Anyone make homemade wine from kits?

[liskeardjane]

I want to do this soon - can anyone recommend a website where 'stuff' may be bought - there is the 'hop shop' near me in Plymouth - does anyone know it? is it as good as it looks? I have dozens of wine bottle all ready - can any one give any advice?

cheers

Liskeard

[Bollybarb]

sorry no, but am going to watch yout thread with intrest as i got a whole pile of winemaking stuff off freecycle and it's sitting in my garage, another thing on my to do list!!

[silky]

Go to your local library and take out some book on winemaking.

[p.penn]

I don't know if you have a Wilkinsons near you but they do winemaking kits.

[lancashire lass]

Please do read up about it - wine-making is not complicated (kits are even more easy peasy), but it's worth reading up about it - and you'll learn about sterilizing equipment, what you'll need and lots of other things.

Wilkos sell fairly inexpensive cans of concentrate grape juice (named wine which usually include a sachet of yeast inside the can lid specific to that wine type) which are not bad for a one off trial and give you practice of what to expect - all it involves is following the instructions on the inside of the can label, which is basically diluting it down, into a demijohn with yeast and leave to ferment.

I wouldn't recommend buying "kits" - they are over priced for what they are and you can usually get all the various bits of kit that you'll need from other sources. Again, Wilkos usually stock most things for wine-making at a fraction of the cost most other home brew stores charge.

[seahorse]

Once you get started you will be fine. I started with a kit, learnt more then made up my own stuff with whatever was going begging. I made some very interesting brews have fun.

[jacquih]

Dont buy the seven day wine from wilcos, we went on an ecomony drive after christmas and purchased this hoping for a result that would be cheap and save on the shopping bill, lets put it this way, we still have got loads of it left, hoping that with each month it will get better, it never seems to, it tastes ok at first, then burns all the way down, must be the preservitives, they use to clear the wine quickly, but after all this time, to me is still undrinkable, it would be probally be better to get the six week one and try that.
Jacquih

[RichnRach]

I am watching this thread with great interest. Wine/beer making is something I have long fancied doing, but for no good reason have never tried. Off to the library Monday morning me thinks!

[norfolkgrog]

Wine kits are great for getting you started off, all you need is a demijohn, bung, and a bubbler, sterilizing powder, hydrometer to tell properly when the wine has finished fermenting, some bottles and some corks, kits normally have everything you need to make some OK wine, if you have wilkinson near you they have a reasonable stock of stuff to get you going.

[mrsfoot]

Ive just bought my first kit from www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk it is one that does very quick but i am now in the process of starting some rhubarb wine from scratch but finding it very difficult to find a recipe as they all seem to differ which is making it soooo confusing.

[Dave NE]

A lot of home made wines use raisins as a base and then you can add whatever you like for taste.
Heres a recipe for orange wine which i have never made before but it has a 5 star rating in the book, i have just started making a batch this afternoon.
20 fl oz/1/2 L of orange juice, i used Tropicana £ 1. 79 from Wilkinsons.
1lb/ 1/2 k raisins/sultanas, 67p from Morrisons.
2 1/4 lb/ 1.25 k sugar, its on special this week at Morrisons, £1.50 for 2 k.
3 ripe bananas.
1 tsp citric acid.
pectic enzyme.
Yeast.
Method, boil the bananas for 20 minutes in 1 pint of water, strain and lightly squeeze. Add the liquid to the orange juice and sugar which has been disolved in 2 pints of water, the minced raisins the citric acid and 2 further pints of water. When the liquid is 70 deg add the pectic enzyme and yeast and make up to 1 gallon. The liquid is placed in a covered bucket for 1 week and then strained and transfered to a demi john with an air lock.
I would be interested if any members use the recipe to comment on the outcome, cheers Dave

[musicdaz73]

try this forum

http://www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk/forum ... m.php?f=20

[mal]

The quick kits are awful but I've used the concentrates and they weren't too bad. They are better as a base for other fruit such as bramble, elder or blackcurrant. It's almost as easy to make wine from the raw ingredients anyway. I have a friend who makes the most amazing coffee wine. It comes out like Tia Maria.

[silverbass]

Ive just bought my first kit from http://www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; it is one that does very quick but i am now in the process of starting some rhubarb wine from scratch but finding it very difficult to find a recipe as they all seem to differ which is making it soooo confusing.

Just a word of warning: don't make rhubarb wine at this time of year, something to do with toxins in the rhubarb, best made in may

[Dave NE]

Strange but true i suppose, Its not good for people with arthritis, so i have read, Dave