Equipment needed - Wine vs Beer

[mgr_stl]

I've brewed beer for four years, and would like to try out winemaking. What additional equipment would typically be needed that a beer brewer wouldn't already have?

 

[Stealthcruiser]

A Vineyard?

You have carboys or buckets?
I understand the former are preferable, and to have several of.
Got a place where you could do some long term storage in secondaries?

Grape or fruit press, or you gonna' buy juice?

 

[passedpawn]

If you make a 6g batch of wine, which is pretty common, you'll need one of these large 7.x gallon buckets. I tried to get by with my 6.5g carboys and it was a near disaster (see here). Also, a wine whip thing is cheap and useful for degassing. That's about it for making the wine.

Bottling is so much more fun with winemaking than with beer if you get a portuegese corker. It's a $60 investment, and it's a blast. You'll make more wine just to use that thing again. I think there's cheap wing-type corkers, but I'd spend the extra dough. It will let you push #9 corks into bottles. Many of the hand cappers don't work well with these larger corks. Oh, and you'll need bottles and corks of course. Cheap corks online, no problem. Start saving bottles though, you'll need 30 for a 6g batch (friends help a lot here, especially if they are winos like my neighbors).

 

[bucketnative]

Bottling is so much more fun with winemaking than with beer if you get a portuegese corker. It's a $60 investment, and it's a blast.

I've actually started to see a few commercial wineries, making decent wines, using crown-style caps instead of corks. So, realistically, OP wouldn't even need the corker, unless they wanted that experience.

 

[passedpawn]

I've actually started to see a few commercial wineries, making decent wines, using crown-style caps instead of corks. So, realistically, OP wouldn't even need the corker, unless they wanted that experience.

What kind of bottles are they using?

I haven't seen a standard 750ml bottle with a cap. I'm sure the bottles I have cannot be capped (no lip).

 

[bucketnative]

@passedpawn - We were drinking Poderi Cellario E Rosso: http://www.podericellario.it/site/index.php?page=main&name=dettaglio&idprod=65

And, I've had Berger Gruner Veltliner before: http://www.oakandbarrelnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/E-AND-M-BERGER-GRUNER-VELTLINER-1L.jpg

Both of them come in 1-L bottles with crown closures.

As for 750-mL bottles, I have had good luck bottling cider (still and carbonated) in either Korbel champagne bottles or Martinelli's sparkling cider bottles. They have the 26-mm crown caps. The flanges fit into my wing capper.

 

[passedpawn]

@passedpawn - We were drinking Poderi Cellario E Rosso: http://www.podericellario.it/site/index.php?page=main&name=dettaglio&idprod=65

And, I've had Berger Gruner Veltliner before: http://www.oakandbarrelnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/E-AND-M-BERGER-GRUNER-VELTLINER-1L.jpg

Both of them come in 1-L bottles with crown closures.

As for 750-mL bottles, I have had good luck bottling cider (still and carbonated) in either Korbel champagne bottles or Martinelli's sparkling cider bottles. They have the 26-mm crown caps. The flanges fit into my wing capper.

New to me. Thanks. I think I prefer the traditional look of a corked bottle, especially if I was giving bottles to friends (which I do a lot with wine).

 

[bernardsmith]

Always the contrarian, I think the difference is not really about equipment but about protocol and procedure. Basic brewing seems to rely far more on the clock, the equipment and on strict engineering-like control whereas wine making relies far more on the quality of the fruit and the needs of the yeast. Brewers may set up a "lab" to count yeast cells, to harvest yeast and to make certain that they have kept out wild yeast and bacteria. Wine makers tend not to harvest yeast, tend to use their hydrometer frequently during wine making and are far less anxious about contamination, bacterial infection and the like. Wine makers tend to use K-meta whereas brewers use Iodophor or One-Step. I have never bought a kit but even seasoned wine makers tend to have no problem using kits or prepared buckets of juice, whereas brewers may turn their noses up at the thought of buying malt extract. Ironically, brewers may opt to buy commercial apple juice when they want to turn their hand to cider while wine makers will seek out orchards to obtain juice pressed for hard cider. Brewers love heat and wine makers tend to avoid it. Brewers look for a certain kind or repeatable consistency whereas wine makers embrace the uniqueness that this or that harvest (whether grapes, or persimmons or honey or mangoes ) from this or that region offers.

 

[mgr_stl]

A Vineyard?

You have carboys or buckets?
I understand the former are preferable, and to have several of.
Got a place where you could do some long term storage in secondaries?

Grape or fruit press, or you gonna' buy juice?

