It’s time to start a beer kit to be ready for when the warm weather hits. Wine Sense is pleased to offer Barons Beer kits- the original Bag in Box beer kit which offers the best value to anyone interested in making a beer. Simplicity and Quality go hand in hand for you to make your own micro-brewery style beer.

New to Beer Making?

It’s easy- you can use all of the same equipment that you use to make your wine- the only difference is that you use beer bottles and caps instead of wine bottles and corks. We have a selection of 500 ml and 1 litre PET Plastic beer bottles and you simply screw the cap on to close the bottle.

Methodology?

Beer making has the same principals as wine making. The Barons kits are ‘bag-in-box’ like the wine kits you make and are started pretty much the same. There are 2 main differences:

1.) You don’t have to stabilize or degas your beer kit.

2.) You add sugar at bottling time. The added sugar ferments in the sealed bottle which traps the produced C02 which in turn carbonates the beer.

In total you’re in the pail for about 1 week, the carboy for about 2 weeks to allow the beer to finish fermenting and clear and the bottle for about 2 weeks to carbonate.

The Barons beer kit includes 7.5 litres of prepared wort, the bottling sugar and most styles include a pack of Hop Pellets which are added for fresh hop character. Each kit produces 23 litres which will make you about 65 standard beer bottles or 5 and half dozen. There are 11 delicious styles to choose from.

All this at the amazing cost of about $4 a dozen!

So stop by your favourite Wine Sense location and get your summer beer started today and you’ll be ready for when the warm weather hits!

Cheers,

Craig- Wine Sense

ps All styles of Barons Beer are on sale for 20% off until April 28th!

For example some kits are adding oak cubes that go into the secondary instead of the primary or sometimes there are two packs of yeast or other add packs that have to be added.

And of course different manufactures have instructions that they feel work best for their kits- so what you are use to doing may be different when you try a different wine kit. It doesn’t mean one set of instructions is better or worse than the other- just different because the winemaker for a certain manufacturer has their philosophies.

A lot of work goes into wine kit instructions- they’re clear concise and really do make things easier. Especially when compared to many of the ‘do it yourself’ instructions that you see today…

So whenever you start your wine kit- review the instructions for any changes and follow them to ensure you make the best wine possible : )

Cheers,

Bruce, Manager (Wine Sense- Pembina Hwy)

Now you are thinking “What the heck? This hasn’t happened before… my wine always clears.”

There are a few things that could be the cause. One is doing a poor job of degassing your wine. Using the spoon or shaking the carboy does not always do a thorough job. Use a drill attachment Wine Whip to ensure there is no residual CO2 left in the wine. The second and most common problem is temperature. For a wine to clear consistently it has to be warm, about 22c. Most homes now have electronic thermostats that are programmed to lower the temperature during the day when nobody is home and at night when everyone is asleep. The house cools down during these periods and this slows down clearing. Remember the recommended temperature in your instructions if for the whole winemaking process- not just while the wine is fermenting. Finally- use your Hydrometer! If you stabilize your wine too soon you will have clearing problems.

Here are some ideas to help clearing:

-Use a heat belt to increase the temperature in the carboy. 

-Use a Digital Thermometer on your carboy- they’re in expensive but very useful. This will tell you at a glance what the wine temperature is. You might be surprised- remember your wall thermostat is only accurate for the location that it’s in.

-Set your carboy on an insulator on the table. Use a towel or piece of Styrofoam. The carboy will transfer cold from the table to the wine if there is no barrier between them. Also wrap your carboy if you have a ‘set-back’ thermostat or disable the ‘set-back’ function.

-Always use your Hydrometer.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Bruce, Manager (Wine Sense- Pembina Hwy)

It has a pronounced lime flavour and not sweet at all. I tried it on it’s own and blended with mineral water over ice, both equally tasty. This is one beverage everyone should have in their cellar for summer.

Cheers,

Margarita Bob, Manager (Wine Sense- Springfield)

note: Twisted Mist kits are on sale until May21st!

Young 'Ruth' and her mom!

Our 20th Anniversary Spin to Win last month was a very exciting day. The day was very busy with the excitement of the wheel spinning and lot’s of happy customers. At the Springfield store the day was also filled with thrills and spills. 

One of the many thrills was when a young girl and her mother came back Saturday morning after shopping on Friday- to try her luck on the wheel. The young girl proclaimed that she wanted to win the ‘whipper’ (our very popular Wine Whip) for her mother. The young girl lined up like the Mighty Ruth, called her shot and took a mighty spin and nailed it… One ‘Whipper’ was won! 

The spill ocurred after I had left for the day. Mike had a customer spin the wheel and unfortunately the wheel flew off it’s base and toppled 2 shelving units- sending everything flying. Fortunately no one was hurt – Mike was a little rattled at the time but he says in retrospect it was quite exciting. A bit like something you would see in a cartoon I’m sorry I missed it!

Cheers,

Bob, Manager (Wine Sense- Springfield)