Hoping to brew

[sleepyowl]

What is the absolute minimum equipment I need to start home brewing/winemaking

[pumpy]

it's basically a case of having something to make the stuff in, & something to store it in after. If making wine then you'll need some sort of pan to mix the contents in (approx 1 gallon capacity), & a demi-john or two...... these often come up on 'freecycle'. A measuring jug is always useful. A decent-size spoon (better plastic than wood) for stirring, an air trap to fit the demi-john, & some bungs to suit....... not all jars have the same size neck. If brewing beer (i.e. from a kit), then a 5 gallon 'mashing bin', (usually about £10), pan,spoon, & some bottles for storage. Whether it's wine or beer you will definately need a siphoning tube.... don't forget to fit a tap on the end. Most larger chemist shops sell this stuff (along with beer/wine kits). Hope this is helpful & cheers!!!

[Rosendula]

That's a good list, pumpy. I can't think of anything extra to say other than it's all very cheap to acquire if you do have to pay for it at all. I know some people here don't like Wilkinsons, but their online shop is very useful for looking at prices. Have a look here , but only check out what's on Pumpy's list, the rest of the stuff is optional and makes it seem more complicated than it really is. If you buy anything from their online store, remember to go through a cashback site like Quidco.

I would recommend getting a kit, either wine or beer, for your first attempt(s). They're easy and quick and once they're done you have something to drink while you do all the fun experimenting stuff. I'm sticking with the Carafe 21 Full Red until the fruit harvest begins. It costs £15.99, plus sugar and takes about 3 weeks to make the equivalent of 30 bottles, ready to drink! It's nice stuff, too. OH makes it in his big beer mash bucket rather than fannying around with loads of demijohns. We don't have enough wine bottles, and the wine boxes we saved to reuse were getting smaller and smaller (you have to cut the corner off the inner bag to fill them up, then reseal them), so we've chucked them and are now using squash bottles. They're all lined up on top of the freezer. Makes us look like right alchos.

Oo! Just remembered: if you get a bucket/barrel for making wine or beer, try to get one with a lid that has an air lock, or space for an air lock. Some of them don't which means you either have to leave the lid slightly off for the gas to escape, or you have to remember to let the gas out every day.

[sleepyowl]

Thanks that is most helpful

[pumpy]

......... oh, & a funnel.

[dave45]

My recommendation FWIW is to go for both quality AND quantity, and start with kits.

Quality - avoid any kit that asks you to add sugar. Keep to the pure ingredients. Sugar is for cheapness not quality and I reckon you can really taste the difference.

Quantity - don't pussyfoot around with 1-gallon demijohns. Do everything in 5-gallon batches. First step, drink at least 5 gallons worth of wine and beer so you have enough empties to fill. Buy top-quality kits and STERILISE EVERYTHING. That way you will have fewer disappointments.

Once you get the hang of that you can try blackberries, elderberries and all the "free" ingredient wines. But they are a LOT harder to succeed with.

I even made kohl rabi wine once! it absolutely stank (of KR) but tasted OK :-) well I couldn't eat the KRs - they were disgusting...

[sleepyowl]

That's because Kohlrabis are meant to be used as spaceships in B moivies

[Greenbeast]

i use this place for my wine stuff:
http://www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk/

They sell beginners with the minimum equipment needed and wine kit together.

I never bother with 1gal demijohns any more, 5 gal buckets are not much more work but much more productive.

Also you can buy wine boxes, they're about £6-13 for 5, 10 or 20 litre
They can be reused again and again and mean you only have to sterilise one or two things at a time

With my apple wine (i did 30 gallons last year and 45 gallons this year) i left the wine in the barrels once finished and just boxed up a 5/10l box at a time for the fridge