# Notes on my wine/mead making (newbie)



## the_rayway (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi All,
Raelene from Winnipeg here - I'm so happy to be joining the site, so much fantastic information and great advice!

I've been thinking about making homemade wines/meads for over a decade and now and am pumped to be finally doing it.

I've posted a couple of tentative things on the site, and I hope that one day I will be able to contribute (instead of begging for help) 

Currently working on:
Rhuberry Wead
Sour Apple Wine
Blueberry Wine (wow, is it ever slow to start!)

Ray


----------



## robie (Aug 9, 2012)

Welcome to the forum. When a question is asked, feel free to contribute what you already know.


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 15, 2012)

I guess I'll use this as a bit of a record of what I'm doing/have done (apologies if I bore anyone!) I'm using Terry Garey's book as a guideline for these recipes because she makes it seem simple, and I love her sense of humour.

Here are a couple of pics of what is currently on tap: Apple Wine, Wild Blueberry Wine, Rhuberry Mead, & Cellar Craft Amarone. The picture in the shot glass is the Rhuberry at first racking. My Apple may be going through spontaneous MLF, but I'm not totally sure... 

I'm thinking to try a gallon of pear wine, I got 16-1 gallon jugs from a really nice lady in town so I feel rich in carboy space! Also planning to do an Orange Creamsicle Mead, and possibly a Caramel Apple Wine. Mmmmmmmm wine named after desserts 

I'll post more as I go along!


----------



## winemaker_3352 (Aug 15, 2012)

Welcome aboard!!!


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 18, 2012)

Woot! I hit the mini-jackpot this week! 

Got the 'throw away' peaches from the farmer's market for .99/Lb so I've got 5 Lbs in the freezer prepped and ready to go, plus I found dead ripe raspberries and blackberries at the Sobey's cash & carry for $10/flat (5Lbs)! This is unheard of up here! 

I only picked up a flat of each as I'm trying to mostly do 1 Gallon batches to start with this year with the country wines just in case I screw up. This means I can add a few more batches for this fall once my honey comes in! 

My husband is starting to think I'm crazy...


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 24, 2012)

So, we racked the Blueberry Wine last night and WOW. It tastes like heaven! I figured it would be all nasty and alcohol burn and green, but it was delicious! 

It hasn't finished fermenting out the sugar - still at 1.008, but considering we started at just over 1.100 it's already at a good 12%. The blueberry is more subtle now and the colour is this amazing, vibrant, hot red. Makes my Malbec look brown 

I think that this one is going to be a keeper! Definitely a yearly brew.


----------



## robie (Aug 24, 2012)

the_rayway said:


> So, we racked the Blueberry Wine last night and WOW. It tastes like heaven! I figured it would be all nasty and alcohol burn and green, but it was delicious!
> 
> It hasn't finished fermenting out the sugar - still at 1.008, but considering we started at just over 1.100 it's already at a good 12%. The blueberry is more subtle now and the colour is this amazing, vibrant, hot red. Makes my Malbec look brown
> 
> I think that this one is going to be a keeper! Definitely a yearly brew.



That's great. If you drink it very fast, you might consider making it more often that once a year, provided yu have a source for berries.


----------



## Dend78 (Aug 24, 2012)

AWESOME, there is something about Blueberry isnt there, i started super small and super rough on mine and it still turned out awesome, when i say rough no hydrometer, no plan to follow just went with my gut and still turned out really good.

you have some good looking carboys going there keep us updated!!


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 1, 2012)

So my Rhubarb looks like it's _finally_ done fermenting - whew! I thought it would never finish! It`s super-dry at .994, and has an ABV of about 14%. I beat the heck out of it yesterday with the drill to degas, and this morning added 2.5 very fresh Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans. My hope is that the vanilla will smooth out some of the very acidic rhubarb flavour.

I also added .5 of a bean to my apple wine. Cause I love apples and vanilla 

If you love vanilla beans in your wine or mead, I found a fantastic place online to order from. I got a quarter pound of beans (came out to 29) of high grade Madagascar beans for $25 including shipping! It`s called the Vanilla Food Company and they have $7 shipping anywhere in Canada. Sure beats spending $7 for two shrivelled beans at the grocery store! These puppies will be headed into my Orange Creamsicle mead this fall as well.

