Hey its Leeboy!

[Leeboy]

hi gang, Im Lee from Kamloops B.C. I just did my first Shiraz from a $45 kit from superstore. 3 of us tried it and we all think it taste like some one squirted lemon juice in our glass.

 

[Rocky]

hi gang, Im Lee from Kamloops B.C. I just did my first Shiraz from a $45 kit from superstore. 3 of us tried it and we all think it taste like some one squirted lemon juice in our glass.

Are you saying the wine is too acidic? Have you tested the pH level?

 

[Julie]

Hi Leeboy,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. Can you explain a little more on why you think your wine taste like lemon? And how long ago did you make this kit?

 

[Arne]

hi gang, Im Lee from Kamloops B.C. I just did my first Shiraz from a $45 kit from superstore. 3 of us tried it and we all think it taste like some one squirted lemon juice in our glass.

Welcome, glad you found us. On first glance, kinda sounded like you made a batch of skeeter pee. Anyway, we need a little more information and maybe we can help. Arne.

 

[Flem]

Welcome to the forum!! I think you grabbed the lemonade by mistake. LOL

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Leeboy]

Thanks for accepting me everyone...." I am not an animal...."
Well where to start. I was brand new to this, and my friend who works at the paint store helped me since he says he has done it a million times.
He came over the 1st night and since i only had one carboy , we made step 1 in a brand new/steralized 5 gallon paint bucket. ( he said we could make up the loss of water later, when we poured it in the carboy. So, the 1st stage sat in the carboy with the paint lid 3/4 on with enuff just for it to breath.
So, when stage 2 came , we siphoned off into the carboy , added the ingredients and topped it off with enuff water. ( he also used some measuring device to float in there) Now, with this stage i didnt have a bung and the proper breather hat goes into the top of the bung. All he did was wrap some saran wrap around the top of the carboy. This was a 21 day kit, and at that stage , the wine sat in the carboy for atleast 21 days to a month( wrapped with just plastic around the spot) for he was too buzy to come and help me and i thought id make things worse. He finally came over and we siphoned it again. He told me to wait a couple days and then do the clearing etc and bottle and then start the party It looks nice and deep red, un-foggy but after a sip we shake our heads like we bit into a lemon...I will still probably swill it down as long as it doesnt hurt me. I would like to make a new one soon with different characteristics , for which i will start a new thread in the right forum. But for this one, can anyone see where we might have went wrong

 

[grapeman]

Do yourself a favor and buy a better kit first of all. A $45 kit will not make a very good wine. Secondly get a proper winemaking kit with a bucket, hydrometer (floaty thing used) a proper bung and airlock. You don't need a lot to begin, but you will do better with these essentials. A baloon over the top of the carboy with a tiny hole pricked in it would be better than Saran wrap. Always add the proper amount of water at the beginning, and not after that.

Also, wine needs more than a month to taste good. Even yours will improve a bit with more time to age.

 

[Redtrk]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[robie]

Welcome.

Yep, you get what you pay for! I would wait until I could buy the proper equipment before trying this again.

Also, almost any new red kit wine is going to taste very tart for a few months.

 

[Wade E]

Can you tell us exactly what kit this was. Was it in a box or a can. Ive made the canned ones and they were horrible like you state! What wine kits do you have available to you there? Weve made pretty much all of them and can tell you what the good, the bad and the ugly 1's are! LOL

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Leeboy]

I now have a kit i picked off craigslist. I cant find the packaging , but i found one set of instructions. "All it says is 28 Day (4 week) Wine kits"
It was about $45 from Superstore and the box was very colorful. One side said red wine...The other said white wine. I remember it being difficult to figure out which one i was buying . haha...

 

[Putterrr]

I now have a kit i picked off craigslist. I cant find the packaging , but i found one set of instructions. "All it says is 28 Day (4 week) Wine kits"
It was about $45 from Superstore and the box was very colorful. One side said red wine...The other said white wine. I remember it being difficult to figure out which one i was buying . haha...

Costco around here sells a shiraz that is a 4 week kit with about 7 L of juice. they are being made by too many people that i know due to the cheap price. unfortunately its hard to avoid it at gatherings and it is not great stuff. Do your self a favour and try 6 week premium kits. cost more but worth every penny

fermented in a paint bucket! yikes

 

[marquis]

Boy, you miss something while doing that.

you have care for it's taste. Wine must be delicious in our mouth.

 

[Leeboy]

Here is the kit i tried

 

[Wade E]

Are good wine kits hard to get a hold of over there? I thought that area was where they make most of these kits. I hate to tell you but buying these heap kist is going to keep dissapointing you and you may find ytourself saying all kits are garbage and give it all up and you will be very wrong!

 

[Brian]

I agree with "you get what you pay for", and the patience. its can be very very good.. Stay with us we will guide you down the right road..

 

[Leeboy]

Thanks gang....I will never surrender......My step Dad just dropped me off all my equipment i bought, so i am going to start a thread now for help.

 

[Leeboy]

After reading on here, it looks like i did a boo-boo. When i corked my wine, i just pulled the corks right out of the package ( which were a bulk pack and put them directly in without any kind of steralizing... How bad is this?