Making decent home made wine from a kit

Making decent home made wine from a kit

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TorqueDirty

Original Poster:

1,500 posts

218 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Hi folks,

A few years ago I made a couple of batches of home made wine from wine kits - you know, grape juice concentrate, yeast and a few other additives. Some was rotten but some (from the more expensive kits that take longer to make) was not bad actually.

I'm guessing the game has moved on somewhat in the intervening years and I'm keen to have another go.

Any recommendations for the best equipment and wine kits to go for? As I recall the equipment was pretty basic and not too expensive. I have old stuff somewhere but it is covered on crap and it will be easier to replace it frankly. It is the wine kits that I'd like some advice on.

I'd be OK to spend say £75 on a kit that yields 30 bottles but what sort of quality will this deliver? Are we talking equivalent to your average £5 Tesco bottle or can I expect something a bit better than that assuming I make it correctly? I made a 7 day batch once and it was absolutely foul, so I'd be looking avoid that and go for a premium kit.

All advice welcome.

Thanks
TD



C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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As a homebrewer myself I've also been pondering wine making, I only really make beer in quantity at the moment.

I did get a Winebuddy (7 day) Sauv. Blanc 30 bottle kit for ~£12 in the recent Tesco clearance sale so I going to have a go at that for summer BBQ quaffing. With regards to the kit you need, not sure it's anything fancy really regardless of what you're making, just a couple of 25L plastic buckets, a syphon and a few other bits and pieces. If you want to be a bit more serious about it I understand a proper wine filter is worth investing in.

What's also worth having is a bottling bucket (another 25L bucket with a tap and little bottler), a bottle tree and a bottle washer. Massively simplifies the job of filling 30 bottles.

As you say the improvement of the wine has to come with the expense of the kit, the higher the cost the more grape juice you get and from specific grapes. You can get kits costing £125 for 30 bottles so over £4 a bottle, not sure how that would compare to a wine costing £8-£10 or more in the supermarket. Thing is I'd be really scared of ruining it by getting an infection or something, all it takes is one fruit fly.

At the other end of the scale I have made a few WOWs (see here: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t... ), usually created by fermenting a couple of cartons of fruit juice from the supermarket along with enough sugar to make it as strong as you want it, typically 800 - 1000g. The ones I've made with a carton of white grape juice + a carton of apple juice have yielded some pretty impressive results being as it only costs about 50p a bottle to make!

My plan is to start with the cheap stuff to get used to making them and then move up in cost to see where the improvements are to be had. I gather aging plays a part to so I'll need to resist drinking it too early.

SpeckledJim

31,608 posts

252 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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I use the California Connoisseur kits, generally, and these cost about £45 for a 30 bottle kit.

I've made reds and whites (you'll want a vinbrite filter kit for white wines) and I haven't lost a batch yet.

I'd say my wines are comparable to a £7-12 bottle from the supermarket. It's a similar process to beers in terms of duration and labour.

The bottling is a faff - I now use beer bottles and cap them like a beer.

The tough bit is in not drinking the reds straight away but ideally leaving them for a year or so before drinking them!

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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The more you spend the better it gets. You get less liquid with the cheaper kits so then add water to bulk it up.
I made a £50 + Chardonnay which was very good although a bit on the sweet side, so next time I added a bit more water and more sugar, it made it a touch drier and was perfect so you can play with the recipe a bit. I only used basic equipment and it was as good as a £5 - £10 bottle at £1.66 ea.

Hoonigan

2,138 posts

234 months

Saturday 29th April 2017
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I also have made many of the 30 bottle Californian connoisseur kits, great quality wine every time.

Chester draws

1,412 posts

109 months

Sunday 30th April 2017
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Exactly what speckledjim said above.

Except it's not the corking that I dislike, it's the bottle sterilising and rinsing. Specifically the rinsing.

Might need to look at no-rinse steriliser, or maybe a rinsing squirty machine.

Getting the cork in is the easy part, Larsen quality corks from home brew shop and a £4 hand press corker.

Couldn't imagine pouring wine from beer bottle. smile

Hoonigan

2,138 posts

234 months

Sunday 30th April 2017
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Chester draws said:
Exactly what speckledjim said above.

Except it's not the corking that I dislike, it's the bottle sterilising and rinsing. Specifically the rinsing.

Might need to look at no-rinse steriliser, or maybe a rinsing squirty machine.

Getting the cork in is the easy part, Larsen quality corks from home brew shop and a £4 hand press corker.

Couldn't imagine pouring wine from beer bottle. smile
Star San all the way, it's a nobrainer...