Customer Reviews

Premium Wine Making Equipment Kit - with Auto-Syphon

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off, I'd like to address the issues in the previous two reviews. The sellers has responded admirably to the complaints that there were no instructions on how to make wine included in the kit. They have included a pamphlet with an overview of all your equipment and a very basic overview of the wine making process. They also included a CD which initially I had no intention of watching but decided to look it over for the purpose of this review. The video gives a visual overview of your equipment, sanitizers and ingredients you will need, how to clean your equipment, and the wine making process.

This is a very nice and informative video, however anyone thinking about getting into wine making should consider this: if you haven't done enough research to know what equipment you need, what the equipment does, and how to care for it then you haven't done enough research to make wine. Wine making is an art and a science and requires a person to educate themselves if they expect to make a decent product. One needs to consider what kind of wine they are making and research the ingredients, techniques, and troubleshooting for that particular wine. I purchased this kit to make mead so the instructions in the video do not apply to me at all. They are a very nice addition to the kit and they are well presented, but it would be wise to educate yourself further than just what is in the video.

That said, I am very pleased with what I received. It arrived very quickly and was well packaged. The equipment is very nice. It is all well made and sturdy... nothing feels cheap or flimsy and it has all gone together well. Everything I've tested has worked beautifully. I hope to have my first batch of mead going very shortly and I'm confident that this equipment will serve me well.

All and all it's a good value for someone just starting out. Keep in mind that it does not come with ingredients so you will need to research what ingredients, yeast, nutrients, energizers, acids, additives, etc you will need for your particular wine. Cheers!

I bought the premium kit so I wouldn't have to figure out what individual pieces I needed to buy. Unfortunately, I still had to purchase a long spoon, sterilization solution, and carboy brush. The kit did include C-Brite cleanser, which I later learned should be used with beer brewing. For wine, B-Brite cleanser is actually better because it's chlorine free. On the other hand, the kit included upgraded equipment for easy racking and easy corking, which is definitely a plus. I also purchased a wine thief so that I could easily test the gravity of the wine without losing a small portion of the wine with each test. Overall, I'm satisfied with the most everything included in the kit - but you should expect to purchase a few more items that are not included.

Happy with the product, but giving it 4 stars rather than 5 because we have repeatly wished we were provided some basic instructions in the package. The equipment came with zero indication on how to use items. Nothing printed was in the box. Husband got a number and called via the internet and someone "talked" him through his questions. Although the person was nice, it was very time consuming on the phone. He emailed them about instructions and was referred to videos he could watch.
Kept wondering WHY DON'T THEY SIMPLY PUT SOME BASIC PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS IN WITH THIS KIT?
On the outstanding side of things the corker is great. It is very easy to use. No fear of a bottle slipping or a cork not going into bottle properly. Two syphine tubes ...one begins flow by pumping the other is "primed" with water allowing a person the option of not stirring-up sediment in the bottom of the storage container to start a flow. Our kit is getting plenty of use now that we at last know how best to use the items in it.

I bought this as a Christmas gift, so I personally haven't used it. I did open it when I received it to make sure everything was in good condition, which it was. The equipment all looked great, nothing was broke and it was all packaged nicely together and received pretty quick. The receivers of the gift have already started making wine in it (they also were given a wine ingredient kit) and said it has all the equipment they needed to start making wine. They did seek out a local wine/brewery store and got a few extra items merely for convenience and were told getting a equipment kit is the best and most cost effective way to get started in wine making.

There isn't a lot of information included on how to make the wine or explaining the equipment, but if you are going to make wine you should do research on how to make it before you even consider buying equipment. This kit definitely is a good deal if you want to try making wine.

About every 3 weeks, I open up the contents, scratch my head, look online for information and put it away again. I am STUMPED as to how to use this thing! There is no real recipe (I found out online that I need much more added ingredients, like tanins, yeasts, etc.) I don't even know which container does what...like, for a novice, WHAT is a fermentor? There are 2 large plastic containers in this kit? WHAT are they for? I think I'll go to the store and buy myself a bottle of wine....much easier! This product is probably ok if you have some idea of what you're doing already.