Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsOK because it's cheap, but...
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019
I bought this somewhat on a lark because my wife and I are beginning to drink through our stock of better home made wines, some of which I want to age for a few years. So this was bought as a cheap daily drink to stop us from having to raid the good stuff.
This kit is meant to produce 5 gallons, but I only have 6 gallon carboys, so I decided to augment it with a can of Alexander's Sun Country cabernet concentrate. This turned out to be a good call, because this kit, plus the can, plus water up to 6 gallons yielded a must of just over 24 brix if memory serves, which is right about where I'd like it to be.
A less generous way to interpret this would be to say that this kit will NOT make a 6 gallon batch. It can probably only BARELY make a 5 gallon batch. You'll need to either augment it with concentrate or something else such as fresh/frozen grapes, or at least sugar (which would be kinda lame though, as it would give you the correct final alcohol but the flavor would be very thin). Or simply use a smaller vessel... if you can find one. The kit might have enough oomph to make a 4 gallon batch, but good luck finding a 4 gallon carboy.
I should also mention the acidity. Now I'll admit I didn't start taking pH readings until after I had combined the kit, concentrate and water... BUT... it seems as though this kit is not acidic enough. I know by now that if the must has an unpleasant flavor like cough syrup that is probably a clue that it is lacking acidity. Sure enough, the pH was 4.4, which is way too high. Fortunately I had some tartaric acid on hand, so I added it until the pH was around 3.5 and the flavor was much improved (cough syrup taste gone). I didn't test TA because my kit was out of reagent, so I don't know what the TA was. And like I said, I tested pH and tasted after it was already combined with the Alexander's, so I can't give specific recommendations on how much acid to add. It's entirely possible that the acidity would have been fine if I had just used the kit and water to make a 4 gallon batch. I can't say for sure, so I'll just offer a general word of caution: This is not the first kit I've encountered that needed acid adjustment, so just be sure to test and adjust accordingly. Getting the acidity right is one of the most important aspects of winemaking and it can mean the difference between making something you'll be happy with or something flat, insipid, and off-putting.
I'll try to remember to update this review when the wine is done and has aged a bit.
