Quick, easy, inexpensive pinot for first time winemaker (but veteran homebrewer)

[alfista]

Hi all,

I have a friend who I can't get to drink beer, but she loves white wine and is not super picky about quality.

Can anyone recommend a good quick, easy, inexpensive recipe/kit that I could find online and would be drinkable young? I would also like to serve out of my kegerator and can control pressure independently for the one tap. I have a 54L demijohn to dedicate to the task.

Cheers!

Jason

I

Ideall

 

[Yooper]

The most inexpensive ones I know of (that are still pretty good!) are the Winexpert kits. They are about $60 or so in most homebrew shops. They aren't fine wine, but they make decent wine. All wine kits make 6 US gallons, so you need a 6 gallon carboy.

 

[alfista]

The most inexpensive ones I know of (that are still pretty good!) are the Winexpert kits. They are about $60 or so in most homebrew shops. They aren't fine wine, but they make decent wine. All wine kits make 6 US gallons, so you need a 6 gallon carboy.

Thanks Yooper - I'll give that a try. I have a few 6g carboys but I assume I can use the 14g demijohn, or maybe I'll just double the batch size.

 

[ArrogantDusty]

+1 on the Winexpert kits. I have a neighbor who used them for a long time.

 

[tjdavid]

Respects to Yooper, but I've found that the lower end WinExpert kits turn out better when made as a 5 gallon batch, instead of 6 gallons.

Also, some minor tweeks will help you to make even lower end kits taste better.
1) If oak dust is provided, think about ditching that for oak cubes or adding the cubes in addition to the dust.
2) Test the acidity of the wine. Adding tartaric acid, as needed, will give you a better tasting wine with a longer shelf life.
3) Don't be afraid to let your wine age in the carboy for longer than the instructions tell you to.
Try these instructions from Tim Vandergrist of WinExpert:
http://www.winemakermag.com/component/content/article/26/850

Enjoy!