Home Brewing

How to make Mead (honey wine) at home - Part 2

The Equipment: Primary Fermentation Container: The best container to use for primary fermentation (discussed later) is a food grade bucket with lid or barrel. The key to selecting an appropriate primary fermentation container is the container having a large surface area exposed to the wine (no small openings) and having it at least a gallon larger than the batch you want to produce. If you want to brew a five gallon batch you probably want to select a six gallon container and leave a few inches of air space at the top for the foaming that may occur during fermentation. Secondary Fermentation Container (Carboy): A secondary container should have a very slender opening and should be able to be easily filled almost to the top. As little surface area of the wine as possible should be exposed to the air. You should also be able to attach an air lock and rubber bung to the secondary fermenter making it air tight except for the air lock. The most widely used secondary fermenter is a glass carboy or plastic ozarka bottle. Siphoning / Racking Equipment: At the very least you will need some type of rubber or vinyl hose to move wine from one container to another. Many home hobbists also use a "racking cane" which is essentially a J-shaped hard plastic or glass tube with or without a small cap to keep the cane above the sediment in the containers. When working with five gallon batches of wine at least 5 feet of hose is required. Hydrometer: A hydrometer measures the specific gravity (density) of the wine. This allows you to judge the sugar content of the wine. A minimum starting sugar content of wine is usually 1.74 to 1.90. When the hydrometer registers 0 all sugar in the wine has been converted to alcohol. Hydrometers are also effected by temperature variations in the wine. Refer to the documentation that comes with your hydrometer for exact specifications and conversion tables. Levered or Floor Corker: If you are planning on bottling and corking your wine it"s well worth the $20-30 for a levered or floor corker. Some models of corkers do not use levers and require you to apply a large amount of direct force to the cork to force it into the bottle. These types of corkers can be extremely difficult to use. If you are planning on corking your wine then you"ll want to invest in a relatively inexpensive corker that will allow you to quickly and easily seal bottles. Remember, a five gallon batch of wine can make as many as 25 standard sized (750ml) bottles of wine so you probably won"t be corking just one or two bottles at a time. If possible, try out the corker before buying it to make sure it"s comfortable for you to use. Other useful tools: A plethora of other tools can be very useful when making wine but are not necessarily "specialist equipment". They are not absolutely essential but they can make the process MUCH easier. These include bottle brushes, rinsers, drainers, fillers, long handled stirring spoons, thermometers, funnels, hose clamps, pulp bags, etc. ч  Other Sources: http://www.SimpleHomeBrewing.com http://www.squidoo.com/easybeermaking http://www.squidoo.com/honeymead

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