Budget Wine Kit ?

[Greg2013]

Is there such a thing as a decent budget wine kit ? By this i mean a wine kit for similar price as an extract kit,so that would be a 30 bottle kit for say 30-35 euro. I have to be honest i wont pay 50-70 euro for any kit wine or beer,i don't care how good it is touted to be by the HBS selling it.I would expect wine kits to be similar price to beer kits,i mean there is more ingredients in a beer brew and hops are expensive so why are wine kits so expensive then ?  I just don't see why wine kits are 2-2.5 times the price of a good beer kit is or is there something i am missing here ?

Went looking for a wine kit tonight to put down for Christmas but when i saw the "good ones" at 60 euro and above i said fook that.So where does that leave someone like me that wants to lay down some wine but simply can't justify lashing that much on a single kit ?

[Damo]

Jeez Greg

For a man so familiar with the interweb

Search, wow wine!

Tho, u might be cuttin it for for xmas, but worth a shot.

Apart from orange n' white grape, apple n' either white or red grape is just as good.

Cheap as chips

Edit:  sorry, Wow = wurzels orange wine. Thread should be on 'home brew forum' uk!

[Greg2013]

Jeez Greg

For a man so familiar with the interweb

Search, wow wine!

Tho, u might be cuttin it for for xmas, but worth a shot.

Apart from orange n' white grape, apple n' either white or red grape is just as good.

Cheap as chips

Edit:  sorry, Wow = wurzels orange wine. Thread should be on 'home brew forum' uk!

Yep i have done wines like that before that turned out quite nice but they were for my own consumption,this time i wanted to get a "real" wine kit for fussy family members that don't drink beer or spirits lol. Yes i reckon i am cutting it tight for Christmas but going to try anyway.At the moment i am in the middle of rebuilding my brew gear so with buying bits and bobs for that i can't justify 60 euro for a wine kit from one of the home brew shops.

[RichC]

I don't think 2 quid a bottle is unreasonable for a good kit. Apparently you can taste the kit wines in that guys shop in kells. I intend going g up some day and trying them. I'm curious too about kit wine quality but I don't see the point in making 30 bottles of the equivalent of cheap plonk.

[@geterbrewed]

We have a few options that you may want to look at;
Cellar 7 Wine Kits, sugar inclusive wine kits that produce a very drinkable wine
7 in the range all €35.73 plus you get a free 33litre fermenter;
http://geterbrewed.ie/cellar-7-wine-kits/

Prestige Dried Grape Wine Kits (needs sugar); relatively new to the homebrew scene in Ireland but sell exceptionally well throughout Europe
http://geterbrewed.ie/prestige-dried-grape-powder-wine-kits/
White €26.75
Red €29.13

[Greg2013]

I don't think 2 quid a bottle is unreasonable for a good kit. Apparently you can taste the kit wines in that guys shop in kells. I intend going g up some day and trying them. I'm curious too about kit wine quality but I don't see the point in making 30 bottles of the equivalent of cheap plonk.

Maybe not but lashing 60-70 euro all in one go is a bit of a stretch tbh,especially when it all go belly up and taking into account that you could brew 3 batches of good beer for that.I don't think it unreasonable to ask for a 30 bottle decent wine kit for the same money as a decent beer kit,i'm not after top of the line wine as i don't drink enough to warrant that,i don't want paint stripper either,something in between is what i want.

[TheCavanMan]

Ok, let me get this right.

1. You reckon €2 a bottle is qood value, but €60 for 30 bottle is not...ummmmh
2. You want to brew a large batch but don't actually drink a lot of wine...ummmh

So really what you need to do is define how much you want to spend. Then see what the best is for that money.
You have a choice, quality or quantity, your choice.

So if you want to spend €30 (average all malt beer kit). do you want 30 bottles of piss, or 12 bottle of reasonable quality wine.

Only you can answer those questions.

€38 for a 12 bottle kit, good quality, not too much that you won't drink and €3 a bottle.
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/12-bottle-sadlers-reserve-wine-kits-320-c.asp

[Greg2013]

Ok first off let me state taste is subjective,therefore what is piss to you may be ok to me as is the case with all home brew.If i was paying 2.00 euro in a shop then yes that would be great value wine however what you seem to be forgetting is that it matters not a jot that the kit will be 2 euro a bottle if you still have to lash 60.00 euro up front.

