I'm curious, any kit winemakers here?

[Horden Hillbilly]

Hi all,

Just wondering if there are any kit winemakers here?

In addition to beer & lager, I make wine from kits, my favourites are the 5 gallon Selection reds, 15 litres of juice to make 23 litres, so you can imagine that they are very full bodied & robust. Up to now I have made the Cabernet/Shiraz (Top notch!), I have a batch of Cabernet/Merlot maturing, it has been laid down about 6 weeks now. I am presently drinking the Selection limited edition Pinot Noir, it is superb!

I have made reds from the Vintners Reserve range before, being less full bodied I sometimes prefer them in the summer and a more robust wine in the winter. I have not got any in my rack though, must organise myself better for next summer!

Before I bought my 5 gallon fermentors about 3 years ago, I used to make myself the 1 gallon Beaverdale reds, while being fairly mild compared to Selection, they are nevertheless a pleasant & enjoyable wine. I know people who prefer them rather than Selection for that reason, it's just that I prefer a more robust wine myself.

Mrs Hillbilly prefers lighter wines, ie Beaverdale Whites, Chablish Blush, H&G Rose, CWE peach, etc. Regarding CWE kits, it's a shame to see that they will be no longer available soon as they have stopped making wine kits, They have been going as long as I have been brewing (many, many years now!). If anyone wants one grab them quick before they vanish forever.

[Reg]

Not for many years... I learned these skills as a boy and as my folks owned a health food shop, I had plenty of out of date grape juice and fried fruit to experiment with to my heart's content!

[Andy]

QUOTE (Reg @ Jun 2 2006, 08:19 PM) and fried fruit to experiment with
Was the shop in scotlandshire ?

[fizzypop boy]

[bod]

watch it sonny, just cos we all deep fry our mars bars, doesnt mean to say we eat fruit.

[Andy]

[Bigster]

HHB

The mrs likes a medium to dry white bordeaux style which I have a recipe for if you are interested - hardly much more work than a kit , has one me a few awards and works out at 50p a bottle. Has honey in it.

If interested let me know and I will post recipe

:beer

[Glug]

Tried making wine many years ago but it always turned out s*@t.
Still got a bottle of vintage Blackberry and Apple from 1985 somewhere, don't know if it will be ready for drinking yet though. :huh:

[Horden Hillbilly]

QUOTE and fried fruit to experiment with

When I was younger, I lived in a neighbouring village, the one made famous in Billy Elliot, one of the fish shop owners was a character, he always managed to tell a differant joke every time you went in his shop. As he was there for many years I don't know how he managed it! Anyway, one day he accidently dropped a pie into the frier, after leaving it in for a few minutes he took it out & ate it, he was that pleased with the taste that he put them on the menu, they went down a treat!

QUOTE The mrs likes a medium to dry white bordeaux style which I have a recipe for if you are interested - hardly much more work than a kit , has one me a few awards and works out at 50p a bottle. Has honey in it.  If interested let me know and I will post recipe.

That would be great! I have never made a wine from scratch before, there is always a first time.

[Bigster]

Dry White Bordeaux

This is for a 1 gallon ( 4.5 litre batch but I normally make 2 at a time so only using 1 yeast )

Apple Juice 1 litre
White grape juice 1 litre
Orange Juice 250ml
Honey 110g
Sugar 500g
Pectic Enzyme 1tsp
Yeast gervin no 5 is best
Yeast nutrient 1/4 tsp
Bentonite 1tsp
Water to top up to 4.5 litres

Note on the honey - just use bog standard honey like the squeezy bottle stuff at asda for less than a quid. Nothing too flowery.

Also heat the honey in a pint of water for 15 mins at approx 70c then skim off the scum.

Good luck.

[Road Runner]

I started in home brewing about 2 1/2 years back making wine kits. Mainly just the 5 litre Beaverdale white kits, but also did a couple of Grand Maison kits too.

They turned out pretty good I thought, after around 2-3 months maturing, but I thought they really could do with a lot longer to mellow a bit. This was my main reason for changing over to beer brewing, as I was getting thirsty waiting for the wine to mature

I still have several bottles in the wine rack. In fact I opened a Chenin Blanc a few months ago that had been laid up for around 18 months. It was great, in fact I think it could almost compare to some comercial wines I've had.

I haven't made any now since brewing beer though for the last 18 months or so. I also never got around to making any from fresh fruit either. Probably because I'm too impatient to wait for it to get to it's full potential.

[Horden Hillbilly]

Thanks for posting the recipie bigster, might give it a try in September, my brewing season is nearly over due to the warm weather, time to enjoy the fruits of all my brewing efforts over the last 9 months!

[Frothy]

That bordeaux recipe looks great

- elderflowers are just coming out. Elderflower wine or champagne I hear is amazing but I've not had the opportunity to try some. I have a good recipe for a grand tried and tested elderberry wine somewhere for later in the year.

Matt

[Bigster]

Just kicked off 2 gallons of that Bordeaux recipe tonight - my wine making has taken a back seat and stock levels at an all time low since being enticed in to the world of AG brewing

[Reg]

QUOTE (Frothy @ Jun 4 2006, 08:46 PM) That bordeaux recipe looks great

- elderflowers are just coming out. Elderflower wine or champagne I hear is amazing but I've not had the opportunity to try some. I have a good recipe for a grand tried and tested elderberry wine somewhere for later in the year.

Matt
Just make sure you don't get any stalks or green in the brew. It ruins it.