Ideally, I'd use a five gallon glass carboy because I have an extra. I know that adds an extra twist since most kits are for 6 gallon batches.

I have a fermentation chamber, but could probably only use it during primary fermentation since I use it for beer. Then I could keep it in my basement (usually within the 60s throughout the year).

After reading the responses on this thread, I'd lean towards a nice kit, but definitely not a press quite yet. I'd love to make a pitite sirah, shiraz, or syrah if anyone knows of a good one.

 

[mgr_stl]

One more note...

I have a 6.5 gallon carboy as well if that could help for the primary fermentation. Not sure what sort of krausen to expect with wine. Does wine even produce krausen? So much to learn

 

[jwalker1140]

I started as a winemaker and got into brewing later.

If you are going to make kits, you probably already have about everything you need, except maybe a degasser stick thing, a corker, bottles and some extra carboys. Kits are a fun, easy way to get started. But like brewing with extract, I was never satisfied with the process or the results. I don't mean that as an insult to wine kit makers. Plenty of people are perfectly happy with them, and that's great. I just never felt like I was really making wine, and they always tasted a little odd - fault free and therefore capable of winning awards, sure, but not something that I think really compares to a mid- to high-end commercial bottle. But I'm seriously into wine, so YMMV. Your attitude about extract brewing may serve as a guide here.

If you are going to work with fresh grapes, you may also need some or all of these:

-crusher/destemmer
-a press
-a way to test MLF (chromatography kit), sulfites (an A/O kit) and a good pH meter, like the pHep 5 (no strips)

For kits, just buy the highest quality (i.e., most expensive) kit you can afford and follow the directions carefully. For grapes, do a lot of reading first. Definitely go to MoreWine and download their free booklet called 'Guide to Red Winemaking' or something like that. I'd also recommend 'The Way to Make Wine' by Warrick.

Good luck!

 

[theDREWery]

Not much, if any, krausen with wine. I once got about an inch of foam, but there was lots of sediment in the juice i used. The one thing i would suggest, already mentioned, is a floor corker. It's also good for belgian and champagne bottles, if you want to get into that stuff.

 

[BeerSmith]

I would get a degasser for sure, but the rest you likely have on hand.

If you have kegs you can bypass the whole bottling thing and just keg the wine at 1-2 psi which is what I do. If you really get into it you can get a nitrogen tank for wine to avoid any carbonation at all.

 

[mgr_stl]

How's this look for the degasser?

Clean Bottle Express Wine/Beer DeGasser https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RT8U1S/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[BeerSmith]

That's the one I have - works well for both buckets and carboys and I've used it on mead and wine!

 

[madscientist451]

I started out making wine and cider before I got into beer. I've picked my own grapes, bought grapes and destemmed/crushed and have purchased buckets of wine grape juice from California. The bucket of juice is the way to go if you are just starting out. In my area, I can get the juice in September and October although South American (Chile) juice is available in late spring. Expect to pay about $10/gallon or $60 for the 6 gallon bucket of juice. The South American juice is usually more expensive because of shipping.
Some people do all kinds of testing for acidity and then add chemicals to make corrections, and I've tried that, but anymore I just accept the wine like it is and try to make several different varieties and then blend for a taste that I like. I'm blending some 2 year old Cab Franc and Cab Savignon today.
White wine is super easy and will be ready in about 6 months. Just get the bucket of wine grape juice, dump it in your sanitized fermenter, and pitch a yeast that is appropriate to the style of wine you are making. I keep my white wine in a cool basement (50's) during fermentation. After about a month, (or more) I'll rack to another carboy and if it needs to be topped up, I use a similar jug wine from the store. When I make white wine in the fall, its ready by spring and usually all gone before August. Reds take at least a year for my taste, but some people make them quicker.
Starting with grapes is a lot more complicated and there are many different methods, I would suggest getting some wine making books before making and wine directly from the grapes. The only reason I consider using local grapes is to get different varieties that aren't available on the commercial market. I like Seyval Blanc and Cayuga/Niagra blend for white and Chancellor for reds. Some varieties I just don't like much at all, but everyone has different tastes.
I don't do any fancy bottling, I just rack the wine to 1.5L screw cap bottles or 1/2 gallon jugs. It doesn't last very long when the drinking commences so I don't add any sulfites to the whites but I do add sulfites to the reds when racking.
I've been using Vintner's harvest yeast the past few years, which is a little bit more expensive than the Lalvin or other wine yeasts but has been working pretty good for me.
If the wine juice costs $10/gallon that is about $2 a 750ML bottle. And your home made wine can be just as good as the $20 a bottle stuff in the store if you are careful and get decent fruit or juice.