WINEWORKS
Home Brew Specialists

Wineworks started in 1980 at the start of the home brew boom. The shop was based in the centre of Chesterfield and in those days business was expanding at an alarming rate. This growth in home brew has not lasted but the good news is we have the most fabulous range of products as you can see from our website. We also have a great bunch of customers who just love the home brew they are producing.

We specialise in three sectors in the market today. Firstly each beer kit we offer has been hand picked by Richard from the extensive range which is on offer in the market place. We have a full range of the Muntons beer kits that have dominated the market for last 20 years and look like they will continue to lead the way.

Secondly we have a great choice of wine kit in our warehouse. This is now the expanding sector of the market as people are drinking more and more wine. With the quality of the wine kit that is available today people can make anything that they would normally buy from a supermarket.

The third area is spirits and liqueurs which involves some home distillation. You do need to check out whether this is legal as certain countries (like the UK) requires you to have a licence to product spirits. The home distillation market has grown rapidly across the world, over the last 10 years, and we have a really superb range of products in this sector.

This possibly starts the mind going and thinking about moonshine. This could not be further away from what we are doing. The quality of the home produced spirit is miles away from the moonshine that was produced years ago. A lot of the commercial techniques are used in the home.

Winemaking over the years has changed considerably as better methods have been used by the factories which now all seem to be in Canada. They now try not to concentrate all of the grape juice which leads to a much better winemaking product. This has resulted in a much fresher taste and a better bouquet.

We have also seen a vast improvement in the wine making equipment that is available. Again a lot of the change has been brought about from the Canadian market which is now the world’s biggest supplier of wine making equipment for the home market. Some of this equipment is now available in the UK.

The process that the wine kit manufacturers have now started to use in the wine making supply is very interesting. The improvements that have been made in this area are fascinating to people like me. We have seen some subtle changes to the instructions and we have also seen a vast improvement in the ingredients (yeast, tannin and finings for example) for the winemaking. This has meant the wine making supply of products is now just great.

The bad news is the wine making kit has gone up in costs quite steeply but wouldn’t we prefer something that costs a little more (still a lot less than you would pay in the off licence) but tasted really great!! Well that’s what our customers tell us. We also have some more bad news. We just can’t get any real choice in a small (6 Bottle) winemaking kit. There are so few people doing them now.

On the beer brewing side we have seen some changes as well. The Breweries have started to see the potential of the market and to reinforce there brand by allowing people the option of buying a kit made to their own recipe. This has raised a few eyebrows in the beer brewing industry!!!

It has also brought a lot of credibility to home brew kits. In the past some people have seen our industry as exploding bottle and extra strong wine. But the level of sophistication that’s in the market today in producing these homebrew kits is staggering and makes a mockery of the way these people have thought about us.

I am really glad you have found our web site because over the years the brewing supplies outlets have got harder and harder to find. I don’t think this is down to the internet but more in the way people pick up and drop hobbies. Brewing supplies however are the most important part of your drink as you do need quality ingredients to produce a great drink!!

The internet has been a great place to buy your home brew supplies especially if you know what you want. The downside though is there are fewer places where you can go and see the products which are available. We at Wineworks pride ourselves on the fact that when you come to our shop for your homebrew supplies you will always have something new to taste.

If you are into the fruit and looking for a wine making recipe then we have these on the site. Its great finding some rich fruit like blackberries, or bilberries for example, free from some bush in a farmer’s field. Then turn this into something special. Don’t use a winemaking recipe from a bygone era it’s not worth it- take advantage of progress.

If you really get into this then you will need a fruit press to squeeze all the juice out of the fruit you have picked. They are not expensive and will last for years. We have many different types available on the website. The fruit press will crush a variety of fruits that you can pick in the country side.

If it's grapes you have then a wine press is needed. This is the same as a fruit press but the wine snobs want to call it a wine press!!! With the grapes it might be necessary to run these through a wine crusher first. This will break them down before they go into the wine press.

As you can see it’s a fair way from the old days of homebrew. The industry has really moved on and whether you are buying from our web site or visiting our shop you will find a great range of homebrew products which I have personally picked and fully recommend