Second in my own personal opinion wine kits(and wine in general) are overpriced for what they are and for what you get and i just wont pay it,it's that simple.I think there is a lot of snobbery when it comes to wine and wine brewing that is used to artifically
inflate price and i wont play that game.

I simply see no good reason that you can't get a reasonable wine in a 30 bottle kit for average 30 euro like you can with beer,that's all.Ok i don't actually want to brew 30 bottles per se but the amount of 12/15 bottle kits is very limited IMHO,there does not seem to be a great choice of intermediate size wine kit brews, and i will be honest i know feck all about which is good and which is not as i have never brewed wine from a kit,only from scratch from shop bought grape juice.

12 bottle kit would do me just fine, i want a wine that is going to turn out sweet(ish) but not so sweet it will rot your teeth,a light crisp white,something akin to say a bottle of Liebfraumich from Lidl/Aldi,that would do me just fine.I would do 30 bottle kit to get the right wine but i simply can't afford 60 euro on a single kit atm, i am building new brew gear and i have several bits and bobs to get for that which take priority.

[molc]

If you want liebfraumich then I think the cheapest kit you can get should give you what you want tbh. At that style, I agree you should be able to get a cheap, bountiful kit at the price point your suggesting.
That said, it really is a terrible terrible wine. When we make beer, we produce a quality product at a good pricepoint. I don't know the costs of the raw materials for wine making, but I'm happy to spend more to get something of good quality. My issue is I'm still looking for a kit that matches a good bottle of wine.

[Greg2013]

If you want liebfraumich then I think the cheapest kit you can get should give you what you want tbh. At that style, I agree you should be able to get a cheap, bountiful kit at the price point your suggesting.
That said, it really is a terrible terrible wine. When we make beer, we produce a quality product at a good pricepoint. I don't know the costs of the raw materials for wine making, but I'm happy to spend more to get something of good quality. My issue is I'm still looking for a kit that matches a good bottle of wine.

Agreed Molc i don't particularily like it myself,i was going to do the Aldi juice option but they have stopped selling their peach/ white grape juice and i am not sure if anything else out there matches,i figure i can do close to a good Liebfraumich that way as i have done in the past.A 12/15 bottle kit would do me as it is for presents and i don't drink much wine but like you no idea on what is a good kit in that range,although the Sadlers reserve suggested above i hear is quite good. Tbh i just dont have 60-70 euro to spend on a kit atm due to brewing upgrades.

[Damofto]

Hey Greg,

I've no real interest in wines myself but I'd recommend you try the Magnum 14 days kits at Homebrewest for 24.95, my dad's been brewing them for about a year now and they make a nice wine.  He's quite happy with them. They require and additional 2 or 3kg Dextrose though.

http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,8084.0/topicseen.html

[Will_D]

In my OP I mention the Lidl Red grape juice. It will make a superb Lambrusco!

Also try Tesco - they may have a white grape juice!

This discusion about the quality of wine kits means one thing and ONE THING ONLY:

We need a competition/showcase to show every one just what you can brew with Lidl/Cheap'o kits/Medium kits/Effing Expensive kits/ And of course my vintage port!

Any one near NCB territory is more than welcome to sample Sadlers Wells (++Expensive) to Solomon Grundy (medium low €) to all free country wines. Did I also mention the port?

[molc]

I think your preaching to the converted. If I could find out the relative qualities of each type of kit, I'd be happy to lay down my money for what's good. Have a Sadler reserve cab I a vinotainer for the last 2 months and I'm still not happy with the flavour. If I can find the magic kit that is to my taste, I'd spend the money

[Greg2013]

In my OP I mention the Lidl Red grape juice. It will make a superb Lambrusco!

Also try Tesco - they may have a white grape juice!

This discusion about the quality of wine kits means one thing and ONE THING ONLY:

We need a competition/showcase to show every one just what you can brew with Lidl/Cheap'o kits/Medium kits/Effing Expensive kits/ And of course my vintage port!

Any one near NCB territory is more than welcome to sample Sadlers Wells (++Expensive) to Solomon Grundy (medium low €) to all free country wines. Did I also mention the port?

A "redneck" wine showcase,i like the sound of that,but seriously yes it would be good to see the difference and to show people on a budget or on the fence that you can brew a reasonable wine for cheap from shop bought juice.And yes i believe Tesco do sell white grape juice cheap enough.