Inserting the corks

OK. I've got the corks in - but they're all squashed. I should'a read this article on how to prepare the corks first...

Still, the wine is bottled and ready to drink. Or keep. Or both. I'm a bit disappointed I only got four and a half bottles filled, though. The kit said six.

Final bits of kit

I've avoided buying bottles and am (re)using empties I've collected. So the only piece of equipment I've added is:

• cork inserter (£11.99)

Time to bottle the wine

It's time to bottle the wine. It's brewed and has been standing to clear having added the finings (as per kit instructions). So I'm soaking the labels off some bottles I've between saving up. (It was a hard job having to drink all that wine to get some empties.)

Next, I'm going to play at siphoning...

First brew finished fermenting

It's been four weeks now. The fermenting probably stopped after three, but I needed to get another fermenting bucket to decant into. So far, so good. The wine tastes remarkably good - even though it still needs to clear.

I've used plastic bucket fermenters, rather than the more traditional glass demijohns. I wasn't sure about this, but it seems to have worked OK. During the early stages, I relieved the pressure periodically. (The lid was showing that there was a build up of pressure inside.) I'm not sure whether this was necessary. I think next time, I'll not do this to see what happens.

I have been concerned that the temperature has not been stable enough. I've kept the wine on a bench in the kitchen - near enough to a radiator to benefit from the warmth, but not so close that the mixture gets overheated. At night, though, the room gets kind'a cold as we're well into autumn now. The past few nights it's been down to freezing point outside; I'm, guessing it goes below 10°C indoors. On first tasting (while syphoning), it seems to be OK, though.

That's all for now - there'll be another update soon. I've been collecting wine bottles and have bought some corks so I should be ready for the bottling in a couple of weeks' time.

Additional kit

For the second stage (after fermentation, the wine needs to clear), I have bought:

• 5 litre brewing bucket: £4.60
• bag of 12 corks: £1.09
• syphon tube: £0.86

Starter kit

My first wine kit consists of:

• wine kit, box (cost unknown - estimate £10-£15 ... it was a gift)
• 5 litre brewing bucket: £4.60
• Steriliser & Cleaner: £1.99
• Brewing Sugar (not needed - included in the kit ... I'll use it another time): £2.24

This should make 6 (75cl) bottles. I'll need to get a syphon tube, wine corks and so forth later. I'll leave that until the wine has brewed...

Start at the beginning

I've got a wine kit - and I'm not afraid use it...

I've had success in the past with brew-in-the-bag beer kits. This time I'm going for a wine kit. The ups, downs and bits in between will be catalogued here... along with anything useful I learn along the way.