How will wine kits compare to beer kits for quality?

[MisterBoy]

I've made dozens of ale kits and consider the beer often as good as cask ale in pubs or what I can buy in the shops, it's been a very positive experience.

But I've always been dubious about wine kits. I generally drink red wine from Naked so about £8/bottle, how might kits turn out in comparison? I normally buy extract only beer kits (no added sugar) at about the £25 mark so what would be a good option that's the same sort of level?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum MisterBoy

Have a look at this - Wine and Cider Kit Reviews A - Z

 

[Drunkula]

I did a load of Beaverdale kits and never once did I think Jesus, that's pretty crappy which happenned a lot with beer kits. We're talking the £40+ all juice kits for 30 bottles. The cheaper wine kits like Winebuddy when you're adding 4kg of sugar are like alcoholic ribena. They do the job but for me they're just obliteration fuel. It really pays off to spend the extra.

 

[MisterBoy]

I did a load of Beaverdale kits and never once did I think Jesus, that's pretty crappy which happenned a lot with beer kits. We're talking the £40+ all juice kits for 30 bottles. The cheaper wine kits like Winebuddy when you're adding 4kg of sugar are like alcoholic ribena. They do the job but for me they're just obliteration fuel. It really pays off to spend the extra.

yeah same with getting the all syrup beer kits. When I first started making beer I had no idea what to expect.
Some of the wine kit tricks like adding sawdust to emulate oaking just sound a bit yuck... Basically I'm asking if I didn't know, would it be obvious it was a kit wine?

I have all the kit, or most of it at least so I figured I might as well give it a go. Although 30 bottles is a lot!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I generally drink red wine

You may struggle to find a decent Red wine kit its definitely a case of you get what you pay for.

 

[MisterBoy]

You may struggle to find a decent Red wine kit its definitely a case of you get what you pay for.

Do you mean generally, or in stock... Everywhere has gone mad!?

I wouldn't be averse to white for the summer of it's a big difference

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Do you mean generally, or in stock... Everywhere has gone mad!?

In general, many members have tried red kits and many have been disapointed.

I wouldn't be averse to white for the summer of it's a big difference

There is a much bigger choice when it comes to white and Rose wines i don't know if you missd my earlier post but there are lots of kit reviews here -

(Click the link) - Wine and Cider Kit Reviews A - Z

 

[Drunkula]

I wouldn't be averse to white for the summer of it's a big difference

With the cheaper kits where you add loads of sugar the whites are so much better than the reds and ideal to lay on for a barbeque, especially if people are putting ice in it. I did one in a pressure barrel like and oversized wine box and it was a bit of fun.

The Winebuddy chardonnay I thought: well that doesn't taste much of anything, then had some real chardonnay and thought well they're not that different. I don't like white wine, it tastes eggy to me which is a shame. I get "Try this one, it's really nice!" all the time and sadly - blurgghgkkk, get some pop in it!

If you go for reds even in the mid expense kits I find the merlots too soft.

 

[MisterBoy]

I'd have no aversion to a more pricey kit, it's hardly a lot per bottle for the Beaverdale for instance.

Main thing is I don't have or want to buy 30 wine bottles if I don't end up getting into wine-making... I've done a lot of ale and a few cider/mead experiments. I DO have several hundred brown beer bottles I bought in bulk a while back. So, is there any reason other than looking a bit odd, not to store wine in these with metal caps? 2/3 of a bottle might be a nicer amount for an evening... :)

 

[Bobtheblob]

You could get a demijohn and just try the 6 bottle kits.

 

[Cwrw666]

I've only done 2 red wine kits - both Beaverdales at £40+ per kit. (so about £1.25 per bottle for the tight-fisted)
One Merlot and one Nebiolo. Both were pretty good and compared reasonably well to the £5 a bottle ones we normally buy. In both cases I made them up to 20Ltr instead of the 23 it was supposed to be and in fact I think they'd be even better made up to 18Ltr (4 gallons) but of course that's less bottles.
You might struggle to get any 30 bottle kits at the moment though. There seems to have been a run on them at the homebrew shops. I just got a California Connoiseur Pinot noir off ebay but it was £52 including postage, much dearer than what they were before the lockdown, but probably still worth it.

 

[Cwrw666]

ps. nothing wrong with using beer bottles either.

 

[MisterBoy]

Yeah I'd seen All the 30btl beaver kits are sold out (except one I didn't know what it was). I'm hoping to get a beer kit (also very limited choices, unless you like stout!) so I'll make it up to free P&P with some wine if I can.

 

[Spinningwoman]

I’ve done two California Classic red wine kits - a Merlot and a Rojo - and just bought two more. They made very drinkable wine-box style wine. (Which is what we would be drinking most of the time otherwise.). I’ve bottled some to see how it ages, but that’s not really what I’m making it for - if I wanted a ‘special ’ bottle I’d buy it.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You could get a demijohn and just try the 6 bottle kits.

Thats how i started. thumb

 

[MisterBoy]

I've decided since I have the FVs to go with a 21L kit, and got a 5L bag-in-box to add a bit more easy storage, a lot of local pubs are using these. I think I'll store the rest in beer bottles - these kits are way less than 5X the cost of a small kit so if it's terrible, oh well.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Keep us posted.

 

[MisterBoy]

Thanks for the help :) I'll be back, I was active on another forum but it seems to have sadly died so this seems a nice place to relocate to!

 

[Vinotinto]

If it helps and for what it is worth. I have now made just over 70 x 30 bottle kits. My advice would be to avoid the cheaper ones like Winebuddy. I was not over impressed with California either. Beaverdale are nice and I recommend them but for something nicer still I suggest the Kenridge Classic kits. There are other more expensive high end kits that I have not tried. You DO get what you pay for. Just had 2 of these delivered for £93. The decent suppliers are just getting back to some sort of normality. Delivery takes longer but hey ho....... worth the wait. Enjoy.

PS - not been on here for a good while.. Hope you are all keeping well.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks for the help :) I'll be back, I was active on another forum but it seems to have sadly died so this seems a nice place to relocate to!

Glad you chose this one, keep us posted.