A Useful Introduction To Wine Making Equipment
Anyone who wants to make wine has to become familiar with the bare necessities needed for that. Although there are scores of wine-making tools, a beginner has to focus on using the basic wine making equipment before graduating to the sophisticated instruments that require the sensitivity of an expert to use.
Vessels for fermentation are important wine making equipment
The most important item in your wine making equipment is the vessel for fermentation. These may either be plastic or glass. They may also be bottle/jar-type or barrel-shaped. Barrels will be needed if you want to make wine in large quantities.
However, before getting or using a plastic container, make certain that the kind of plastic will not interact with the fermenting wine. Some plastics discolor upon contact with wine. That is not really a big deal. But then there are plastics which may give the wine an unpleasant odor. Still others may make the wine toxic.
The best kind of plastic vessel to use is HDPE or High Density Poly Ethylene. The material is strong and durable. It has no smell, nor does it discharge toxins. Ask the vendor about the material used for the fermenting jar. Alternatively, look for #2 or No.2 in the label of your old plastic barrel. That is the designation for HDPE.
Wine making equipment should include sealing plugs or covers for the jars or barrels. These covers should be equipped with outlets for the gaseous side-products of fermentation.
Having multiple fermenting vessels makes it possible to ferment the wine more than once to make it clearer.
What type of plug is needed for wine making equipment?
As was said, fermenting containers need to be sealed in such a way as to stop external air from contaminating the must while at the same time letting out the gases that build up inside. The cap or plug should have air locks. There are also plugs which have built in safety valves to perform the same function. These are called safety corks and are inserted into jar-type fermenting containers.
Racking hoses in your wine making equipment allow you to transfer the wine
At some point in the process of making wine, you will need to move the must to another container. This is done with the use of racking hoses. Simply place the vessel containing the must in a higher position than the vessel to which it needs to be transferred. Then you siphon out the liquid from the first to the second container.
A useful gadget to include in wine making equipment is the hydrometer
This wine making equipment is a cylindrical glass post that can be dipped into the must or wine. It is used to gauge the probable alcohol content of the liquid. In this way, it may also be used to make the wine closer in nature to a juice than to an alcoholic beverage.
The first vertical sets of lines indicate the density (specific gravity) of the solution. In the case of the wine must (the freshly pressed juice of grapes), it serves to tell how sweet it is before and after fermentation.
The second sets of lines indicate the brix or balling value for the must. By multiplying this value by 0.575 you arrive at the estimated alcohol contained in the liquid.
A third set of lines may be present and indicates the probable alcohol content of the liquid.
Hydrometers are convenient wine making equipment for controlling either the sugar or the alcohol present in the wine. Wine-makers can decide whether to make the wine closer to cider than to an alcoholic drink.
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Kamenstein Butterfly Wine Rack List Price: $24.99 Sale Price: $24.00 Used From: $22.52  |
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