Hi,

I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made a
red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a 30
bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to how
things might turn out.

All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly confident
about things and everyone who had tried the wines were suitably impressed.
Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend. Last night I tried
a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste. Colour was good, but
there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife tried some and agreed
with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed wondering what had happened.

Not being a Red Wine drinker normally, I'm not sure what it is supposed to
be like, so pushed a few bottles out to friends and am awaiting their
response. In the meantime I thought I would try to find out what may have
gone wrong and what I could do with the remaining 27 bottles!

Before bottling I did a Hydrometer test which read 996, but I didn't take
readings at any other stage.

Help!

John
Leigh-on-Sea, UK

On Dec 3, 2:25 am, "John"
> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
> problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made a
> red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a 30
> bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to how
> things might turn out.
>
> All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly confident
> about things and everyone who had tried the wines were suitably impressed.
> Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend. Last night I tried
> a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste. Colour was good, but
> there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife tried some and agreed
> with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed wondering what had happened.
>
> Not being a Red Wine drinker normally, I'm not sure what it is supposed to
> be like, so pushed a few bottles out to friends and am awaiting their
> response. In the meantime I thought I would try to find out what may have
> gone wrong and what I could do with the remaining 27 bottles!
>
> Before bottling I did a Hydrometer test which read 996, but I didn't take
> readings at any other stage.
>
> Help!
>
> John
> Leigh-on-Sea, UK

Not familiar with that kit but in general, I'd say white kits wines
are significantly better than red kit wines. Unless you added too much
water by mistake, the "watery" taste is likely lack of character -
IMHO, red wines really need to be fermented on the skins.

One other thing - the wine should benefit from some aging, so don't
despair yet. Lots of wines taste pretty weird right after bottling,
especially kit reds, they need some time to smooth out.

Pp

"John" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
> problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made a
> red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a 30
> bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to
> how things might turn out.
>
> All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly
> confident about things and everyone who had tried the wines were suitably
> impressed. Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend. Last
> night I tried a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste.
> Colour was good, but there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife
> tried some and agreed with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed
> wondering what had happened.

You have only left it a couple of days. You will need to wait at least a
couple of months for flavour to come through. I also have a 30 bottle
Beaversdale Barolo on the go which I will be bottling at the weekend, but
dont plan to taste it till at least March 2008.

Rodders

On Dec 3, 8:02 pm, "Rodders" > wrote:
> "John" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Hi,
>
> > I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
> > problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made a
> > red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a 30
> > bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to
> > how things might turn out.
>
> > All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly
> > confident about things and everyone who had tried the wines were suitably
> > impressed. Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend. Last
> > night I tried a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste.
> > Colour was good, but there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife
> > tried some and agreed with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed
> > wondering what had happened.
>
> You have only left it a couple of days. You will need to wait at least a
> couple of months for flavour to come through. I also have a 30 bottle
> Beaversdale Barolo on the go which I will be bottling at the weekend, but
> dont plan to taste it till at least March 2008.
>
> Rodders



There is wisdom in waiting after bottling to avoid the bottleshock
etc, but the 2 red kit wines that I have made both tasted pretty good
straight out of the fermenter. Both were intended to be fairly light
bodied though. One was a 30p a bottle kit which was very, very much a
make do thing. It tasted pretty low grade - though smooth - from
start to finish. The other was a £2 a bottle pinot noir kit. The
latter was beautiful straight out of the fermenter, but in my opinion
peaked after 6 months. I think as per the previous posters' opinions,
reds which haven't fermented on skins aren't going to have the
character you want them too. My first single gallon red from grapes -
this year is showing terrific colour and character.

A friend of mine has made a 'Crushendo' red wine kit this year which
comes with a sachet of grapeskins which you ferment on as well as the
juice/concentrate. It's pretty expensive for a kit (I think about
£3.50 a bottle) but it sounds like it is the mutts nuts...

