Reddit reviews Nomacorc Synthetic Wine Corks #9 x 1 1/2". Bag of 100

Don't buy a kit! They sell you all kinds of shit you won't use when there are better options for similar money.

Get a brewing bucket as if you don't have a bottler then this will make your life so much better.

Get 2 carboys (glass is best but better bottles will work too). Check Craigslist for these...you can get some awesome deals.

Get 1 Refractomoeter instead of a hydrometer because they use WAY less of your must to calculate and they aren't mega fragile like hydrometers are.

You will want an auto siphon

You will want a carboy brush that fits on a cordless drill because cleaning a carboy without one fucking sucks (and for 18 bucks this is a no brainer).

You will need sanitizer. I personally like Iodophor because it's super cheap, it doesn't really foam up and it lasts forever. I bought one of THESE bottles like 2 years ago and it is about half full even though I brew between 50-100 gallons a year.

I always advocate people start with beer bottles rather than wine bottles. The reason for this has less to do with the bottles and more to do with equipment. The Ferrari Bottle Capper is 14 dollars while a good floor corker for wine bottles will set you back 60 bucks. In addition, it's cheaper to bottle in 20 ounce beer bottles with caps rather than in wine bottles with good corks. Use of a double lever corker for wine bottles should be considered a war crime...seriously...unless you're a masochist who loves dumping wine everywhere and having to clean it afterwards...then just avoid them...they are absolutely awful.

If you go the wine bottle route then NEVER use agglomerated or colmated corks (the ones made from tiny pieces of cork glued together) as they fall apart and will leave chunks in your bottles. In addition they don't age well, so you are much more likely to lose your brew to spoilage. I like synthetic Nomacorc but you can also buy very good quality solid natural corks as well.

Good oxygen absorbing bottle caps on the other hand are mega cheap. Again...this isn't about one being better than the other, so you can use either one.

For wine bottles, I REALLY like the ones with screw tops because they make it nice and easy to cap your bottles once opened. But for all of your bottles buy these locally...shipping will double or triple the cost of these vs buying locally. I get them for 15 bucks a case a few miles from my house...they're almost 30 a case on Amazon or close to that from Midwest or from Ohio (shipping is like 11-15 dollars a case.)

For beer bottles...I prefer clear, but they'll be tough to find locally so I often end up with brown ones. Again...buy these locally not online due to shipping costs. Your local brewing supply stores buy these pallets at a time so even Amazon can't compete with the lack of shipping costs.

> I'm hoping that wax seal keeps out the air

It won't. Those corks probably also won't last more than a few years, even under proper storage conditions. Drink this batch up and make some more. I get the sentiment but, no first time brew is worth saving for 25 years - you'll get better as brew more and future batches will certainly be worth aging for longer periods.

Edit: Also, just buy synthetic unless you're crazy about the aesthetics/presentation of using real cork. 100 Nomacorcs are only $20 on Amazon (if you're in the US).

Are you talking about synthetic corks like these?
https://www.amazon.com/Nomacorc-Synthetic-Wine-Corks-Bag/dp/B0064GWTS0/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=synthetic+corks&qid=1554419619&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Or something else?

I use synthetics for convenience

Nomacorc Synthetic Wine Corks #9 x 1 1/2". Bag of 100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064GWTS0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_0fdNDb7F70BAD