Winemaking supplies are affordable and can be easily obtained. For those who prefer to keep it simple there are winemaking kits. There are three types of kits:
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Winemaking equipment kits
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Winemaking recipe kits
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Winemaking kits with both the equipment and the recipe ingredients
The different types of winemaking kits can make winemaking even easier. Kits are very helpful to the beginner because it provides the winemaker with just about everything that is needed. For the experienced winemaker it is a way to try new recipes or to quickly set up to have several batches of wine fermenting at the same time.
A basic winemaking equipment kit will provide the following:
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Fermenting bucket with lid
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Carboy (designed specifically for fermenting)
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Stopper
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3-piece airlock
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Triple scale hydrometer
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Bottlebrush
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Siphon unit
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Corker
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Corks
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Winemaking instruction booklet
Companies will also add extras like the following:
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Nylon fruit bag (18″ x 32″)
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Wine yeast
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Yeast nutrient
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Acid blend
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Yeast energizer
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Wine tannin
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Pectic enzyme
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Campden tablets
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Recipes
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Recipe kits
Prices will reflect the added options to a kit. For many it is worth the added expense to have someone else gather the equipment and ingredients to ship to them. The equipment is reusable, so it is not going to become and ongoing expense. It will be important to purchase proper sanitizing supplies so that unclean equipment won’t ruin your batch of wine.
Wine making ingredients for a recipe can be purchased individually. Many beginners will look into different types of winemaking recipe kits that provide all the ingredients for the wine. Experienced winemakers enjoy winemaking recipe kits to make things easier. A recipe kit will usually provide the following:
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Juice and juice concentrate with perfectly balance pH, acid, and tannin levels.
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Yeast
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Preservatives
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Recipe
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Directions
Some wine recipe kits have oak chips that will help give it that “wine barrel” flavor.
No matter what type of wine making kit you purchase, it will help make winemaking much easier, especially for the beginner.