My 2 cents: White wine kits usually turn out good. Red wine kits - you
need the top end ones. I also did a Crushendo type (actually 3) and they
were great at bottling and better 6-12 months and still getting better.
IMHO, the advice above is good. I am considering not making red wine
kits anymore as the price of really good wine in retail is hard to
match. I'd like to try grapes and juice some day, but not until I
retire. smile.

just my opinion. DAve

racketear wrote:
> On Dec 3, 8:02 pm, "Rodders" > wrote:
>> "John" > wrote in message
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> Hi,
>>> I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
>>> problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made a
>>> red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a 30
>>> bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to
>>> how things might turn out.
>>> All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly
>>> confident about things and everyone who had tried the wines were suitably
>>> impressed. Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend. Last
>>> night I tried a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste.
>>> Colour was good, but there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife
>>> tried some and agreed with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed
>>> wondering what had happened.
>> You have only left it a couple of days. You will need to wait at least a
>> couple of months for flavour to come through. I also have a 30 bottle
>> Beaversdale Barolo on the go which I will be bottling at the weekend, but
>> dont plan to taste it till at least March 2008.
>>
>> Rodders
>
>
>
> There is wisdom in waiting after bottling to avoid the bottleshock
> etc, but the 2 red kit wines that I have made both tasted pretty good
> straight out of the fermenter. Both were intended to be fairly light
> bodied though. One was a 30p a bottle kit which was very, very much a
> make do thing. It tasted pretty low grade - though smooth - from
> start to finish. The other was a £2 a bottle pinot noir kit. The
> latter was beautiful straight out of the fermenter, but in my opinion
> peaked after 6 months. I think as per the previous posters' opinions,
> reds which haven't fermented on skins aren't going to have the
> character you want them too. My first single gallon red from grapes -
> this year is showing terrific colour and character.
>
> A friend of mine has made a 'Crushendo' red wine kit this year which
> comes with a sachet of grapeskins which you ferment on as well as the
> juice/concentrate. It's pretty expensive for a kit (I think about
> £3.50 a bottle) but it sounds like it is the mutts nuts...

I've found Coinnoisseur to be marginally better than Beaverdale for red
wines, and there's not much in price. I agree that you're probably never
going to get anything wonderful, but you can get good, everyday "glugging"
wine. I have done a Coinnoisseur Borolo which was very nice, and I've now
laid down 5 gals of the stuff.

I don't generally like Young's cheaper brand at all - they usually come out
a bit insipid and taste "homemade"....

Aren't a lot of them made by the same people here anyway?

I find it needs *at least* 2 months, and is not worth drinking before. I
also find it is better being left open for an hour before drinking, and/or
later in the bottle (I tend to re-use screw-top 1.5l bottles!).

Barb UK


"Dave Allison" > wrote in message
...
> My 2 cents: White wine kits usually turn out good. Red wine kits - you
> need the top end ones. I also did a Crushendo type (actually 3) and they
> were great at bottling and better 6-12 months and still getting better.
> IMHO, the advice above is good. I am considering not making red wine kits
> anymore as the price of really good wine in retail is hard to match. I'd
> like to try grapes and juice some day, but not until I retire. smile.
>
> just my opinion. DAve
>
> racketear wrote:
>> On Dec 3, 8:02 pm, "Rodders" > wrote:
>>> "John" > wrote in
>>> message
>>>
>>> ...
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>> I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
>>>> problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never made
>>>> a
>>>> red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a
>>>> 30
>>>> bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as to
>>>> how things might turn out.
>>>> All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly
>>>> confident about things and everyone who had tried the wines were
>>>> suitably
>>>> impressed. Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend.
>>>> Last
>>>> night I tried a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste.
>>>> Colour was good, but there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My wife
>>>> tried some and agreed with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed
>>>> wondering what had happened.
>>> You have only left it a couple of days. You will need to wait at least a
>>> couple of months for flavour to come through. I also have a 30 bottle
>>> Beaversdale Barolo on the go which I will be bottling at the weekend,
>>> but
>>> dont plan to taste it till at least March 2008.
>>>
>>> Rodders
>>
>>
>>
>> There is wisdom in waiting after bottling to avoid the bottleshock
>> etc, but the 2 red kit wines that I have made both tasted pretty good
>> straight out of the fermenter. Both were intended to be fairly light
>> bodied though. One was a 30p a bottle kit which was very, very much a
>> make do thing. It tasted pretty low grade - though smooth - from
>> start to finish. The other was a £2 a bottle pinot noir kit. The
>> latter was beautiful straight out of the fermenter, but in my opinion
>> peaked after 6 months. I think as per the previous posters' opinions,
>> reds which haven't fermented on skins aren't going to have the
>> character you want them too. My first single gallon red from grapes -
>> this year is showing terrific colour and character.
>>
>> A friend of mine has made a 'Crushendo' red wine kit this year which
>> comes with a sachet of grapeskins which you ferment on as well as the
>> juice/concentrate. It's pretty expensive for a kit (I think about
>> £3.50 a bottle) but it sounds like it is the mutts nuts...

