Not country wine but ...
Not country wine but ...
Just to demonstrate that wine kits can be pretty good, I did a blind wine tasting with a bunch of 8 friends last week (2 of which "knew smth" about wine)... it was of Sauvignon Blanc*.... 5 wines including my "augmented" homebrew and a £12 bottle of Sancerre.
Which was the Sancerre? 3 voted for my homebrew SB, only 1 got it right
Which was the homebrew? only 2 got it right
Which do you prefer? a 3-all draw between homebrew SB and a rather nice NZ Marlborough
My "augmentation" was to add 50g of tartaric acid powder to the wine kit to give it a bit of zing ! next time I am going to add plenty of elderflower too. To my mind homebrew kit wine may taste OK, but it lacks zing and "nose"... hence the tartaric acid. I may also add citric acid next time.
and all this avoids the £2 a bottle plus VAT wine excise duty.....
* the kit was "California Connoisseur SB" and comes out at less than £2 a bottle materials cost
keep brewing!
Which was the Sancerre? 3 voted for my homebrew SB, only 1 got it right
Which was the homebrew? only 2 got it right
Which do you prefer? a 3-all draw between homebrew SB and a rather nice NZ Marlborough
My "augmentation" was to add 50g of tartaric acid powder to the wine kit to give it a bit of zing ! next time I am going to add plenty of elderflower too. To my mind homebrew kit wine may taste OK, but it lacks zing and "nose"... hence the tartaric acid. I may also add citric acid next time.
and all this avoids the £2 a bottle plus VAT wine excise duty.....
* the kit was "California Connoisseur SB" and comes out at less than £2 a bottle materials cost
keep brewing!
- doofaloofa
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1351
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:50 am
- Location: Wesht Cark, RoI
Re: Not country wine but ...
Good job Dave
ina wrote: die dümmsten Bauern haben die dicksten Kartoffeln
Re: Not country wine but ...
Congrats, always nice to prove that homebrew is as good as shop bought stuff.
Re: Not country wine but ...
I encourage "cheating" -
if your wine needs more zing - add some tartaric acid
if you want an SB cats-pee nose - add some elderflower syrup
If you want some oak, don't buy an oak barrel - get some oak chips and steep them in the wine
If you want to make whisky - just add oak chips to your clean vodka/spirit
any more?
if your wine needs more zing - add some tartaric acid
if you want an SB cats-pee nose - add some elderflower syrup
If you want some oak, don't buy an oak barrel - get some oak chips and steep them in the wine
If you want to make whisky - just add oak chips to your clean vodka/spirit
any more?
- doofaloofa
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1351
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:50 am
- Location: Wesht Cark, RoI
Re: Not country wine but ...
If you want to give the appearance of illusion, employ misdirection
ina wrote: die dümmsten Bauern haben die dicksten Kartoffeln
Re: Not country wine but ...
I gave up giving a damn about what others thought when I started making crazy brews (cock ale or energy drink wine for example). If people are going to care I will just cheat and give them kit stuff, otherwise I'll share what I have, including the very nice bottle of elderberry.
Life's too short and brewing too long to waste good wine on people who care more about the drink than the company.
Life's too short and brewing too long to waste good wine on people who care more about the drink than the company.
- doofaloofa
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1351
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:50 am
- Location: Wesht Cark, RoI
Re: Not country wine but ...
I prefer to drink alone anyway
ina wrote: die dümmsten Bauern haben die dicksten Kartoffeln
Re: Not country wine but ...
I've got to admit I do enjoy scaring friends and family with some of the stuff I do (my dad doesn't trust any glass I give him anymore, then again I never tell him what's in it).