http://www.clickabrew.com

June 2003

Brew King Products Coming Soon
We are pleased to announce that we will now be carrying the Brew King line of wine and beer making products. Brew King is touted as the world's largest manufacturer of premium winemaking kits.

Based in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, Brew King Limited is wholly owned by Andrés Wines Ltd., a major national winery in Canada. With all production located at the company's head offices, Brew King Limited has a current staff of over 40 employees.

Founded in the mid-1980s, Brew King now manufactures a total of eight wine kit brands, including Selection™, its premium 15 litre, 6-week brand, and Island Mist™, an exciting refreshment beverage product line offering natural fruit flavour pairings with varietal wines. In addition, the company offers up the industry's largest and most respected limited release program with Selection Limited Edition™, with four premium wines available one-time only, released one per month starting in January. Brew King also manufactures the Barons Premium Beer Kit™ line for beer makers.

Much of Brew King's continued success is based on its unwavering commitment to quality and innovation in its philosophy of manufacturing the absolute top quality brands possible. This is achieved through careful attention to detail at all levels in Brew King's manufacturing process, from the grapes in the vineyard right through to the product on the shelf. Though it has earned the reputation for the highest quality, most consistent product on the market, Brew King continually strives to push the envelope on what can be achieved with home winemaking products..

Brew King's products are the most widely distributed in the industry, currently offered for sale in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland and China.

Brew King prides itself on not only offering the most complete product package, but the most comprehensive customer service and technical backup in the industry as well.

As you can see, we are very pleased and excited to have acquired the dealership for another prestigious line of winemaking products. We now offer you products from the two top wine kit manufacturers in the world. Brew King products will be a great addition to our award-winning RJ Spagnols line. You will now have more choices than ever! It is also interesting to note that both Brew King and RJ Spagnols are owned by major wineries (RJ Spagnols is owned by Vincor International - one of North America's largest wineries). The benefits of this to you as a consumer are many. These include modern processing facilities, access to grapes reserved for commercial wineries and a wealth of winemaking knowledge. I'm sure you can think of many more benefits.

We will be gradually adding the complete line of Brew King products over the next couple of months. Please check regularly for new additions.

Best regards,
Bill Reddy
President, Brewery Lane Ltd.

Wine Kit Special of the Month
Every month we feature two Grand Cru wine kits at a fantastic price. This is a great way to try new varieties and to stock up your cellar with a cross-section of interesting wines. Grand Cru are our most popular and best-selling wine kits. Manufactured by RJ Spagnol's, one of the world's leading wine kit producers, you are guaranteed exceptional quality.

This month's featured kits:

Merlot - A smooth rich wine, medium dark in colour, tasting of blackberry and currants. You’ll note a hint of green olive in the nose.

Sauvignon Blanc -A clean, refreshing wine offering a light, fruity aroma with green, herbal flavours and a touch of mint. A unique French-style wine that ages well.

Regular Price $59.95 CAD $43.70 USD     Sale Price $51.99 CAD ($37.90 USD)

Please visit Clickabrew to order online.

Brew House Prairie Wheat Beer

A new limited release Brew House beer style from RJ Spagnol's.

Summertime is prime time for wheat beers. Brew House "Prairie Wheat" is a light, summer thirst-quencher filled with the distinctive, refreshing flavour of malted wheat. A Canadian version of the classic German wheat beers, it leans towards the "clean and crisp". Brewed with the yeast included in the kit, Prairie Wheat will produce a light bodied, clean brew, with a subtle hop character. However, if traditional wheat beers with the exotic flavours of cloves and banana are your style, a specialized liquid yeast will spice it up.

It is a perfect beer with pretzels, smokies and grilled meats

Shop for Brew House Online.

Ten Most Common Winemaking Mistakes

1. Using the Wrong Equipment
When making your wine, don’t just grab anything you see around the house; like garbage cans or wooden spoons. These can’t be sanitized easily and might taint your wine. Proper winemaking equipment is made of food-grade plastic and is designed to give you the best results possible.

2. Dirty Equipment
Cleaning means removing visible residue. It’s really important. Use chlorinated cleaner or Bio-Clean on your equipment and rinse well. Once everything is clean, you can move onto sanitation.

3. Poor Sanitation
Sanitizing means treating equipment with a substance that will reduce or remove bacteria. Clean and sanitize everything that touches your wine; fermentors, carboys, hoses, thermometers, spoons. Ninety percent of winemaking failures can be traced to poor cleaning or faulty sanitation.

4. Ignoring or Changing the Instructions
Follow each manufacturer’s instructions carefully. These people find the best procedures for getting the best possible results from the ingredients in the kit.

5. Using the Wrong Water
If your tap water is drinkable, chances are you can make wine with it. That said, some water can leave your wine hazy or give it off flavours. (Ed: We highly recommend distilled water. By using distilled water you are putting back what the wine kit manufacturer took out and nothing else. If you can’t get distilled water you can use bottled or filtered water.)

6. Not Adding the Yeast Correctly
Be sure to follow the kit instructions when adding your yeast. We recommend sprinkling the yeast over the surface of 18 to 25°C (65 to 80°F) juice and not stirring. If the temperature is wrong, the yeast won’t be happy. And if you stir it in, you can suffocate it.

7. Poor Temperature Control
Kit instructions tell you to ferment your wine within a specific temperature range. We recommend 20 to 23°C (70 to 75°F). Yeast likes these temperatures and it doesn’t like fluctuations. Temperature control is important, but you don’t need to get obsessive over it. Just use your common sense.

8. Adding Sulphite and Sorbate at the Wrong Time
If you add these too early, your wine will stop fermenting and the yeast won’t convert any more sugar into alcohol. The wine will end up extra sweet and the alcohol level will be low.

9. Leaving out the Sulphite
Kits include a package of sulphite which you stir into the wine. Sulphite prevents your wine from spoiling, so please don’t leave it out. Wine without added sulphite may have a shelf life as short as one month. However, if you think you are sensitive or allergic to sulphites, please consult your doctor.

10. Not Stirring Enough
Eventually you need to clear your wine. You do this by adding natural substances like gelatin and a clay called bentonite. These come with the kit and need to be dispersed thoroughly throughout the wine. This means stirring. And stirring. And stirring. Even if your arm gets sore.

Last Month:

Last month our feature article was on wine closures. We explored the pros and cons of different bottle closures. We also had a tip about adding grape concentrate to your fruit wines. If you missed these or other interesting articles you can view our back issues at http://www.clickabrew.com/newsletters.html.