"Barb" > wrote in message
...
> I've found Coinnoisseur to be marginally better than Beaverdale for red
> wines, and there's not much in price. I agree that you're probably never
> going to get anything wonderful, but you can get good, everyday "glugging"
> wine. I have done a Coinnoisseur Borolo which was very nice, and I've now
> laid down 5 gals of the stuff.
>
> I don't generally like Young's cheaper brand at all - they usually come
> out a bit insipid and taste "homemade"....
>
> Aren't a lot of them made by the same people here anyway?
>
> I find it needs *at least* 2 months, and is not worth drinking before. I
> also find it is better being left open for an hour before drinking, and/or
> later in the bottle (I tend to re-use screw-top 1.5l bottles!).
>
> Barb UK
>
>
> "Dave Allison" > wrote in message
> ...
>> My 2 cents: White wine kits usually turn out good. Red wine kits - you
>> need the top end ones. I also did a Crushendo type (actually 3) and they
>> were great at bottling and better 6-12 months and still getting better.
>> IMHO, the advice above is good. I am considering not making red wine kits
>> anymore as the price of really good wine in retail is hard to match. I'd
>> like to try grapes and juice some day, but not until I retire. smile.
>>
>> just my opinion. DAve
>>
>> racketear wrote:
>>> On Dec 3, 8:02 pm, "Rodders" > wrote:
>>>> "John" > wrote in
>>>> message
>>>>
>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>> I've made wine from a few kits in the past, but seem to have struck a
>>>>> problem this weekend when making a Red kit from Beaverdale. Never
>>>>> made
>>>>> a
>>>>> red wine before, so when a family member arrived on my doorstep with a
>>>>> 30
>>>>> bottle kit from Beaverdale to make a Barolo, I felt quite excited as
>>>>> to
>>>>> how things might turn out.
>>>>> All my other kits had been Beaverdale, but whites, so I was fairly
>>>>> confident about things and everyone who had tried the wines were
>>>>> suitably
>>>>> impressed. Everything went as planned and I bottled-up this weekend.
>>>>> Last
>>>>> night I tried a bottle and was quite suprised at the 'watery' taste.
>>>>> Colour was good, but there didn't seem to be much taste at all. My
>>>>> wife
>>>>> tried some and agreed with me - I finished the bottle and went to bed
>>>>> wondering what had happened.
>>>> You have only left it a couple of days. You will need to wait at least
>>>> a
>>>> couple of months for flavour to come through. I also have a 30 bottle
>>>> Beaversdale Barolo on the go which I will be bottling at the weekend,
>>>> but
>>>> dont plan to taste it till at least March 2008.
>>>>
>>>> Rodders
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> There is wisdom in waiting after bottling to avoid the bottleshock
>>> etc, but the 2 red kit wines that I have made both tasted pretty good
>>> straight out of the fermenter. Both were intended to be fairly light
>>> bodied though. One was a 30p a bottle kit which was very, very much a
>>> make do thing. It tasted pretty low grade - though smooth - from
>>> start to finish. The other was a £2 a bottle pinot noir kit. The
>>> latter was beautiful straight out of the fermenter, but in my opinion
>>> peaked after 6 months. I think as per the previous posters' opinions,
>>> reds which haven't fermented on skins aren't going to have the
>>> character you want them too. My first single gallon red from grapes -
>>> this year is showing terrific colour and character.
>>>
>>> A friend of mine has made a 'Crushendo' red wine kit this year which
>>> comes with a sachet of grapeskins which you ferment on as well as the
>>> juice/concentrate. It's pretty expensive for a kit (I think about
>>> £3.50 a bottle) but it sounds like it is the mutts nuts...
>
>
>

Just thought I'd post an update... Opened another bottle last night and it
tasted much much better. I had passed a bottle out to a friend to try (the
guy who bought the kit) and he reported how damm good it was... Oh well,
sounds like I paniced to early.. Next time, I'll give it time to settle in
the bottle....

Thanks for all your responses - much appreciated