What You Need

Since each recipe you come across will yield different sized batches and require slighty different equipment, it is tough to find an all-inclusive starter kit. Luckily, the equipment is universal for most recipes and the supplemental ingredients, such as potassium sorbate or citric acid are inexpensive and easily found in local homebrew shops or on the internet.

This starter kit is pretty standard and gets you most of what you need to make your first batch of homemade wine.

For the extra ingredients you need for each recipe, like yeast, you can check out Lancaster homebrew. They offer in store classes and online videos to help in your quest for a delicious product.

It's difficult to come up with a complete list of materials for beginner and advanced wine making, but here's my attempt:

  • Primary: 6- or 7-gallon white plastic paint type of bucket is the best all-purpose primary;
  • Secondary: 1-gal apple juice jugs, 3-gallon carboys and 5-gallon carboys are best sizes;
  • Bung: rubber corks with hole drilled for the airlock to fit in; buy when you buy a secondary so you know the fit is correct;
  • Airlock: "S"-type is best (also called "bubbler");
  • Hydrometer: with both specific gravity and potential alcohol scales;
  • Hydrometer Jar: a tall chimney jar (holds about 350 ml of liquid) in which the hydrometer is floated;
  • Siphon Hose: about 6 feet of 1/2 inch clear plastic tubing;
  • Acid Blend: crystaline, 4 to 6 oz;
  • Pectic Enzyme: dry, powdered, 2 to 4 oz;
  • Grape Tannin: dry, powdered, 2 oz;
  • Campden Tablets: for 1-gallon batches, bag of 25;
  • Potassium Metabisulfite: crystaline, for cleaning equipment and sulfiting 5-gallon batches (in place of Campden), 4 oz;
  • Potassium Sorbate: for stabilizing wines:
  • Yeast Nutrient: crystaline, 4 to 6 oz;
  • Wine Yeast: do not use bread or baking yeast;
  • Nylon Straining Bag: also called a grain bag;
  • Corks: size #9 fits most wine bottles; buy quality corks;
  • Corker: buy a cheap hand corker to start with, but be prepared to buy a floor corker later;
  • Bottles: you will need five 750-ml bottles per US gallon of wine, six per Imperial gallon.
  • Gram Scale: digital ones can be expensive, but worth the money for making small, precise adjustments ;
  • pH Meter: accurate, reliable, and worth the investment;
  • SO2 Test Kit: essential for making serious white wines and reds intended for aging;
  • Grape or Fruit Press: consider this "essential" if you make wine from fresh grapes;
  • Crusher: If you do a lot of grapes, you'll need this; deluxe models come with a destemmer but are pricey;
  • Floor Corker: for 5-gallon batches, you really do need one of these.

 I don't have all the items on this list…yet. As I make more each year some tools needed upgrading before others. Last year I upgraded to the floor model corker, and it was well worth it.