Other Williams Brewing Kits

I'm still very green in wine making. I did a search and read a few things here about wine kits from Williams Brewing. I didn't see anything really negative, but not much positive either. I have a couple of empty 3-gal carboys and Williams offers 2.5gal kits for something like $32. I was thinking about buying two different kits and giving them a try. They also offer concentrate kits for basically the same price. The concentrate kits do not have any of the additives. I have to assume a concentrate kit is just that, a concentrate and it needs to have water added. My two RJS kits that I currently have also required water.

I sent them an email to inquire about the kits. I don't see any instructions posted on their site. Does anyone here have any knowledge of these kits and is the concentrate the better option?

Regular Kits:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CALIFORNIA-WINE-KITS-C35.aspx

Concentrates:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CALIFORNIA-WINE-CONCENTRATES--C36.aspx

I have only made the Muscat from their wine kits. I use this wine to blend with Zinfandel and I was entirely pleased with the results.

I don't think there is a difference between the kits and the concentrate. I kits I ordered came with only a packet of yeast and the can of concentrated juice.

Rocky said:

I have only made the Muscat from their wine kits. I use this wine to blend with Zinfandel and I was entirely pleased with the results.

I don't think there is a difference between the kits and the concentrate. I kits I ordered came with only a packet of yeast and the can of concentrated juice.

Click to expand...

OK, thanks for the feedback. The two kits I currently have were the bag-in-a box variety. A can of juice doesn't sound right, but I'm quite new at this and cans may not be uncommon.

limulus said:

OK, thanks for the feedback. The two kits I currently have were the bag-in-a box variety. A can of juice doesn't sound right, but I'm quite new at this and cans may not be uncommon.

Click to expand...

The price certainly seems right on them and they have received very good feedback in most cases. As a matter of fact, I was so pleased with the Muscat, I was going to try a red.

I have made their Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Zinfandel. They all tasted and looked oxidized. Each one finished more brown than purple/red. The PN and Zin, in my opinion were barely drinkable. The Malbec I ended up dumping because it was terribly oxidized (that one was probably my fault, however. I tried to store and age in bags rather than bottles and that was a total failure.) I love Williams Brewing beer kits and malts, but I won't use their wine kits anymore. I would use homewinery.com for lower cost wine kits.

I use Williams kits a lot. They make good wine and they are fairly easy to make.

The instructions are "limited" They assume you know how to make wine. The difference between their concentrates and kits is only the additives, if you have yeast and oak and tannins etc. get the concentrates. For the small difference in price, I always order the kits. Their Viognier kit was one of the best wine I have ever made! I just bottled their Petit Syrah and it has lots of promise.

I've made them exactly as instructed, I've made them with extended instructions, I've added oak and tannins, and I have one I'm getting ready to start that I will use a grape pack.

I don't think you can beat them at the price. Homewinery.com concentrates always finish with a sweet or VERY fruity taste, even though they finish well into the .99x's. I don't like that sweetness.

Thanks everyone for the additional replies.

roger80465 said:

I have made their Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Zinfandel. They all tasted and looked oxidized. Each one finished more brown than purple/red. The PN and Zin, in my opinion were barely drinkable. The Malbec I ended up dumping because it was terribly oxidized (that one was probably my fault, however. I tried to store and age in bags rather than bottles and that was a total failure.) I love Williams Brewing beer kits and malts, but I won't use their wine kits anymore. I would use homewinery.com for lower cost wine kits.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Roger. Good to know all of that. If I give them a shot, I will only try a 2.5 gallon kit and play around with it a little, e.g. with tannin, grape pack, fruit, etc.

Rocky said:

Thanks, Roger. Good to know all of that. If I give them a shot, I will only try a 2.5 gallon kit and play around with it a little, e.g. with tannin, grape pack, fruit, etc.

Click to expand...

Since I have these two empty 3gal carboys, I also plan to buy a couple of the 2.5gal kits. If they don't turn out, I won't be out that much $$

limulus said:

Since I have these two empty 3gal carboys, I also plan to buy a couple of the 2.5gal kits. If they don't turn out, I won't be out that much $$

Click to expand...

The'll be fine...don't worry. You will need to top up or get a set of headspace eliminators with 3 gallon carboys.

Limulus, I took the plunge and ordered a 5 gallon kit of Malbec. I have a homemade Cabernet Sauvignon grape pack that I plan to add along with some oak chips in the primary. I might go with some raisins, oak cubes and tannin in secondary. I probably should have just ordered a 2.5 gallon kit to try it out, but I, "In for a penny, in for a pound!"

I'll be interested to hear what you think of the kit.

I've made the Malbec and wasn't too impressed with it. It wasn't bad, just not my style. Malbec seems to be one of those wines that varies so much from vendor to vendor that I like some and not so much on others.

A Cab grape kit might be what it needs, but the interesting thing about winemaking is that you'll never be sure until its done!

Oh, and I don't like oaky Malbecs, but again, its your choice.

DoctorCad, Malbec may be an acquired taste. To me, it is reminiscent of Zinfandel, which I really like. I am thinking that the Cabernet Sauvignon will soften it a touch. As for the oak, I think I might have been a squirrel in a previous life.

Too soon to tell, but I don't think there are any gold medals in my future with this Williams Brewing Malbec! I started out with a nice SG of 1.102 and fermented nicely with no problems. I have it in the secondary fermenter (moved at SG 1.021) and it is bubbling away. When this ceases, I plan to stabilize with K-meta and move to a clean carboy with oak cubes and tannin. I am not planning to use raisins at this point. The photo below shows it current state and the Williams Malbec is right next to a WE Argentine Malbec. Note the difference in color. I may end up with a Rose' (or 5 gallons of CH3COOH). Oh, well, "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

You don't think that is just the appearance due to light scattering from the suspended yeast and other particles?

That may be a part of it, Paul, but it has a decidedly reddish color as opposed to the other Malbec which is a deep purple. I expect that it will darken a bit but not as much as the Argentine version. Time will tell.

williams

I have done a few kits but mainly white wine. They came out OK. I had to teak them a bit with Oak zest,sugar,etc. I was wondering has anyone tried to do any MDF on any of the reds?

Thanks ,
Corinth

Neger saw that with my Williams kits.
Wonder why its so "pink"?

The color of my Williams Brewing Company Malbec is still God-awful, maybe God-awfuller. I am considering adding food coloring.