Advice please

[Stufat]

I'm just starting out in this home brew world and the amount of different things that can be added is mind boggling.
I'm talking bout the additives, campdens, etc. the stuff that maybe isn't necessary but certainly helps.
I plan on making some wines but mostly turbo ciders.
Is there a list of things I could get that would help, just a few basic things. I don't need to go crackers here.
I currently have......wine yeast.
Could you also explain what the bits n bobs do

Thanks in advance

[oldbloke]

Get one of the all-the-basics-you-need equipment sets. The bundling makes them a good price.
For TC, if you do it like I do it, I suggest you need:
2 demijohns, with bungs fitted with airlocks (I alwasy do 2 gallons a time so I can split a yeast sachet across them)
A jug and funnel
A big tub of sanitiser, such as VWP.
Bottles. If not screwtops, then also caps and a capping device (only good one is the bench cappe rat around 30 quid so maybe stick to screwtop PET bottles at first)
Siphon tube, preferably with anti-sediment wand at one end and at least a tap at the other.
That's your bare minimum of gear.
To make TC, you want cheapo AJ, yeast nutrient, and yeast. And maybe a bit of some other juice. and some tea or powdered tannin.
You don't need Campden tablets for TC as it's live when you bottle, so you're not worrying about oxidation or trying to stun the yeast, and you don't use any water so you won't be treating it with them either.

[oldbloke]

Then after that you want more demijohns (with bungs and locks) so you don't have to wait before starting the next brew.
A thermometer is good, a hydrometer useful (though I calc my ABV by how much sugar I put in and alwasy fermentig it right out, so I don't need to use it often)
A nice big stirring spoon is always useful. 1gallon fermenting buckets for the mashing-the-pulp stage of wines (also useful for mixing up a lot of VWP to sanitise everything else in/with). Wine needs corks and a corker. And start collecting bottles. Some wines will want pectolase, to deal with the pectin in the fruit that can cause haze. Many will want citric acid (and maybe tartaric or malic [some people insist on malic for cider - I don't]).
Then if you start on beer, a 5gallon bin at least, maybe kegs of some sort for when it's done unless you enjoy washing sanitising rinsing filling and capping 40 bottles all at once.
And once you get serious about beer, you need a a liquor tank a mash tun a fermenting vessel with pumps and hop filters and sparge arms and heaters and chillers and...

[Stufat]

Thanks for reply oldbloke.

I have the equipment needed, I have a batch on the go at the mo.
What I meant was when you guys say... Add a teaspoon of this to make it do that. Like the extra stuff you guys add.
Yeast nutrient was one I was looking at,

[oldbloke]

Ah, well, for TC there isn't much. AJ sold for drinking lacks the tannin and malic acid that cider apples have, so just about everybody adds a mug of very strong tea or a tsp/gallon of powdered tannin; and quite a few people add malic acid (also, I think, 1tsp/gallon) but if you do this you'll need to age it much longer for the extra sharpness to mellow and hopefully a malolactic fermentation to happen after the yeast fermentation. I don't bother - I use 0.5l/gallon of some other juice to round out the flavour instead. I always add nutrient (1tsp/gallon) as although it works without it, it does give the yeast a leg up and so knocks a couple of days off the ferment.

[Stufat]

Thank you, so just some nutrient will do it then.
Just checked my first ever batch which I started on Thursday and its at 1.000
Bubbling stopped early yesterday, time to bottle you think?

[oldbloke]

No, it's only had 5 days. 1.000 is nicely low, but give it a minimum of 10 days just to be sure - it can almost certainly go a bit lower. I just wait until it clears by itself: 20 days sometimes. It may look like bubbling has stopped but it's probably pushing out the odd one now and then. TC is a fairly quick brew, but can be less than satisfactory if you rush it.