Making wine at home, advice please

I started with 2 1(UK) gallon glass demijohns, a 5(UK) gallon bucket
with an airtight lid, 2 meters of plastic tubing, hydrometer, yeast
nutrient, tub of general purpose wine yeast, tub of campden tablets and
a tub of wmp sterilising solution. Probably cost me less than £25 in UK
money. That's about £45 dollars I think. Pays for itself after a few
batches of wine.

Then I went out and learned what an elder tree looks like and made a
batch of elderflower wine from a recipe I found on the net. Do a search
for jack kellers wine making sight, I find that pretty useful. This
newsgroup is a valuable source of info too.

Beware, it can be addictive. Now I'm up to 8 demijohns and will be
buying some 5 gallon Carbouys in a few weeks. Just been told I can
drink again after some liver problems (not home brew related!) so I'm
looking forward to getting some more wine on the go! Going to make a
gallon of elderflower mead this year, think it will go well with orange
blossom honey.



Lewis Lang wrote:
Hi. I would like to get started making wine at home. How much
realistically will I need to spend $$$, and what exactly will I really
need to get started? Are any of those kits worth looking at, or are
those scams? Please also suggest a good book or 2.

Thanks.

--

Lewis Lang

"Lewis Lang" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi. I would like to get started making wine at home. How much
realistically will I need to spend $$$, and what exactly will I really
need to get started? Are any of those kits worth looking at, or are
those scams? Please also suggest a good book or 2.

Thanks.

Lewis Lang

Lewis,
For a winemaking book, I am particularly fond of "The Home Winemakers
Manual." You can get your free copy here.
http://home.att.net/~lumeisenman/
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

"Lewis Lang" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi. I would like to get started making wine at home. How much
realistically will I need to spend $$$, and what exactly will I really
need to get started? Are any of those kits worth looking at, or are
those scams? Please also suggest a good book or 2.

Thanks.

--

Lewis Lang


Hi Lewis:

Kits are a great way to start out, that's what I've been doing. I've been
making wine for while, mostly just kits. In my opinion, the wine is half
decent and they're quite easy to make, no book required. Directions are
included.

I had been thinking about trying this for several years, just never got
around to looking into it and thought it would be really expensive. I even
saved my empty wine bottles for several years, with the idea that I would
someday fill them with my own. When I finally got around to checking it out,
here in Atlantic Canada, I paid about $100 for a 'starter kit' which
included all the basic tools (carboy, primary, siphon hose, cleaners, etc.),
as well as a wine kit to try out.

Since then I've made probably eight batches of wine from kits. All have
turned out quite well, although they do improve with age. I've always been a
white wine drinker, hardly a connisseur, but after my first couple of
batches of sauvignon blanc, I'm experimenting to see what other types I
like. White zinfandel is my current favorite.

I've also made two batches that were not exactly kits, in that they were not
packaged in a box by a big company. In the fall, my wine supply store sells
a kit-type deal that includes fresh pressed apple juice and all the
additions you need to make it into apple wine. That one is still sitting in
the carboy clearing, haven't tried it yet. I also bought a mead 'kit' just
like it, just something put together from my supply store which includes a
big bucket of fresh honey and yeast, etc. Haven't tried it yet either.

Give it a try - at worst you're out $100 if you buy the stuff new. You might
also find used equipment if you check out the classifieds. Find a decent
wine/brew store, I've found mine to be extremely helpful with even stupid
questions!

Good luck!

KD