Winemaking hardware same as beer brewing?

I have the middle home brew beer making kit: 1 primary, 1 seconday with spout, the bottling hardware, hydrometer, etc.

My wife would like to try winemaking and I was just wondering if I needed anything extra for winemaking. I know the ingredients and process will be different, but that's what the kits are for. I am only concerned about hardware.

Thanks,

Craig

Not really. If you were starting with fruit, you'd need a large mesh bag, but most kits are juice.

You'll need a corker. Everything else is pretty much the same gear.

For wine, ideally you'd have a carboy of the appropriate size for secondary. The wine kits make 6 gallons, so you'd need a 6 gallon carboy. (I'm not sure what a secondary with a spout is, so I don't know if you have one or not).

I'm basically in the same boat as you.

So if the wine kits makes 6 gallons, it is safe to use a 6 gallon glass carboy primary that I use for my beer? Or do you need a larger carboy?

I'm guessing I'll need a 7 gallon as primary... and a 6 gallon as secondary... since I use 6 and 5 gallons for beer, but I'm not sure .

robertvrabel said:

I'm basically in the same boat as you.

So if the wine kits makes 6 gallons, it is safe to use a 6 gallon glass carboy primary that I use for my beer? Or do you need a larger carboy?

I'm guessing I'll need a 7 gallon as primary... and a 6 gallon as secondary... since I use 6 and 5 gallons for beer, but I'm not sure .

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Correct. Min 7 gallon primary.

I wouldn't recommend using any plastic fermenters that have seen beer action, as they can make your wine smell/taste beery. Glass works great though.

nebben said:

I wouldn't recommend using any plastic fermenters that have seen beer action, as they can make your wine smell/taste beery. Glass works great though.

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Somebody is not cleaning and sanitizing properly. I use the same equipment for both beer and wine and I have never had the problem you speak of.

DoctorCAD said:

Correct. Min 7 gallon primary.

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I'm having a hard time finding 7 gallon glass carboys. Do they only make those as high as 6.5 gallons... and if so, is that good enough to make wine kits in?

An 8 gallon fermenting bucket will do perfectly.

You need the top open so that you don't get a purple geyser during primary fermentation. A carboy has a small opening...

For wine kits, a 6.5 gallon carboy for primary should work fine. I do all of my primaries in buckets, though. Sometimes those kits have packs of grape skins, or oak to add, in primary. Getting it in there would be hard, and getting it out would be even tougher. Cleaning it would probably be a pain, too.

I use a 7.9 gallon "ale pail" for both wine and beer. It works great for a wine primary!