There are many pieces of homemade wine equipment than can be described in just one post. It’s important to understand each piece of homemade wine equipment, how it functions, and whether or not a particular piece of equipment is needed in your own home winemaking practice. Today’s post features three more important pieces of equipment: the Three Spout Bottle Filler, the Wine Thief, and the Brew Hauler Carboy Carrier.
Three Spout Bottle Filler:
This piece of homemade wine equipment comes in very handy when you have a lot of bottles of wine to fill. This bottle filler is best suited for 50 to 500 gallons of wine, which is common for busier home winemakers and small wineries. This piece of homemade wine equipment is gravity-fed, allowing it to be efficiently used without using electricity. Place three wine bottles in line under the three filling rods, push down, and the flow of wine is started. When full, all wine bottles stop at the same exact level, so you never have to worry about a wine bottle being too full or not full enough.
Wine Thief:
This next piece of homemade wine equipment, while small and simple, is very important for removing samples of wine for various analyses and tests. Not much more than a simple tube with sometimes a bulb on the end, the wine thief can be used to remove wine samples from everything from glass jugs to carboys to barrels and everything in between. These pieces of homemade wine equipment come in different types of material, with the more common being glass and stainless steel. The main difference is that the stainless steel wine thief can be used in more samples, such as samples with very high alcohol or samples that have been heated to a higher degree than the glass could accommodate safely.
Brew Hauler Carboy Carrier:
This final piece of homemade wine equipment is a handy device that once you buy you’ll wonder why you hadn’t always had one. Basically, the Brew Hauler Carboy Carrier aids in – you guessed it – carrying carboys! It’s convenient if you need to move a heavy carboy from one location to another and you are concerned about slippage or dropping. This piece of homemade wine equipment works well for 3 to 7 gallon carboys, and can handle up to 100 pounds. The Brew Hauler Carboy Carrier is an essential piece of equipment for the home winemaker to safely move carboys from one place to another that costs next to nothing!
Understanding the various types of homemade wine equipment will not only save you from headaches, pains, and extra work, but will also help to improve your winemaking skills and ultimately help you create better wines!
Other Winemaking Equipment Guides from the past:
- Winemaking Equipment Guide: Airlocks, Refractometers & Filters
- Winemaking Equipment Guide: Hydrometer, Fermentation Carboys & Bottle Corkers
- Winemaking Equipment Guide: Heating Pad, Transfer Pump & Steam Juicer
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.