Tweaked Beaverdale Rioja

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Reminds me of that bit in Naked Gun when Prescilla Presley is up on a ladder and Frank Drevin says "Nice Beaver".
She replies "Thanks, I recently had it stuffed."

Then hands him a . . .

[krakowmike]

I did a double take when I saw the title of this thread. Maybe it's just American slang, but "tweaked beaver" has a bawdy connotation in this country.

That's funny- I lived in the States most of my life and your comment cracks me up!

[NorthernWiner]

I did a double take when I saw the title of this thread. Maybe it's just American slang, but "tweaked beaver" has a bawdy connotation in this country.

[Richard S]

The tweaks were for a 5 gallon kit, 1tsp of tannin added to a 1 gallon kit and you would to be able to drink nuclear waste (safely) before the wine would be drinkable

[owlwithoutfeathers]

One of my choice slurping reds is the Beaverdale Rioja. The last one I made was in November and already I find myself down to the last few bottles. I bought another and decided to try to "enhance" the kit a little by adding a few extras. The kit comes with a packet of oak dust, I like oak so in went a 30g packet of French oak chips as well. I also added 500g of chopped sunmaid raisins and 1tsp of tannin. Anyway, I am at the de-gassing stage now so I thought I would sneak a taste (as you do ) and all I can say is YEEEEEEHAAAAAW!!!! Me thinks it's gonna be good.

Guys,

Just bumping this thread. Were the tweeks for a 30 bottle/ 5 gallon kit or for a 1 gallon kit?

I'm thinking i might have a go at this, or buy another barola . . .

Owl.

[goldseal]

I'm not impressed with my results. Richard_S's was great, mine is a bit watery and lacking in body.

I have a theory that my local tap water is adversely affecting kit reds, so I am carrying out some experiments. The initial results with a kit white are promising, so if your kit reds usually turn out OK, I'd give the Rioja a go (maybe with 1 gallon first).

[hoodlum]

i likewise am interested in how this turned out.

i recently did a Barolo kit since I like Her Lushness really go for oak, body and flavour over everything else.

After eight months the first swig was awesome - judging by the comments on the modified rioja it was going well??

[owlwithoutfeathers]

A mere 3 months after buying the kit, I started my version today.

Added 1tsp of liquid grape tannin, 250g of Sunmaid raisins, 250g of Tesco raisins (because I forgot to get a 2nd bag of Sunmaid) and 30g of Brupaks heavy toast French oak.

Hi there. Just stumbled accross this thread. I'm interested to know how this turned out? I've did the Beaverdale Red Rioja kit last year (sans tweaks) and its very drinkable now (sadly, i've only got 11 bottles left which i need to hide somewhere!). It took a good 6 months to get any character, but was drinkable.

With the addition of the extra tannin, oak and raisins, how is it? Juicy, thicker, fuller-bodied?

Cheers. Owl.

[Richard S]

Bring a bottle to Grapefest Pete, I will swap it for a bottle of my plonk.

[goldseal]

A mere 3 months after buying the kit, I started my version today.

Added 1tsp of liquid grape tannin, 250g of Sunmaid raisins, 250g of Tesco raisins (because I forgot to get a 2nd bag of Sunmaid) and 30g of Brupaks heavy toast French oak.

[Richard S]

I took a bottle to Karl's on Sat night but by the time we got round to drinking it, it was probably too late (we had no idea if it was any good).

Me and Mark have just had a bottle and we think that it is the best kit wine that I have made to date. It should be way too young to drink but it smells and tastes just right, big oak profile, big tannins and a nice fruity finish.

I am going to repeat these kit tweaks on a Magnum ultimate Merlot or Cab Sauv to see if a cheap kit can be turned into something more medium range.

[Her Lushness]

These additions should be made at the beginning when you are starting the kit off. Should be ok to try with most red kits but make a few first. Get to know the flavours, smells, amount of body and then ask yourself "what do I want to change, why do I want to do this and by how much"?

Okay, and thanks again for the advice, it's due for degassing now anyway, so it's way too late to add anything else to it.
In the world of commercial wines, I like the heavy, full bodied, full flavoured oaky wines - hence my asking about adding more okainess to a kit wine.
I'll start making notes on what I drink, and why I like it and see what I come up with.

(Hmm... sounds like an excuse to open another bottle!)

[lockwood1956]

Or the Cabernet I've got on the go right now?

I'd be careful about trying to add much to a cabernet, its pretty big stuff anyway

[Richard S]

Or the Cabernet I've got on the go right now?

These additions should be made at the beginning when you are starting the kit off. Should be ok to try with most red kits but make a few first. Get to know the flavours, smells, amount of body and then ask yourself "what do I want to change, why do I want to do this and by how much"?

[Her Lushness]

Good point, I know this kit rather well and know that these additions won't do too much harm. Could be a good way to enhance a Barolo.

Or the Cabernet I've got on the go right now?