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Carboy

This is actually a demi-john, because it's teardrop shaped. Carboys are normally cylindrical. You can use whichever you wish - these are easier to handle, while the cylindrical ones are easier to clean.

The carboy is where the primary and secondary fermentation occur. You can get just one, and clean it in between stages, but it's really much easier to get two so that you can move the wine from one to the other and then clean the first one out. Usually the primary container is a bit larger than the secondary one.

You can get just plastic buckets, but those stain and retain flavors. Glass is really the best material. You can get glass containers in various shapes. We like these because the plastic wrap makes them very easy to carry. We have two of these, a 6 gallon and a 5 gallon.

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