Beaverdale Wine Kit

[Brewmarc]

Im normally known to my friends as an AG beer brewer : but was thinking of brewing a 5 gallon Beaverdale Rioja Wine kit (to keep her indoors away from my precious beer ) & I love Rioja :lol: :lol: Just wonderd if anyone has made this wine & is it any good? Will it be more orthentic with the sugested oak chips added. Im open to sugestions if in your oppinions there are better kits out there :thumb: :

 

[Moley]

There are better kits out there, you get what you pay for, but Beaverdale seem to be regarded as one of the better mid-priced kits.

I can't really advise on kit wines as I have only ever tried 2 x 1 gallon kits, just to see if they were really any good. However, one of those was a Beaverdale Rioja and it certainly seems quite acceptable to me, although it improves considerably if you can leave it to mature for 3-6 months.

I know it's pushing up the bottle price, but I think if I was to use the 5 gallon (22.5 litre) kit I would brew it short at 20 litres.

 

[leedsbrew]

Hi, I've done a couple of the beaverdale kits, and the Rioja about 4 times. I think they are very very good for the price.

I think they are infinitely better with the oak chips as it gives it a more authentic taste. I also reckon they do well for being left on the bottle for at least 6 months.


Cheers


LB

 

[leedsbrew]

There are better kits out there, you get what you pay for, but Beaverdale seem to be regarded as one of the better mid-priced kits.

What is your Rioja kit of choice moley?

 

[Tony501]

Well Rioja is according to my pallet the best wine/grape ever. I will have a go at that kit. That’s the 5 gallon version.

I am interested in maturity. Why by leaving a liquid completely enclosed, airtight and in a cool place, does it improve the flavour? Is it the cork that adds flavour or the tiny bit of air or just the fact that that is able to rest after working hard to produce alcohol?

I am not in a rush to drink my produce but my rice wine tasted super when I got a mouthful while siphoning to bottle recently.

It’s my impatience that makes me ask this question but as I make more and more wine on a rolling bases I guess I will not be pushing so much for the wine to be ready.

Looking forward to any comments on this subject.

Tony

There are better kits out there, you get what you pay for, but Beaverdale seem to be regarded as one of the better mid-priced kits.

I can't really advise on kit wines as I have only ever tried 2 x 1 gallon kits, just to see if they were really any good. However, one of those was a Beaverdale Rioja and it certainly seems quite acceptable to me, although it improves considerably if you can leave it to mature for 3-6 months.

I know it's pushing up the bottle price, but I think if I was to use the 5 gallon (22.5 litre) kit I would brew it short at 20 litres.

 

[gsidford]

I am interested in maturity. Why by leaving a liquid completely enclosed, airtight and in a cool place, does it improve the flavour? Is it the cork that adds flavour or the tiny bit of air or just the fact that that is able to rest after working hard to produce alcohol?

Wine is a mix of complex chemicals which continue to react with one another once the wine is in the bottle. I believe that tannins polymerize to create long chains over time which is an important process in the development of mouth feel and astringency.

 

[Moley]

I am interested in maturity. Why by leaving a liquid completely enclosed, airtight and in a cool place, does it improve the flavour? Is it the cork that adds flavour or the tiny bit of air or just the fact that that is able to rest after working hard to produce alcohol?

Well if you find a simple answer to that, please let us all know.

On face value, yeast turns sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide, you start with a C12 sugar, that gets broken into two C6 sugars, each of those gets broken into two C2 alcohols plus two C(1)O2s, so 12 carbons in, 12 carbons out, and the hydrogen and oxygens all balance too. However, on the way they make aldehydes and all sorts of other crap. In simplistic terms, let's say that most of the alcohol production is done in the first couple of weeks, but it can take those yeasties the next couple of weeks to finish tidying away all of the aldehydes, so that's why it's a mistake to rush fermentation, stabilise and add finings before the yeasties have finished their job. But, you can reckon that after a month you've got something which should be quite good and perfectly safe to drink.

There are other changes which will go on over a period of months with things like esters, tannins and tartrates, but my wines will usually be left in demijohns, still under airlock, topped up to within about 3cm of the bung, so at this point the airspace is minimal and there is no contact with a cork. However, if you can bring yourself to leave some of your wines alone for 6-12 months, it does make a massive difference.