Blueberry is perking along quite nicely and is down to 1.008 (from 1.100ish!), and we`ve got a Cellar Craft Sterling Cabernet that we just started. Gotta have stuff to drink while the fresh wine is on the make!

Also, on a different note, I just finished my 13th batch of canning for the summer - we are going to eat GOOD this winter! And the tomatoes are just starting to ripen!


----------



## Julie (Sep 1, 2012)

Hi Raelene welcome to winemakingtalk


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 5, 2012)

Thanks All! 
Robie - They're frozen wild canadian berries, so I can get them all year round  
Dend78 - I'm thinking that blueberries just taste so good in general that it's pretty hard to mess it up - how awesome is that!

So today my son is 3 months old, and I finally crushed all 45Lbs of my crabapples - whew - that's a workout. Gave me 2.5Gal of cider though, so well worth it 

The juice is nice, not too acidic at about a .9 (finally got my acid test kit and think I did the test right), and has a nice light rose colour. S.G. is 1.050. Not too shabby! I'm thinking that I'm going to make it into 3x1gal batches once primary ferment is over, and play a little bit. One with spices, one with caramel, one with...something else...

Also, just got a call from my honey lady and the golden stuff is in!  Still trying to decide how to divvy it up with everything I want to experiment with. I finally got Ken Schramm's book, so it's giving me some ideas for melomel additions in terms of amounts of fruit. I think I might have convinced my hubby that he should give a try to making a braggot out of some malt he has sitting around too.

I love fall!


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 16, 2012)

I think this is my year! I signed up for a Fruit Share pick for grapes (concord, of course) along with three other people. My hope was that I would get enough for a one gallon batch of actual grape wine  But then...I'm at the owner's house and snipping away and - NO ONE ELSE SHOWED UP!!! Mine! All mine!!!

I picked 60Lbs of grapes in an hour and a half (with baby there, I might add), and the homeowner didn't want her 1/3 share either! Wow! This means after I donated the 1/3 share to charity I had 40Lbs all to myself! I picked up a press and went to work.

I got 15 litres of juice, doing everything wrong and losing a lot because I threw out the skins without letting them drip. My garbage can was full of juice an hour later  Still, this is good! S.G. was 1.086, but the acid was .8% My test kit says it should be .6% so I diluted and added some sugar to the 23Litre mark (6Gal US). Ended up with an S.G. of 1.096 and acid of .6% dead on.

Popped in the usual suspects and am waiting to pitch the yeast. What an exciting day!

My library is starting to look awfully full though...


----------



## bover907 (Sep 18, 2012)

Nice looking grapes, and BEAUTIFUL Baby! I'm only on my first batch, and know I'm going to get addicted to doing this, but Wow, you're busy! lol. Keep it up. I need to learn how to can.


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 18, 2012)

Thanks Brian! I had no idea that this year was going to be THIS busy! What is your first batch? How's it coming along? Canning is easy, as long as you can set aside an hour or so - you have enough time to do a batch! The Bernardin website is a great resource  

Yeast is pitched into the Concord grape must, temp was way lower than I wanted, so may need to pop on a heat belt to get it up a bit more. Temps have fallen quickly over the last few days with September rolling on. I'm resisting putting on the furnace because I love that feeling of being warm and toasty under your blankets with a cold nose!

I think the crab apple is about ready to transfer to carboys, just need to decide on what spices and in what amounts to add them. 

Does anyone know a good brand name of label you can print at home that comes off nicely? I've got all these designs for my wine, but don't want to print them on regular Averys because they are heck to get off!


----------



## bover907 (Sep 18, 2012)

First batch is concord, but mine's from welch's concentrate, lol. I wanted to go on the cheap the first time around, just to get the process down, and in case I screw it up.


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 19, 2012)

I had only planned to do a couple of batches since it is my first year too...then I got all of this fruit!! My canning cupboard is full already, so it's all going to wine. In a couple of years I am going to have a heck of a starter wine cellar! Lol!


