Suggested Equipment and first time wine kits

Jack wrote; "I guess I'm just as interested in a quality supplier as I am a quality kit. I

~Do you live near a homebrew/winemaking shop? Go there and discuss what you need. You can touch and feel the equipment. Better IMO that buying sight unseen.

"Also, what is a good first-timer wine kit (red). I like cabs, merlots

~Brewking makes cab/merlot blends I believe. Buy one of those and follow the instructions closely. Don't count on the wine being fit to drink in 28 days. If you want it to taste good plan on 6 months at least.

"I would also like for each of these first batches to be small, ten bottles or

~Buy an expensive kit. Make the kit as instructed. Give it some time. The wine will be good. If you try to make small volumes of wine there is a greater chance for the wine to become oxidized somewhere in the process and you will be disappointed.

Best advice...once the wine is in a carboy keep it topped up to within 1/2 inch of the air lock.

Good luck.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas

I really would suggest going to the top of this page where it says "google search" and type in "first time red wine kit." Then click on the bullet next to rec.crafts.winemaking and hit "search." You'll get more responses than you can possibly read. Any time I have a question about my winemaking I always check the archives first, and invariably I find the answer I need. Good luck!

Kim

Most wine hardware kits have the basics for what you need and quality is not a major issue as most of the stuff is standard. If you are buying it at a local shop and you have already decided you are going to get serious you may talk him into changing the cheaper hand corker for a good floor corker. If you continue, you will eventually do this anyway. I would also suggest a second carboy. Get one 5 and one 6 gal size. It is handy to rack from a bigger to a smaller. While you are at it you might get some 1/2 gal sizes. You can probably find some 1 gal sizes that are free. The larger variety of carboy sizes you have, the less you will have to water your wine when topping up. And get some extra airlocks and bungs to fit. You will still be way under $200 in equipment. Probably down around $125-150.

For the wine kit, I would suggest you get the medium to high quality kits. These are $70-80 for good quality or $90-110 for highest quality. If you start with a good quality kit and follow instructions it will turn out good. Some of the whites are very drinkable at 2 months which is nice for a beginner. Reds should be aged longer. I have not had great luck with kit reds and make my red from scratch. But the white kits I have tried are great. Some others may give you some good advise on reds.

Ray

Actually, I tried that and got several hits, but not really what I was looking for. However, I didn't use those exact words. In fact, I couldn't decide what words were best to use. I'll try your suggestion.