The Enthusiastic Tasters
We are always talking to people about how good homebrew wine and beer are, but the real test of this is how they fair when compared against a branded bottle bought from the supermarket – and what better way to measure this than by a blind taste test.
Thrifty’s Paul is the in-house wine making expert and he set a few of the team a challenge this morning; could they spot the supermarket purchased wine?
The test consisted of three chilled white wines in clear bottles marked A, B & C:
Bottle A was a Solomon Grundy Medium Dry White - Made from a 30 bottle kit for £20.99. Brewed for 9 days. 73 Pence a bottle.
Bottle B was a Blossom Hill California White - Purchased yesterday from Paul’s local Co-op for. £4.04 a bottle.
Bottle C was a California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer - Made from a 30 bottle kit for £34.25. Brewed for 28 days. £1.14 a bottle.
Here’s what they said;
Matt, Managing Director
Bottle A - “Very palatable wine, it has a slightly sulphurous nose but very palatable”
Bottle B – “Slightly acidic taste, nose is good, average taste, a decent quaffing wine”
Bottle C – “Good nose, good taste, a lovely wine with a full flavour”
Darren, IT Guru
Bottle A – “Not a lot of flavour at first but I am getting a bit of a floral taste at the end”
Bottle B – “More taste in this one and a better aroma”
Bottle C – “Really good, loads of flavour, quite floral….can I have some more?”
Vanessa, Accountant
Bottle A – “Nice and smooth, the nose is not great but a very drinkable wine”
Bottle B – “This one is a bit sharp, quick drinkable but acidic”
Bottle C – “This is a bit too dry for me, it’s nice, but not one i’d choose to drink”
Russ, Warehouse Manager
Bottle A – “A little bit tart, quite nice but it’s not one i’d buy again”
Bottle B – “This is a good quaffing wine, it’s the kind of wine that my wife and I would buy”
Bottle C – “This one is really easy to drink, a good quality dry white”
The Result
So, which did our guinea pigs say was the bought wine?
Matt went for ‘C’ the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer
Darren went for ‘C’ the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer
Vanessa chose ‘A’ the Solomon Grundy Medium Dry White
Russ chose ‘B’ Blossom Hill California White
The Winner
The winner is home-made wine – the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer from The Thrifty Shopper weighing in an £1.14 a bottle.
For your reference - the equipment Paul used to brew these two homebrew wines;
The Beaverdale Starter Kit
If you have any questions about homebrew or would like to try making wine at home please visit The Thrifty Shopper or email us on info@thethriftyshopper.co.uk