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 24, 2012)

Here are a couple of pictures on my wine progress (left to right, front to back):

Turbo yeast started in pail (hopefully for cooking vanilla & light liqueurs...first time trying it)
Concord grape wine,
White Zinfandel (For a friend),
Apple Wine,
3x Crab Apple wines: one caramel vanilla, one spiced, one for top up,
Blueberry Wine
Rhuberry Mead
CC Sterling Cabernet
CC Sterling Amarone

The shot glasses are the Apple and Rhuberry (together), and Blueberry Wine. I also tossed in a picture of my canning cupboard, which is beautifully full right now. All I have left for canning should be more tomatoes  I've already got 3 batches of salsa (note the yellow tomato + habanero pepper Nuclear Salsa), and one of ketchup. 
______________________
Soon (hopefully) to start:
Chocolate Orange Port
Orange Creamsicle Mead
Raspberry Mead
Blackberry Mead
Pear Wine
Peach-Sunflower Mead

I'm almost embarrassed to let people into the library these days, it feels a little...excessive? (obsessive?)...? I can't help it though! It's so much fun! I may need to start investing in more of the 3 gallon carboys though - all six of those soon-to-be batches will be 3 gals each 

I'll have to start staggering these so I can be busy all winter - and drinking by spring!


----------



## GreginND (Sep 24, 2012)

Time for bigger facilities!  Looks great!

By the way, if you ever get down to Fargo, let me know. I've got plenty here for tasting.


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 25, 2012)

Thanks for the invite GreginND! 
Love Fargo  will let you know the next time we're in the area!

We tested the s.g. of our blueberry last night, down to 1.000. We racked it and drank the sample. The taste has become VERY earthy. Don't know if this is normal, or is because we used Bentonite in the last racking to help with clearing. Hopefully it will decrease significantly over the next little while. A bit concerned that we might have diluted this one a bit too much as well as we have mostly topped up with water. Thinking about an F-pack, or finding a few bottles of pure blueberry juice to help out...when to add?

We also cracked open a 1/2 bottle of my Apple Tatin Port we bottled just before Luther was born (3ish months ago). INCREDIBLE. It has smoothed out so much, the apple is now starting to really meld with the caramel/toffee flavours. And the colour! Pure sparkling amber. I'll post a picture next time we have a glass (tonight?); have to finish the bottle of course  Has anyone else made this port?


----------



## the_rayway (Oct 16, 2012)

So it`s been a busy little while for us here, and not just with wine making! I can`t seem to get a moments peace or space (or sleep) for anything...

We managed to filter and bottle out Cabernet & Amarone. Funnily enough, the Amarone test bottle tasted much less green than the Cab. We had thought it would be almost un-drinkable for a year or so! My girlfriend also finished her White Zin - which again turned out beautifully. I think I`m starting to be spoiled with this one.

My library was starting to look a little empty, so during Luther`s nap the other day, I decided to start my very first `traditional`mead. Which I plan to flavour later. After reading up on this for about a decade, I thought I had the process well in hand. And then:

a) I put the bucket into a pot on the stove to melt it slightly - ended up melting the bottom out of the bucket and literally threw the honey at the fermenting pail before it all drained out the bottom into the water. Honey water splashed all over the kitchen;
b) I added too much water and watered the s.g. down too much;
c) pitched my D-47 yeast when the temp was around 95 degrees F.

Turns out that maybe making mead when you`ve been up for over 72 hours is not the best idea?

Even with all of that, it still was bubbling away when I came downstairs the next morning. Thank goodness  I`ll have to feed it a bit more honey soon if I want it to finish a bit sweet I think. We`ll see. I`m actually a little afraid to touch it since it did so well without any real help from me.

I also started a `pail`of Mosto Italiano Riesling. Never made one of these before. It was a 23L bladder of juice in the pail with all the little bits to add in. It was on sale reg. price $110, for $70. Can`t really argue with that! We`ll see how it turns out - I added banana chips and elderflowers to it just to make it a bit more yummy. My girlfriend made a Riesling here from a box kit and it was really weak, can`t have that!

Wee Man just woke up - gotta fly! Will update more...later...


----------



## the_rayway (Nov 2, 2012)

Finally got some pictures of goings on!

Got my Concord grape racked over, it's coming really clear, and it's almost the same identical hot red that the blueberry is 

The one gallon jug and shots of berries in the buckets are for my Raspberry & Blackberry melomels - thanks to everyone for commenting on my other thread and helping! The one gal is for top up, and they will both be 3 gal batches. I got really lucky on Kijiji and found three more 3 gal carboys for cheap! Woot!

