top end kits

[HappyKillmore]

Hi Guys,

I have made some of the Beaverdale kits and have been very impressed with the results, but now i am looking to step up a level.

Are the Kenwood, Selection and Celebration kits at around £70 a go worth the extra money.

Can any one recommend a good red from these suppliers. Cab sav or Rioja are my favorite Beaverdales

thanks
jeff

[Rich]

In my opinon, yes they are worth the extra. But along with that you get extra waiting time too. They need at least a year if you want to get the best out of them. I tend to leave them 6 months or so in carboy, then 6 months in the bottle, even then not drinking them too quick after that.

Not heard of the Celebration kits though.

[mcblades]

hi,
I think bob has mentioned that switching yeasts on a beaverdale kit leads to a marked improvement. I am sure he will be along with some advice before too long.

I liked the beaverdale barolo and the california connoiseur cab. Merlot is v.good as well. I tried to get my OH to let me buy a pricier chateux de roi kit but she put her foot down. Beaverdale it is then.

I'd love to be able to taste the beaverdale and kenridge neuf alikes to see what i am missing but shall have to save up. Also, tend to be impatient so extended cellaring only happens if the wine is too rough to drink young!

On that point i made a rough black cherry rose. undrinkable at r month. At 6 months it's actyally qquite nice. So don't bin it till you've given it a chance to age.

Cheers

Mark

[fatbloke]

Well, I don't know much about this sort of thing as I've only made the 1 kit wine and that was only the raw panic of buying it to use the juice/concentrate for back sweetening meads, to find that it had started to grow a little mould in the bladder of juice/concentrate.

It ended up getting strained and then sulphited. After keeping as much as I had pop bottles for, I just made it up following the kit instructions.

As it was about £70 worth of Kendridge Chenin Blanc, it came with a sachet of EC1118 - even a yeast as robust as that, the sulphite caused it to have a rather extended "lag phase" (about 3 weeks) yet now, it's beautifully cleared and don't taste bad either - and I'm not really a white wine (grape wine) drinker....... but a very pleased/impressed fatbloke......


Just my 2pence worth

regards

jtfb

[modofodo]

hi,
I think bob has mentioned that switching yeasts on a beaverdale kit leads to a marked improvement.

To save Bob a few moments, I just searched my old posts - I remember the thread as he said:

I am reliably informed that the quality of beaverdale kits can be massively enhanced by binning their yeast that comes with the kit and using a high quality yeast instead, i will be experimenting with this soon.

I asked which ones and kindly Bob said:

for white kits try lalvin D47 for red kits either K1V-1116 or RC-212

you will go a very long way to find better quality yeasts than these.

Hth

[cpfan]

Just out of interest, what yeast do the Beaverdale kits come with?

RC-212 would be a good choice for a red kit. Some white kits from Vineco have come with K1-V1116.

Steve

[solly]

Lallemand (makers of Lalvin) have chart on their web site to see what strain to use for different wines.

http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

EDIT: Just wondered if it would make much difference to a NO1 or NO2 wine by using a good quality yeast rather then using a Youngs
general purpose yeast?

[kampervan]

having splashed out for a top of the range kit, idea do 2 a year, if they prove themselves. gave an offering to other half who aid this aint bad. if i get that reaction at 2 months old, hope i can keep a year

[billybuntus]

having splashed out for a top of the range kit, idea do 2 a year, if they prove themselves. gave an offering to other half who aid this aint bad. if i get that reaction at 2 months old, hope i can keep a her for a whole year

The missus or the wine?

[kampervan]

its easy if she dont like it change her.. ( sorry not true she is the love of my life)

[HappyKillmore]

Thanks Guys, I am going to try one of the selection kits, will let you know results in a couple of years, at £70 a go I aint gonna rush it