Acquainting Yourself With Wine Making Equipment
A number of people want to take up wine-making
, either because they love the beverage or are simply curious. Square one for them will be to acquaint themselves with the basic wine making equipment. After they master the art, they can learn more techniques that will require other tools.
Vessels for fermentation are important wine making equipment
The primary requirement of wine making equipment is the fermenting container. You can use plastic or glass containers. You may use bottles, jars or plastic barrels, depending on how much wine you are making.
If you prefer plastic containers, make absolutely sure that the plastic will not spoil the wine or make it dangerous to drink. You can probably live with the fact that wine discolored the plastic. However, there are plastic vessels that give their characteristic odor to whatever they contain and still others who can release hazardous substances into liquids.
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 requires that your container has sealing caps or plugs. It should also provide a vent for CO2 to escape from the vessel.
Having multiple fermenting vessels makes it possible to ferment the wine more than once to make it clearer.
The kinds of plugs 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.
The hydrometer is useful wine making equipment
The hydrometer is a slender rod made of glass which usually has three sets of calibrations (lines similar to those indicating the temperature in thermometers). It is allowed to float in a solution to measure certain values.
It has a set of calibrations for keeping track of the density of the liquid. It can be used to indicate the sugar content of the must before and after fermentation. The sweeter the liquid, the more dense it is.
This wine making equipment may have another set of calibrations showing the brix (balling) value of the must. If this value is multiplied by 0.575 the probably content of alcohol can be found.
The hydrometer may likewise be calibrated to directly indicate the alcohol present in the wine.
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.
by: Henry Jay Marcum.
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