead. the 9's were a real gripe to use. (had to beat the top of it with a 2 X 6 to get the corks to go in.. my wife was swearing that WHEN a bottle broke, I was cleaning it up!!! -- none did, but still a pain) that would all trim about 10.00 off the price. I suppose you could skip the pH paper if you had too, (save another 3-4 bucks) but that is about it.

The only thing I wish I had gotten differantly (other than the corks) was I wished I had gotten some acid blend to bring the pH down. (my first one was 3.5) I didn't get any additives thinking I would deal with what I had, and I wanted to keep my cost down.

If you don't know if you will like the hobby yet, and you don't wanna dump alot of money in it before you know, you should be able to make a gallon of wine for about 30-40 in equipment, and about 5 bucks in juice from the store. You can always upgrade and buy nicer stuff as needed. Like I said, I already upgraded the corker, and am getting ready to order some additives (bentonite, acid blend, etc) and a couple more hardware things (bottle washer, etc....)

just my $.02

email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

Try this for some very basic info, including equipment needed.

I would try your local wine or brew shop as they will usually talk to you forever and its great to support the local shop. If there isnt one or they are too far away, midwest supplies are excellent. I had something come broken and they responded and replaced it before i even got my batch started. Jason

We started with kits and have done all but 2 wines in the kit form. For kits you will want to tweak the list already given here:

Primary fermenter (plastic bucket type with o ring around top)

7 gallon car boy (allows your wine to finish fermenting with plenty of room) 6 gallon carboy (allows storage with volume to the neck without adding topper wine)

Since kits have all the required yeast/chemicals you wont have to buy them. You will also need a siphoning cane (several bucks) and a filling cane with tubing. $50 will get you everything you need. Many brew shops will loan you a corker. We borrowed one until we bought a floor model. We love kits.

Good luck,

KB

Presque has a wine kit right on the top page of their catalog for $32. I've heard that they are reputable for internet ordering but I haven't ordered anything from them myself.

Winemaking Kit 5 Gallon $32.85 Kit contains: 5 gallon glass carboy, Potassium Metabisulfite, Rubber Bung, PIWC Bottling Siphon, PIWC Beginner's Book of Winemaking, Two-Bubble Plastic Airlock, Hydrometer (0 - 30 Brix), Plastic Hydrometer Jar, Yeast Nutrient, Wine Yeast (5g pkt)

That and a kit would about do it. Not sure about the

5 gal US size vs the 23l in a normal kit but you could probably get them to switch carboys if you call them.

Don