Home brewing wine making kits

shanye

With some many ways of making wine these day and some many kits available 7 day wine 30 day wine and so on,
I just want to know what people are using I want to buy my first wine kit and want to buy a right one,i have looked a two or three different companies but the all have differently opinion on what then would use.
If my fellow board friends would just give my a break down on firstly what equipment they would advise me to buy and secondly there wine juice kits they would recommend using (no battery acid) all advice appreciated.

Buona Fortuna

Hi Shayne. I've been quite pleased with the beer I've produced and thought I'd have a bash at wine.

Have to say I was really disappointed in the results. I used 2 Youngs kits. The Cab Sauv and the Black Cherry. The CabSauv was OK - if you were happy only getting a bare four glasses from a bottle. The other was best described as sugary pi$$.

What I have been pleased with is using supermarket (Lidl) grape juice. My second batch is just getting ready to bottle - really quite pleasant and works out about €1 per litre.

Here's how http://hubpages.com/hub/Make_Your_Own_Wine

All the best

howamidifferent

Try the Australian 7 day wine kits but let them ferment for at least 2 weeks before beginning to clear them. Let them clear for another week. I've done them many times and shared the results with friends and family and got only good feedback from them. No wine snobs but wouldn't drink "battery acid" either. Worth a try at least once.

shanye

What equipment are you using I am looking a different kits but would really appreciate advice.

howamidifferent

shanye wrote:

What equipment are you using I am looking a different kits but would really appreciate advice.

Get 2 x, 30ltr fermenting buckets as you'll need the headroom to aerate/shake about/ to get rid of the CO2 when clearing else you'll have fizzy wine.

ferg44

I've just got one of those Cellar 7 wine kits, a cab sav, lad in the HBC shop told me it's ' pretty drinkable' in the 7 days !!
Not sure I believe this tbh ...
I was going to let it ferment away for maybe 2 weeks min, but he told me to follow instructions exactly ...
Ive been at the beer kit brewing now for almost a yr , this will be the first go at the wine.. didn't buy any extra kit, as I have 2 FV's already , few reusable corks is all I got ...

what do ye think of these Cellar 7 day KITS ?? Follow instructions , or ferment away for a while longer , like I was advised to do for the beer kits ?? Beernut's advice has worked pretty well so far , but don't know about the wine ..

Padraig Mor

howamidifferent wrote: »

Try the Australian 7 day wine kits but let them ferment for at least 2 weeks before beginning to clear them. Let them clear for another week. I've done them many times and shared the results with friends and family and got only good feedback from them. No wine snobs but wouldn't drink "battery acid" either. Worth a try at least once.

I wasn't impressed with the Aussie Blend Pinot Grigio kit I did. Took an absolute age to (nearly) clear, and that only after buying extra finings to add. 7 days? Took five weeks! Taste wasn't great either - very watery. Final alcohol 9.8% so not exactly rocket fuel.

Also did Winebuddy Sauvignon Blanc (to 21L), which took 11 days. Even worse for clearing. Very low FG gave a belting 13.3% alcohol. Taste is odd - not bad, but a bit solventy and sweet.

Have a Magnum Ultimate Pinot Grigio in the fermenter since last week. It's nominally a 2 - 3 week kit so should be better quality.

Best wine kits I did so far were actually Young's 6 bottle cheapies - Definitive Chardonnay and Zinfandel Blush (rose).

That's all white kits obviously. For reds, my reading of reviews suggests you really have to go 'mid range' or higher, and age for 6 months plus, to get decent quality. Beaverdale and California Connoisseur kits are on offer with thehomebrewcompany.ie at the moment for €55 / €60 (7.5L kits). Might be worth the extra few bob for the KenRidge Classic kits (10L kits) at €65 there; these are slightly cheaper on geterbrewed.ie.

epicmoe

The difference in price between good wine and good beer in a shop is also relevant when talking about HB kits. Get good wine kit in around 60 quid. it still only works out at 2 euro a bottle, and you will have supremely good wine. besides the kit , you will need at least: 1 thirty litre bottling bucket, 1 bottle filling stick, 30 bottles, 30 corks, 1 bottle corker. Hydrometers etc are not necessary, but are handy if pursuing further.

I'd go with DOC's 30 bottle kits. You can buy them online from either homebrewwest.ie (my favourite) or from thehomebrewcompany.ie or from amazon.
I have used these kits (along with many others) and left them to mature for probably 6 months-1 year after bottling. Very good stuff.

ian_m

I do more beer than wine, but I have tried a Beaverdale and a Califoria California Connoisseur. I went straight to the better kit which avoided adding extra sugar.

I liked that Beaverdale and a Califoria California Connoisseurs had the 6 bottle kits so I could just try it out without buying extra gear. I thought a red might be easier for first time round as it would easier to clear and be more forgiving.

I used a lidl 5 litre water bottle to ferment in. Irish HB shops do starter kits which would pay for itself very quickly.

Wine worked out lovely, I thought the Beaverdale tasted better than the Conniosseur although I would need to brew a few more until I was certain that was the case.

Having done them I am now thinking it would take just as much time to do a larger batch so I am considering doing a 60 bottle kit in the future.

My 2 cents worth. Wasn't dissapointed anyway. Only thing I am not sure about now is using same fermenters for beer and wine as I am very tight for space.

Eule

I swear by the International Selection Luna Rossa kit(and most of their others). The Beaverdale kits are also ok, but the LR is ... brilliant. I buy mine from brewuk co uk, they deliver for a tenner to Ireland, haven't found an Irish shop that sells them yet

Get a stirrer geegaw and stick that on a drill to beat the CO2 out of the wine, you can use that safely in a BetterBottle type demi john. I use 2 of those for a brew, since I transfer the wine twice in the process and it also comes in handy when you stir the juice and water together. A big glass demi john is nice to have, until it breaks(eek), and the BB's are fine if you don't stash your stuff longer than 100 days in there, and they are very light and much easier to handle.

Even with a 30 ltr bucket, it's still a good move to put the bucket into a big tray, because the primary can be fierce and try to climb out sometimes. A 50ltr bucket is nice to have!

Another piece of kit that is great to have is an Autosyphon that has an inbuilt pump -- the large one with inbuilt clip for transfer so it stays put and doesn't whirl up sediment, and the 1 gallon demi john mini version for emptying the juice carton. You can tip that into the bucket, but I always made a mess and the small syphon is just more practical to use.

To stash the brew, I use 1 gallon glass demi johns and silicone plugs, and at the most, I fill 6-12 bottles for long term storage, the LR is ready quite quickly normally, so are the Beaverdale kits.

Also: use the dishwasher 65C cycle to prep your dj's or your bottles. Works great, and to keep them neat, cover with cling film until you're ready to use them.

Get some campden tablets so you can store your BBs when they are not in use, and for bottleing/transferring/disinfecting corks.