What is the best kit from my list (first time winemaker)

Pete:

Your filtered wtaer should be fine. As suggested earlier, go with the kit first, then develop your own methods to meet your own preferences.

Re oak, there are a lot of choices, but some are difficult to source (I don't know about Chicago).

I am not familiar with specific Brew King kits; however, the quality should be in the following order...

Not surprisingly, this matches the dollar cost. Note that you have listed three different types of wines. In your personal experience what do you prefer???

Final comment. The Selection kits take longer to make, and should be aged longer than the Vintners Reserve kits. Consider making one of the VRs to give yourself something to drink sooner, than make one of the Selections and allow it to age.

Steve

Longer is better. I have plenty of homebrew to drink. I would like to make the wine for christmas, 2004

I like all those wines. Bordeaux Cabernet/merlot blend

those the best.

I will probably do a chardonay, if the whites turn out better.

Pete,

I echo Steve's comments (most of them anyway). To me the deciding factor is how soon you'll want to consume the wine. If you want to drink most or all within the first year, don't spend the extra money on the Selections line. You'll only really start to notice the extra benefits after more than a year aging -- the Selections should continue to improve out to at least 2 years of aging, probably more.

Your 5 gallon comment -- is this imperial gallons or US gallons? Note that the kits are intended for 5 imperial gallons which equals 6 US gallons. If you're intending to store in 5 us gallons, you'll need an extra gallon jug. The Vintner's Reserve kits I've done are a bit weak at 6 us gallons. I've done a couple at 5 US gallons (i.e. more concentrated) and they are a lot tastier -- but sometimes can be a bit too acidic, and then your cost per bottle is getting a lot closer to the cost of the Selections kits. Doing a Selections kit at a higher concentration will more than likely result in a wine that is too concentrated and not very well balanced. I generally find that the Selections are a little bit weak if you top up with water at every racking. If you do one of these, using your 5gal container for bulk aging and separate 3 and 4 litre (3/4 and 1 us gal) jugs might work beautifully -- when you top up after racking, move the extra from the

4l to 3l jug (and another small bottle/jar if necessary). You'll end up with about 21 to 22 l, but it will be a nicer quality than diluting it out to 23. That's my opinion, anyhow. I've also topped up with commercial wines, but generally find that commercial wines even of the same variety are so different from the BK kits that the flavor profiles never really merge very well and you end up with a wine that doesn't have as clear a varietal character as it otherwise would.

If you're going to drink sooner, I would also consider using a different yeast. You have to pay a little more attention to fermentation temperature and starting SG but neither should be a problem. I find the bayanus strain of yeast that is standard in these kits to not yield the best results for short-term consumption -- the kit reds don't have a lot of typical red varietal characteristics to begin with (especially aromatics) and the bayanus yeast byproducts mask a lot of what is there until aged well over a year. I've used Red Star Pasteur Red with much better success on a Selections Luna Rossa and a Vintner's Reserve Vieux Chateau du Roi (made to 5 us gal). The yeast with it's fruity and floral notes suited the latter especially well, and the Chateauneuf-du-pape style wine was quite enjoyable after only 4-5 months (I purposefully made this to drink young while many Selections batches were aging).

Finally, my general impressions of the many Brew King kits I've done (they were all I could get while living in the US) versus 3 others I've recently done, is that the BK kits seem to be the most balanced and perhaps produce the smoothest, most enjoyable wine after long aging -- but they seem lacking in varietal freshness and aromatics compared to the other kits I've recently done (RJSpagnols Cru Select Platinum Australian Shiraz, AdVintage Celebrations Australian Shiraz, and Cellar Craft WA State Merlot with crushed grape pack. So if you really value good aromatics and fruity freshness, you may want to consider trying another brand at some point. The one of these 3 that surprised me was the RJSpagnols -- the concentrate smelled a lot like the BK concentrates I had become used to (whereas the other 2 smelled very different). But after 5-6 months of slow clearing / bulk aging the aromatics really started to come around.

Hope that helps -- a lot more than you asked for :-) I had time on my hands while waiting for OS upgrades to complete on my wife's old computer...

Cheers, Richard

You seem to have no problems making reds from kits then?

I do plan on an extended age. At least till christmas 2004

I guess I should start with a selection red. then the yeast with the kit will be ok? Do I make a starter?

The CruSelect Platinum line has a very good rep. I have heard very god things about that Aus.Shiraz, and the Amarone.

I don't know much about AdVintage. They are a fairly new company but I believe that they have a lot of experience behind them.

I understand that the Cellar Craft kits with the crushed grape packs are excellent. Gonna have to give one a try.

Steve

I'd still agree with the idea of making a white first, something quick and dirty to get your hands wet and you could be drinking it in 3 months. You can get good results with even a low priced chardonnay. If you screw up, you wasted half the price of what your considering spending on the reds. I'd be willing to bet that you'll drink both the white and the red so why not.

For the starter, read through this:

They also have a reference chart there where you might consider using RC212 but for your first kit I'd stick very close to the directions. The EC1118 that comes with the kit will give less chances of problems and with long aging the effects of the yeast choice will be lessened.

Don S.

I suggest you follow the instructions "to the letter". No need to use a starter. I dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water (check the temperature recommended in the yeast pack and use a thermometer). After 5-10 minutes, I add some of the already diluted juice (1/4 cup) to the yeast and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Then, I fill the cup (add

1/2 cup juice) and let it sit for another 5 minutes. Lastly, i add this cup to the primary fermentor. I think that this process helps to prevent the yeast from getting shocked and gets thing going quite fast. I've never had any stalled fermentations by following this procedure.