EQUIPMENT.

Boil Pots

-Should be obviously food-grade, clean and with a fitting lid preferrably. -Should be big enough to hold whatever volume you're making. -I use an ordinary stainless steel pot with a volume of about 1 gallon.

Primary Fermenters.(See picture)

-Should be obviously food-grade, clean and with a fitting lid into which an airlock can be fitted -Should be big enough to hold whatever volume you're making. -Must be sealed. -Should be plastic or glass (I prefer glass as its easier to clean.) -I started using plastic biscuit tubs and cola bottles and plastic milkbottles. The advantage is- they're cheap, easy, you probably have them anyway and if you can't clean them properly afterwards-throw them away. -Should be a bucket or something similar if making wine from the actual fruit, as you need to stir and mash the fruit in the bucket. -ANY QUESTIONS? E-MAIL ME.

LEFT: A Demijon with cork and airlock. ABOVE: A plastic milk bottle with paper towel and rubber band as airlock RIGHT: A 25 litre container with airlock fitted.

Secondary Fermenters.

-Basically the same as your Primary fermenter but usually people make the wine/beer in buckets and use glass demijons or carboys as secondary's. -Should be a glass demijon or carboy (can be a plastic milkbottle or a plastic cola bottle.)

Airlocks (See Picture)

-Device to allow the produced Carbon Dioxide out of the brew but keeps airborne bacteria out. -Must be used to seal the brew. -IF YOU DON'T HAVE A AIRLOCK- You can use a small balloon stretched over the top of the neck of the bottle or a paper towel folded in quaters over the neck and held in place with a rubber band. OR, seal a piece of rubber tubing into the lid of the fermenter and put the other end of the tube into a small cup of water lower than the bottle- this works as an airlock. -Any questions? E-mail me

Miscellaneous.

-6 foot siphon tube (must be clean enough to use with food) -Stiring spoon(s) -Bottles (and caps/lids/corks and capper/corker.) -You might want to invest in a wine/beer hydrometer (to measure SG, Specific Gravity, this will enable you to find out alcohol content. See beer making for details.)

TO PREPARE ALL EQUIPMENT: -Fill the fermenter and boil pot with water. -Add all equipment (siphon tube, spoons, airlock) to either the pot or the fermenter. -Ideally, you should use a specialised steriliser sold by home brew shops designed for this process, but if such a product is unavailable, the following method also works: Mix 2 tsp of thick, unscented bleech into the fermenter and pot.(2 tsp in each) -Leave for a few hours (preferably overnight if possible). -Rinse ALL equipment and fermenter and pot. Everything MUST be rinsed well or the bleech might very well make you ill. -Once it has been rinsed enough, leave in a dishrack to dry. DO NOT DRY WITH A TOWEL BECAUSE TOWELS CARRY GERMS.

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