Repurpose beer kit

[spacemonk32]

Hello,

Completely new to brewing and I tried searching for a similar post but found nothing. I want to try making wine, pineapple specificaly for my first batch and I have yet to purchase any equipment. I have an opportunity to get this basic beer kit for cheap from someone who is no longer using it and was wondering if it is worth getting or I should just get a basic wine making kit somewhere.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html

The Brewing Basics Equipment Kit includes:
6.5 gallon fermentor and lid
Airlock
Hydrometer and test jar
2 oz Midwest Oxygen Wash
Instructional step-by-step DVD
5/16” Siphon Tubing
Racking cane and holder
Bottling bucket with spigot
Bottle filler
Bottle Capper
60 gold bottle caps
Bottle brush

 

[mgonbrewlab]

This gets you most of the equipment you will need. However, you will still need secondary containers (ie: carboys) - the idea is that the wine, after your primary, should fit in the carboy with minimal/no head space.

You will probably also want fine nylon mesh bags for your fruit.

Oh, and finally, you will either need beer bottles OR a corker and corks, along with wine bottles. If you can do both - beer bottles make good "canaries" to see if your wine is ready.

They are a bit smaller than a gallon, but Carlo Rossi jugs make great secondaries, and a dry white can be valuable to top up other wines. Plus it will be good practice on bottling.

Good luck!

 

[bernardsmith]

Wine makers tend to use K-meta as their sanitizer - the sulfur dioxide that the K-meta produces kills wild yeast, and at higher concentrations (about 2 oz /gallon will sanitize all equipment... Brewers tend to use other more caustic chemicals (I think) that don't inhibit oxidation as much as K-meta

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Master Vintner Fresh Harvest Fruit Winemaking Kit

My wife bought me one of these kits for my recent birthday, and I am really looking forward to giving it a try:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/master-vintner-fresh-harvest-fruit-winemaking-kit.html

Looks like exactly what you're looking for ~

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Wine makers tend to use K-meta as their sanitizer - the sulfur dioxide that the K-meta produces kills wild yeast, and at higher concentrations (about 2 oz /gallon will sanitize all equipment... Brewers tend to use other more caustic chemicals (I think) that don't inhibit oxidation as much as K-meta

Right you are. I didn't even touch chemicals.

You will also want (pick up the small 1-2 oz containers till you feel comfortable making and drinking your own wine):

Postassium Metabsulphite OR
Campden Tablets

Pectic Enzyme
Wine Tannin
Yeast Nutrient
Acid Blend
Potassium Sorbate

Each one of these is cheap - probably $1.75 - $2.00 if you are here in the states

 

[bernardsmith]

Hello,

Completely new to brewing and I tried searching for a similar post but found nothing. I want to try making wine, pineapple specificaly for my first batch and I have yet to purchase any equipment. I have an opportunity to get this basic beer kit for cheap from someone who is no longer using it and was wondering if it is worth getting or I should just get a basic wine making kit somewhere.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html

The Brewing Basics Equipment Kit includes:
6.5 gallon fermentor and lid
Airlock
Hydrometer and test jar
2 oz Midwest Oxygen Wash
Instructional step-by-step DVD
5/16” Siphon Tubing
Racking cane and holder
Bottling bucket with spigot
Bottle filler
Bottle Capper
60 gold bottle caps
Bottle brush

I honestly think that you are 95 percent ready to make wine with what you have.. (as I posted below you might want to look at the chemicals that wine makers vs brewers tend to use) BUT that said, you may want to try your hand at a simpler wine than pineapple. Or rather, what I would suggest you do is go to your local supermarket and locate the shelves where they stack fruit juices - not the ones in the refrigerator but the juices that are stable enough to store unopened at room temperature. These can be anything from apple to mango from cranberry to ... pineapple.
As long as they do not contain any preservatives like sorbates (which will prevent fermentation) you can ferment those juices even in the bottles in which they are sold - simply by removing a cup of the juice and adding (pitching) the yeast. The removal of some of the juice will create space for the froth that will be produced by the fermentation process.
If you have a universal bung it will likely fit the mouth of those bottles and if you don't take the bottle to your local home brew store and ask if they have a drilled bung that will fit (they will).
The reason why I suggest you start with fruit juice is that a) you will be making wine without diluting the flavor with water and b) the juice you buy will have been pasteurized before being bottled and so the risk of wild yeasts fermenting the juice are for all intents and purposes zero and C) even without added sugar there will be enough natural sugar in the juice that will result in a cider like or beer like level of alcohol (about 6.5% +
or -). To increase the level of alcohol (ABV) to around 12% you will need to remove some more juice and add 1 lb of sugar for every 40 points of specific gravity you want to increase a US gallon of must (the liquid before you add the yeast) - That is to say 1 lb of sugar will increase the ABV of a gallon of juice with a potential ABV of 6 % to about 11% which is what you look for when you make wine (these are approximate numbers - your hydrometer will give you a more accurate picture).
last point: juices such as apple are really easy to ferment (I would use a yeast known as 71B) and juices such as mango and papaya are delicious as wines (same yeast will work for them ) only they both have a great deal of pulp which will slowly slowly drop out of suspension and give you a bright clear wine - so you will lose about 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume to sediment..

 

[spacemonk32]

Thanks everyone! with a 6.5 gallon primary fermenter how much head space should I give it? In other words, how many gallons can I make in that before I rack it to the secondary?

 

[mgonbrewlab]

That depends on whether using juice or fruit wine, as well as the trype of fruit. I have done a couple 5 gal batches in my Ale Pail, but they have been blends with 1/2 a fruit wine and 1/2 a juice wine OR a canned fruit

 

[spacemonk32]

I started my pineapple wine going off a recipe I found on the internet. I went with 4 gallons leaving a head space of 2.5 gallons. I have some one gallon carboys on order. I have everything in the primary now but the yeast. I will add that in 24 hours, planning on using 2 champagne yeast packets. The specific gravity was 1.115

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Even with the high OG, I don't believe there is any reason to double pitch your yeast - just rehydrate it properly and use yeast nutrient. At least, I have never seen it advocated.

When it comes time for more carboys, just get jug wine . You pay the same price (or more) for empty glass jugs when you can get jugs prefillled with topping up/blending wine. The Rossi jugs are slightly less than 1 g but that seems to work better since you will always be dealing with liquid loss and that will limit any diluting that needs to be done.

One thing I forgot to mention and I wish I would have learned about sooner. On racking days sanitize a couple mason jars to hold the last couple inches of cloudy liquid. Cold crash them in the fridge and combine it with your carboy or reserve for topping up or blending. Or sampling


Have fun!

 

[spacemonk32]

I added the yeast nutrient already as the recipe called for everything but the yeast. Would the Camden tablets affect the yeast nutrient at this stage? should I add more when I add yeast?