Where do you buy your kits, and other 1st time questions...

I'm looking to do my first wine in the next couple of weeks, a Cab, and I'm wondering where most of you buy your kits?

Also, I have extras of most of the stuff I brew with, and will more than likely keep those extras specifically for wine. Do most of you that brew beer as well use the same equipment, or keep it separate?

Lastly, I have a new 3 gallon barrel that I plan to put the wine in to age. Its american oak, and I've heard that 3 weeks should be enough time. I plan on using half of it in it first for 3 weeks, and then take it out, and put the other half in after, and age it for longer. Does that make sense? I also plan on using the barrel for brewing a wild after its done, any suggestions on that?

Sorry for all the questions.

71westbrewing said:

I'm looking to do my first wine in the next couple of weeks, a Cab, and I'm wondering where most of you buy your kits?

Also, I have extras of most of the stuff I brew with, and will more than likely keep those extras specifically for wine. Do most of you that brew beer as well use the same equipment, or keep it separate?

Lastly, I have a new 3 gallon barrel that I plan to put the wine in to age. Its american oak, and I've heard that 3 weeks should be enough time. I plan on using half of it in it first for 3 weeks, and then take it out, and put the other half in after, and age it for longer. Does that make sense? I also plan on using the barrel for brewing a wild after its done, any suggestions on that?

Sorry for all the questions.

Click to expand...

I buy my kits at whatever is cheapest, after shipping. I make a wide variety of kits, from the cheap to the high end, so that I have everything from "everyday wine" to "special guests wine" on hand.

Kits make 6 gallons, at least the better brand name kits do. There are some special kits, like ports, that make 3 gallons. Do you have a three gallon carboy to store the wine in that's not in the barrel? If not, you will need one.

You can use your beer and wine equipment interchangeably (I do), but you will need a 6 gallon carboy for wine kits (or two three gallon ones, I suppose!) and a corker (or have a place to borrow one). I think a wine whip/degasser is another thing that should be on the list for a must-have, since wine kits are almost always degassed.

I don't have any idea about the barrel, as I've never tried that.

Southernhomebrew.com has some of the cheapest prices on a large number of kits from both winexpert and rj spagnols, but their shipping prices can be high. Ritebrew sells kits at a little higher price, but has lower shipping costs. Only problem with ritebrew is their selection is somewhat limited. I check both sites and figure kit cost and shipping and go with whichever one is cheaper.

thanks guys, I bought a kit from Midwest yesterday, a RJ Spagnols Cab. I have a couple 3 gallon better bottles, and will use one of those to hold the wine while the other 3 are in the barrel.
I have a mixing wand that I can attach to my drill that used to aerate beer before I bought an oxygen kit, so I'm hoping to use that to degas.