Beaverdale Wine Kit

[Mitchamitri]

Planning on trying the above, but although they work out cheap per bottle the initial outlay feels high campared with a tenner for a brewkit.
So, before I "splash" out does anyone have any recommendations as to which one. looking to do a red of soem sort but not a shiraz.

[Kristoff]

All the Beaverdale wines are very good quality and are made from the actual grape varities they are labelled as. I've done a few now and they've all been great and to me they tast like the real thing - i.e. a Merlot tastes like a Merlot and a Pinot Grigio tastes like Pinot Grigio etc.
I'd say comparing a cheap wine kit to a Beaverdale kit is the same as comparing a cheap Kit beer to AG.
Go for it i'm sure you won't be disappointed. If you're not sure, get the 6 bottle kit £12-£15, but the 30 bottle kits are much better value at £38 ish

[Horden Hillbilly]

All the Beaverdale wines are very good quality and are made from the actual grape varities they are labelled as. I've done a few now and they've all been great and to me they tast like the real thing - i.e. a Merlot tastes like a Merlot and a Pinot Grigio tastes like Pinot Grigio etc.
I'd say comparing a cheap wine kit to a Beaverdale kit is the same as comparing a cheap Kit beer to AG.
Go for it i'm sure you won't be disappointed. If you're not sure, get the 6 bottle kit £12-£15, but the 30 bottle kits are much better value at £38 ish

Seconded, I'm sure that you won't be disapointed with the Beaverdale kits. Regarding choice, as Kristoff points out, they are true to type, so all you need to do is pick your favourite wine, ie Merlot, Barolo, etc.

[sparky Paul]

The Beaverdale kits are excellent. Kenridge kits are excellent too and also worth considering.

[arturobandini]

My Parents got me a Beaverdale kit some years ago as a Christmas gift and I erm....did it last week having not quite got my AG kit ready and wanting to do brewing of any kind. I had a Californian Red kit and a Chardonnay of the 6 bottle size and they've been bubbling quietly for about 10 days so far. The instructions say wait 15ish for a white and then add stabiliser to stop the ferment completely, wait a few days then fine, wait a few more days then fine some more.

That's all well and good if I suppose I was going to just nail them asap. If I wanted to just let them reach a better standard could I not just rack them off the sediment into a clean demijohn and allow it to clear naturally (I'm aware this could take some months) then rack it off any further sediment before bottling? I wouldn't use "stabiliser" or "finings" in Beer unless I really had to. I'm fine to let it sit and do it's thing. Anyone any experience of the non-additives route to winemaking?

[sparky Paul]

That's all well and good if I suppose I was going to just nail them asap. If I wanted to just let them reach a better standard could I not just rack them off the sediment into a clean demijohn and allow it to clear naturally (I'm aware this could take some months) then rack it off any further sediment before bottling? I wouldn't use "stabiliser" or "finings" in Beer unless I really had to. I'm fine to let it sit and do it's thing. Anyone any experience of the non-additives route to winemaking?

I invariably find that the kits need more time that the instructions say anyway - it's just so they can say it's a '7 day wine' or '28 day wine', etc.. I don't think the things you add to kit wine do any harm, they are added to most commercial wines after all.

You need to stabilise to ensure that no further fermentation takes place, and the addition of campden preservative is recommended if you wish to lay down and age any of your wine. Finings can easily be dispensed with, and replaced with time, but as they don't end up in the final wine they shouldn't have any effect either.

[arturobandini]

Cheers Paul,

I wasn't trying to suggest that it would taint the beer or anything I was just idly wondering whether it was imperative to the creation of good wine. I was going to wait until all bubbling stopped or slowed significantly and then rack off into clean Demijohns , check hydrometer readings and leave in a cooler area to drop bright. Then possibly bottle after this.

I've got a wine making book from Ben Turner, which has just materialised out of nowhere, and it's pretty informative if a tad dated in it's methods