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I've made 2 of these kits although I haven't made them exactly per the instructions. I started them at 5.5 gallons and added a little tweak to each one. I never topped off. I was just looking at my notes last night because someone wanted to know if I would make them a Barolo kit. Guess the bottle I gave them was good.
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The Barolo got 5 overripe, previously frozen bananas.
This won't make some landmark wine but a good everyday wine. If you aren't comfortable making changes to wine kits I would hold off. In some of the reviews folks are making these to 5 gallons and are satisfied. They didn't mention tweaks.
 
Those are Paklabs kits. You can search Paklab here on the forum to see what success rate people have with them. I wouldn't purchase them for enemies!
 
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Dean I hope we aren't enemies! Send me a PM for my addy. I will take any of them you would like to send. I am drinking the Barolo as I type.
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Jay, I'd call you a very skilled wine-maker to make those kits good. But, that just goes to show that everyone's palate is different. I'm seriously glad that you were able to make them to your liking. Maybe post your tweaks so that others may have the same success with them.
 
Dean, don't get me wrong. I bottled a CC Zin that I thought was fantastic. None of this wine has turned out fantastic but turned out pretty darn good considering the cost and expectations. It is really all about expectations isn't it?! As for the tweaks, well that is another reason I started messing with these kits. I wanted to experiment and the investment was low in case the experiment was a failure. One received 1 very ripe banana per gallon and the other received the banana treatment plus 3 cups of Vinter's Harvest Black Currant juice. I would increase the oak I used though. A little tweak for next time.
 
Everyone has different tastes and thats what wine is all about. Im on the edge about recommending any lower end kits much as some of them have really left a bad taste in my mouth and others were just okay. IMO if Im going to spend as much time as I do on making wine then it should be something I want to drink and not something that just passes over the tongue.
 
I've made four of these kits and have tasted three of them so far and for the money and only a four weekkit they have been good. I don't expect them to be great. But while my good kits are bulk aging a year in my carboys, I need someing to drink and these are really good for the money spent.
I doctored up my kits adding bananas and grapes from my backyard vineyard. Also I made them all 5 gallon kits instead of 6 gallon kits. These really are alot of fun to play with. And without spending a lot of money you feel like you can tweak and add additional ingredients and experiment.
They aren't the quality of a $120 kit but I've enjoyed playing with them. I've been drinking these during the summer and they are not bad. Not great but not bad. I really don't see these as being any different than the canned concentrates.


I think these Paklab kits are a good value for a quick drinking summer wine. My next batch may be a Chianti sangria. My orange tree is loaded with oranges.
Laura
 

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