Wine Equipment Basics: Buckets and Beyond

There’s a saying in the wine industry (and perhaps, less congenially, in the brewing industry as well) that “wine just makes itself.” Thousands of years ago, when wine was “discovered,” this was certainly true. All a nomadic hunter and gatherer had to do was to stay in one place long enough for his pit of freshly picked grapes to froth, foam, and ferment, and presto! Wine (if we can call it that) was seemingly transformed magically into existence by the then-unknown powers of wild yeast cells. No fancy barrels, bottles, or bungs needed.

These days winemaking is less of an “art” and more of a science. And with the increased ability to control the process, home winemakers can make clean, consistent, and truly outstanding products — even in their own backyards or garages.

The well-equipped winery contains the following gear, which will enable you to start making wine in five-gallon batches, the equivalent of about 24 bottles. You should be able to pick up all of these items at your local homebrewing or home winemaking supply store for less than $100 which, if that seems steep, is less than you’d pay for a case of decent wine.

The Crush Pad
1. Large food-grade plastic bucket (capacity of at least six gallons). This container is your primary fermenter, the place where the yeast will convert sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol. This bucket needs to be big enough to allow for expansion of the must during fermentation but should be small enough to be easily stored in a quiet corner of your “winery.” Commercially available trash cans and the like are not advisable for winemaking because they can be made with plastics that contain heavy metals. Wine is an effective solvent and might dissolve some of these dangerous compounds into your finished product.

2. Plastic sheet or cloth large enough to cover the primary fermenter. Used to keep bugs, errant pets, and the random falling tool (if you make wine in your garage) out of the primary fermenter, this covering should be secured with a bungee cord or something similar. Common sense caution: If you use a plastic cover, don’t tie it down too tightly or the carbon dioxide pressure will pop it right off!

3. Small buckets. Buckets are great. Wineries never seem to have enough of them. As a mixing vessel, a yeast proofer, an ad hoc stool for those long, hot afternoons on the bottling line, buckets are certainly some of the most-used items on any winery’s equipment list. Make sure yours are clean, sanitized, and free of any chemical residue they may have accumulated in a past life. Buy food-grade buckets from the winemaking supply store just to be on the safe side.

4. Long-handled stainless steel or wooden spoon. Used for mixing acid, yeast, and sugar additions into your fermenters or carboys, a long-handled spoon can give you added reach for access into tight spaces.

Though wooden spoons are okay, be wary. They’re impossible to get really contaminant-free, so it’s a good idea to work with cleanable, sanitizable stainless steel tools. Do not use any other metals in winemaking; metal ions can leach into your wine and cause irreparable damage to the product and possibly to your health.

5. Siphon hoses. Without them, home winemaking (and commercial winemaking, to some extent) would be much more of a back-breaking task. They make liquid transfer operations a snap and allow you to take wine off of spent yeast cells (racking) without disturbing the unwanted sediment.

The best setup is a 5- to 6-foot length of clear, plastic tubing (about 3/16 inch in diameter) attached to a 2-foot length of rigid plastic tubing at the end so you can insert it easily into carboys and bottles. Alternately, do what a lot of winemakers do and just attach the last 2 feet or so of your siphon hose to a wooden or stainless steel dowel with rubber bands — a little improvised but, well, if it works, it works.
Tools for the Lab

6. Graduated pitcher. It’s always helpful to have an accurate measuring device for parceling out additions of acid, water, and sugar. Try to obtain one with imperial and metric measurements because you never know in what kind of units recipes will be written.

7. Hydrometer set. Hydrometers are absolutely essential for sound winemaking. They let winemakers track the progress of the fermentation and allow them to determine when the wine has reached the desired level of residual sugar.

Try to obtain a couple of hydrometers that each cover a portion of the 30° to minus-5° Brix spectrum, because they will give more accurate readings than if that entire range is covered with one hydrometer only.

8. Thermometer. Be sure to take the temperature of your fermentations each time you take a hydrometer reading, as the temperature of the juice affects the density of the solution — and the reading. Handle your thermometers carefully because they are fragile and can contaminate juice or wine with mercury if broken.

9. Acid titration kit. Litmus paper is for sixth-grade science experiments. When it comes to determining the acidity of your wine, don’t mess around. These kits are easy to use, easy to understand and, more important, give you an accurate measurement of the total acidity of your wine.

Tools for the Cellar

10. Secondary fermenter. A five-gallon carboy (think glass, office water-cooler bottles) will amply serve as a secondary fermentation vessel. After the wine has completed its primary fermentation in your large food-grade bucket, rack off your wine (using your siphon hose) into a carboy to exclude air and possible contaminants. Plastic carboys suffice (and can be cheaper), but glass carboys tend to be easier to clean, less permeable to oxygen, and they allow an easy view of your new wine’s color, clarity, and sediment level.

11. Fermentation locks. Available in a couple of different styles, these guys fit on top of your carboys and protect the newlyfermented (or still fermenting) wine from the environment. They let carbon dioxide escape but exclude air as well as possible microbial contaminants. You should buy a couple in case one breaks or has a leak.

12. Aging vessels. Here’s where you can venture into wine geek territory. Your glass carboy can serve you well as a permanent wine storage vessel, but as you dip into it the remaining wine will become increasingly oxidized as it’s exposed to air. For this reason you should consider using the standard 750-milliliter glass wine bottles for long-term storage. For the particularly adventurous, oak barrels can be had (for a price) and will add pleasing spicy vanilla notes to your wine as well as adding nifty ambiance to your winery-cum-garage.

The Truly Tricked-Out Chateau

So you’ve been making wine at home for a while and are ready to invest in some more winemaking toys.

As things get more technically involved they inevitably get more expensive, but if you’re willing to slap down the cash, you’ll find yourself amply rewarded with increased technical and creative control over your winemaking.

Grape processing equipment. After making wine with kits a couple of times, some home winemakers are interested in buying and crushing their own grapes or other fruit. To do this you need a crusher/destemmer (unless you want to do whole-cluster fermentations) and a small press. The folks at your friendly neighborhood home winemaking store should know where to find these things if they don’t carry them in their shops already.

Sulfite-measuring kits.

Pre-packaged kits that measure the levels of sulfites in wine are almost indispensable for the serious winemaker. Sulfites (delivered in tablet, powdered, or liquid form) act as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents in winemaking, but too much or too little can be equally disastrous. These kits are relatively easy to use and are a very good investment, especially if you don’t want malo-lactic fermentation (which occurs when a strain of lactic acid bacteria is introduced to the wine either accidentally or by design) to occur in your wine or if you have residual sugar levels that are high enough to be a re-fermentation risk.

Gram scale.

Any home winery worth its grapes will have an accurate, well-maintained scale for weighing acid, sulfites, and yeast.
If you like to freelance-ferment without recipes or pre-weighed ingredients from kits, scales are essential for making your own accurate additions.

Barrels.

The end-all, be-all wine storage Mecca for many, barrels are nice to have if you can afford them. Keep in mind that barrels require a lot of extra maintenance and can add significantly to both your financial and hourly investments.

Winemaking is a very rewarding activity that, like many other pursuits, requires an initial investment that will pay for itself many times over as you successfully make and enjoy your very own homemade wines.

Written by Alison Crowe