Equipment Necessities

[grumpy]

There appears to be a wide range of of very expensive equipment in use by the WAH members , some of whom seem to be making rather large quantities of wine that would make the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous turn over in their grave. However, there are a number of us, me included, who avererage less than 5 - 10 gallon per month, who just want to have a fairly cheap hobby which gives a rewarding return.

On this basis what would the experts list as the best return on for a low outlay, that is, what pieces of equipment would you buy for £100, with no single piece of equipment costing no more than £30?.

[Rich]

Bottling wand - £5 (i do still use mine)

plastic DJ - £1 ish, with 5 litres of free water in.

decent ingredients (inc good yeast)- Priceless. (crap in = crap out)

Patience - free.

I have some expensive toys, but didn't get them all at once. it took a long time of saving and borrowing other peoples stuff.

If you search carefully you can get a floor corker for around your £30 limit there. These are well worth the money I think, I had a hand corker for a while and hated the thought of bottling day. Now, a floor corker makes it a breeze.

Small deep saucepan, about £3 from tesco's etc. For boiling water in to fit shrink caps with. Saves ruining wifes nice pan somehow, and getting in trouble.

Spray bottle, £2, to keep some 10% sulphite solution in. (100g sulphite, topped upto 1litre mark) very good for sanitising spoons etc.

Spoons.. small set of measuring spoons, BIG plastic spoon. Can never have enough of these. <£5

[danpug]

You don't need to spend much at all on equipment to knock out very large amounts of wine every year.

[Mamgiowl]

To Rich's list I would add

A hydrometer - and a spare for when you break it (and you will)

plastic seive

muslin

plastic funnels

Poultry baster - cheaper than a wine thief

Harris filter for that final polish.

All the above for about £40

[goldseal]

I think Rich and Mamgiowl have come up with a comprehensive list between them.

I too have some toys - a Minijet filter, an Enolmatic vacuum bottler and so on - but they are not essential, and are not even worth using on batches smaller than 5 gals.

If you wanted to make 5 gal batches/kits you could add a 33 litre fermenting buckets and a 5 gal Better Bottle to that list, because there is no reason why you can't filter and bottle 5 gals with the kit that has already been listed.

[benarnold]

Don't forget the most important bit:



(No heretics drinking from tumblers / the bottle thank you very much!)

[fatbloke]

Don't forget the most important bit:



(No heretics drinking from tumblers / the bottle thank you very much!)

Of course not, though jam jars that have been through the dishwasher are very convenient....

regards

jtfb

[lockwood1956]

look for a 2nd hand press, juicer and steam juicer...

i picked up a floor corker for £10 on ebay

eBay is great if you dont launch into it and wait for the right thing at the right price

[lockwood1956]

keep an eye on the "equipment" thread...people flag stuff up all the time, and we organise ourselves so we don't bid against each other

[kampervan]

ive not been into this that long 2 years. no real fancy stuff. best buys floor corker and steam juicer. must admit fancy a erogomatic or what ever bottle filler but just cant justify the cost so tube and tap for me. slowly buying better bottles as prefer 5 gal to demijohns. have a harris filter mk2 and a new one new one is much better than mk2.

[ms67]

i've always been a gradual "build on what you know" type, rather than take a step into the unknown. At the 5-10 gallon/month stage the best single investment i made was a 5 gallon FV to go with my 5 gallon bucket. this meant i could do "big batches" of my favourite wines easily. A wide neck (muslin/nylon bag removal) and airlock ready hole (so a good 2ndry vessel) were essential requirements. but i had 20+ DJ's at that stage so perhaps a bit ambulatory.

Other than that ...
Self belief (especially with a good foundation) ... free
Curiosity ... may kill the cat but it has a better quality of life! ... free
Patience ... already been said but the most important ingredient in wine-making so can't be said too much. ... free

[wisp]

A patient eye on freecycle ... lots of useful goodies to be had and a notebook to jot down the advice of the experienced and to keep notes. Forgetting to keep notes can lead to future heartache.

... oh, and a pen, of course.

[lockwood1956]

a notebook to jot down the advice of the experienced and to keep notes. Forgetting to keep notes can lead to future heartache

hear hear

[Cellar_Rat]

I too have some expensive toys, but these like others have taken years to acquire.

Some equipment will make a difference to the final quality, and it is pursuit of excellence not volume that often leads to purchase.

I have to say I take a 'return on investment' view of equipment - some things are easily afforded (in your head!!) if you look at what your are saving.

All that said my most useful piece of kit (which cost a tenner) is still the small inline caravan pump on the end of the syphon tube. This enables me to syphon uphill and avoid moving/lifting glassware or volumes of liquid. 25l is too much to lift, even if it is in plastic, further by not moving it the racking efficiency is improved.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Whale-Standard-12V-Pump-3-8-connections-10mm-NEW-/270640779308?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item3f0372902c

[Cellar_Rat]

......... However, there are a number of us, me included, who avererage less than 5 - 10 gallon per month .........

Blimey you make ALL THAT!!

It has just occurred to me that the only difference here is the amount of time we spend doing it!!.

5 - 10 gallon per months is the same as 270 - 540 litres PER ANNUM

So just 'cos you quote your figures monthly ( ie divided by 12), and use imperial (larger) units of measure, don't think you are not contributing to the said grave spinning experienced by founder members of Alcoholics Anonymous

I only make 1/2 gallon a day!