Category: Wine Making Equipment

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Upgrading Your Fermentation Tank

Mot of us start making wine in small batches. It’s more manageable and more affordable. However, at some point beginners grow up and want to move on to producing larger batches of wine.

The first thing you’ll need to look at if your thinking of increasing your batch size is your fermentation tank. You could just get more fermentation containers, however, requires a lot of duplication of effort, especially when it comes to racking. Instead let’s take a look at what larger fermentation tanks are available to you. Continue reading “Upgrading Your Fermentation Tank”

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Glass vs Plastic Carboys

This debate has been going on since the introduction of plastic carboys made from PET. PET by the way stands for polyethylene terephthalate. There are very good arguments for going with either glass or PET, however, the right answer for you will depend on your own preferences. To help you out I have outlined the pros and cons of each here so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.

The Pros of Glass Carboys

Continue reading “Glass vs Plastic Carboys”

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Should You Soak or Boil Corks Before Bottling?

It is often recommended that wine makers soak or even boil corks prior to bottling. Is this really necessary? Let’s take a look.

Why Some Recommend Soak and / or Boil Corks

Boiling wine corks is a bad idea. It ruins the cork and leaves you in danger of ruining your wine.Soaking corks came about as a way to clean the dust off of new corks. However, even back before pre-sterilized corks were available corks were not soaked for very long. Somewhere along the way some wine makers decided that this is a necessary step during the bottling process.

Long soaking times, however, allow the cork to absorb whatever liquid it is submerged. That liquid can then be squeezed out of the cork when it is inserted into the bottle. Anything that comes out of the cork at that point goes into your wine.

Boiling corks likely came about as a means to ensure the corks were sanitized. This would be a great way to sanitize corks without using chemical, however, boiling corks can seriously damage them and make your wine more susceptible to problems. Continue reading “Should You Soak or Boil Corks Before Bottling?”

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Glass Carboys vs Oak Barrels

The two most traditional vessels to age wine in at the amateur level is in either glass carboys or small oak barrels. Which is better? You’ll have to be the judge.

Glass Carboys

By far the most convenient wine vessel is the glass carboy.
From MoreWinemaking.com (Affiliate Link)

Glass carboys have been used as far back as the early 1800’s (per some historians), mainly to hold strong chemicals such as acids. Eventually these vessels were used in water coolers and by amateur wine makers.

Their use in wine making stemmed from the need to have a small and affordable container to ferment and age wine in. Plastic carboys did not come onto the scene until very recently. Thus amateur wine makers had to choose between a glass carboy or an oak barrel. Continue reading “Glass Carboys vs Oak Barrels”