Almost put off by Horrid Winebuddy Cab Sauv, want to try wnother make

[Floinksy]

Hi
As above, I tried the 6 bottle Winebuddy Cab Sauv kit, it was undrinkable due to the awful chemically cherryish smell.

Does anyone have a better, maybe more expensive 6 bottle red wine kit to recommend.
I would really like to try again. Cant waste the equipment I have bought.

Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :

Have a look at the wine kit review A - Z thread, i am sure you will be able to find something - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37180

You could always make your own wine from supermarket juice it isn't as hard as it may sound, watch the videos in this thread - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49462



.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Trying to make red wine from a cheap 6 bottle kit is not the best way to start! If you want to make reasonably good red wine from a kit then you need to scale up to 30 bottle kits that start at £30. These kits contain considerably higher proportions of grape juice concentrate.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I must stop skipping through posts, ignore the second part of my post as you cannot make red wine from supermarket juice.

 

[engineer]

Sadly the winebuddy reds are all quite bad in my experience even with extensive modification so don't be to hard on yourself.

If you must do a 6 bottle kit and want to stick with Cab Sav try Beaverdale or
California Connoisseur both are around the £12 mark and should not disappoint.

As already stated the 30 bottle kits are far better value. Harris Cab Sav and Cellar 7 are both around the £30 mark and are very nice once aged for a while.

Dont give up its fun, try again with a mid range kit you wont be sorry.

 

[stevej]

I made a lovely Beaverdale Barolo that was probably my best red i have ever done not expensive really good results
Steve

 

[tonyhibbett]

Apart from being better value, a 30 bottle kit takes just as long to make and lasts almost twice as long!

 

[Floinksy]

Thank you so much for your replies.

I will try again!!

Will keep you updated. Cheers.

 

[Floinksy]

Went to local home-brew shop and bought California connoisseur merlot kit.
I am immediately impressed as there is about 10 times the amount of juice as wine buddy kit.

so here's hoping..........

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Keep us posted :thumb:

 

[Floinksy]

Hello,
Well its been about 4 weeks since I started my second kit and I bottled up my Merlot today.
Just had to have a taste tonight. It's drinkable which is a massive improvement on the Winebuddy kit.
I will let it mature now though as its not got a lot of taste. So hopefully after 3 or 4 months it will be even better!

Thanks to all again for your advice.

I will be going to my homebrew shop tomorrow to buy another kit! YAY!

 

[jamesw]

Have a look at the wow threads, much more reliable wines and much cheaper!

 

[Slid]

Apart from being better value, a 30 bottle kit takes just as long to make and lasts almost twice as long!

I'm sure that this truism is something I read in the books that CJJ Berry (or maybe even Ben Turner) wrote ages ago and that I used to own back in the 1980's. Always was, then and certainly has been now, my motto ever since getting back into HB 20 months ago.

 

[Gorty]

Hi Floinksy,

Try the 'Make Your Own' red wine kit from The Range, it might be their own label but it really is a good one and for £25 it's still under £1 a bottle. Made loads of them always been good.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Hi Floinksy,

Try the 'Make Your Own' red wine kit from The Range, it might be their own label but it really is a good one and for £25 it's still under £1 a bottle. Made loads of them always been good.

There is a review of this wine here - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49177

.