Quick answer
- 23 free winemaking guides, adapted from our booklet Wine From Kits: What the Instructions Don’t Always Tell You.
- They cover every stage of a wine kit, from day 1 to aging bottles in the cellar.
- New to kits? Start with the step-by-step timeline, then jump to the step you’re on.
Wine kit instructions tell you what to do. They rarely tell you why. Over the years our customers have asked us the same questions again and again: Is my wine fermenting? Why is it still cloudy? Which cork should I use? So we turned our winemaking booklet into a free library of guides you can read on your phone, right beside your carboy.
Each guide starts with a quick answer, then explains the details in plain language, with metric and US measurements. Every one links to the next step, so you can follow your batch from start to finish.
Start here
- Wine From Kits: What the Instructions Don’t Always Tell You
- How to Make Wine From a Kit: Step-by-Step Timeline
- Winemaking Glossary: Wine Kit Terms Explained
Equipment and cleaning
- Primary vs Secondary Fermenter: Pails, Carboys and Airlocks
- Cleaning vs Sanitizing Winemaking Equipment
Fermentation and readings
- How to Use a Hydrometer for Winemaking
- How to Calculate the Alcohol Content of Homemade Wine
- Is My Wine Kit Fermenting? How to Fix a Stuck Fermentation
- How to Rack Wine: Siphoning Without the Sediment
Additives, sulphites and flavour
- Wine Kit Additives Explained: What Each Packet Does
- Potassium Metabisulphite vs Campden Tablets: Sulphites in Winemaking
- Sulphites in Homemade Wine: Allergies, Headaches and the Facts
- How to Sweeten Homemade Wine (Back-Sweetening Kit Wine)
- Oak Chips, Elderberries and Glycerin in Wine Kits
Degassing and clearing
- How to Degas Wine (and Why It Matters)
- Why Is My Homemade Wine Cloudy? How to Clear Wine
- How to Filter Homemade Wine: Filter Pads #1, #2 and #3
Bottling, corking and aging
- Wine Bottle Guide: Shapes, Colours, Sizes and How to Clean Them
- How to Fill Wine Bottles: Fill Level, Headspace and Tips
- Which Wine Cork Should I Use? #8 vs #9 and Cork Types Explained
- How to Cork Wine Bottles: Preparing Corks and Using a Corker
- How to Apply Shrink Caps to Wine Bottles
- How to Store and Age Homemade Wine
Get Everything for Your Next Batch
Shop wine kits, or get all the equipment in one box with a wine starter kit.
Need a hand with your batch? Call us toll-free at 1-877-668-6160 (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern) or send us a message.
Enjoy responsibly.