The Riesling is coming along, but is very dry. What are people suggesting for back sweetening on a Riesling? Was thinking to do some bench tests using white sugar, honey, and maybe a generic grape concentrate?

Got the Orange Chocolate Port started too. I should be able to get the Chaptalization started soon.

Looks like our blueberry is going to need help (dend78, I spoke too soon!!), so I'm going to do a trial with my homemade blueberry syrup to see if this will help with the flavour. Right now it's totally yuck.

Wee Man is 5 months old today, and getting baptized on Sunday. Looking forward to serving some of the finished wine to the friends and family!


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 6, 2012)

I've finally had a chance to get a bit done with the 'help' of the rest of the family. I filtered the concord, blueberry, Riesling, and the Rhubarb Mead. 

Back-sweetening has taken an interesting turn...I thought the blueberry would be best as a dry red wine, but is so yummy a bit sweetened. Then the Rhubarb I thought would be nice at a much sweeter finish, but we seem to prefer it nearly dry. Finally, the riesling ended up being sweetened with honey, which is AMAZING. However, it has also resulted in a haze I'm having trouble getting rid of. Two part fining has not worked, so I'm going to try bentonite next.

The Raspberry Mead is dry but WHAT a raspberry nose and flavour! It's like drinking fresh raspberry juice - exactly what I was going for.

Blackberry Mead currently tastes like nothing. I'm not discouraged though, because the Rhubarb went from tasting like rubber to a wonderful subtle mead within a couple of months. So I'm going to wait it out and see what happens, but I wonder why there is such a difference between this and the raspberry?

My various apple wines are having a definite haze problem. I've added extra pectin, and shaken them, but it persists. It's starting to tick me off just a little bit.

The Orange Chocolate Port is ready to bottle and I'm super excited about it! Funny though, there is nearly a full bottle's worth left after topping up and the f-pac. Oh well, more for me!

Today I also started my Orange creamsicle Mead. FINALLY! Woot! I've been looking forward to this for quite a long time. Here's what's gone in so for:

Hoping to finish with 3 Gallons
12 Lbs honey, a mix of sunflower and multi-floral
Water
6 split and scraped Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla beans
1 Tsp Natural Orange oil (the kind used to cooking and baking, super concentrated)
Energizer and Nutrient
Bentonite
D47
O.G. 1.110, which is a bit high, but I'm hoping to finish a bit sweet too  

If this works, and tastes like I think it will, we are talking a smash hit!
Oh I love this hobby! (obsession)


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 7, 2012)

I realize that I just posted last night, but something has come up...

I went to check on the creamsicle mead this afternoon and there is no activity that I can see. I stirred it really well and added a bit of heat to the room. But then I checked the S.G. it is now at 1.120! I guess we didn't stir the honey in well enough?!? If this went dry, which I don't think it will, it would be around 16%. Yikes. But the bigger worry for me right now is that it WON'T ferment at all because my little yeasties are in shock!

Does anyone know if this is going to be a problem? Should I pitch in a EC-1118? Or just add water until it gets down to a reasonable SG? Ahhhhh!

Also, Crackedcork mentioned that I should put down the recipe for the Blackberry mead:
Started with a plain mead (3ish gals)
8Lbs multi floral honey
water to 3 gal point
energizer, nutrient and D47
O.G. 1.089

Then, at S.G. 1.020 
5 Lbs berries (had been frozen and thawed)
3/4 t pectic enzyme
1 vanilla bean

S.G. .996 Racked to carboy
3/4 t pectic enzyme & 3/4 t bentonite 
S.G. .994 racked again.

Thanks, Ray


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 30, 2012)

Here are the Riesling and Rhubarb Mead - all bottled and labeled! 

I'm very happy with both of them. The Rhubarb currently has hints of rhubarb and berry, with quite a lot of vanilla - but BIG body  at nearly 14%, it'll be just a bit dangerous in a couple of years  The Riesling also has great body from sweetening with the honey, and great fruity tastes too! It's at 12%, so a bit higher than some others, but yummy!

Happy New Year to everyone on WMT!
Ray


----------



## Loner (Dec 30, 2012)

Very nice !


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (Dec 30, 2012)

What is your next mead going to be? WVMJ


----------



## DirtyDawg10 (Dec 30, 2012)

They look great!


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks all 

I've got a Raspberry Mel, a Blackberry Mel, and an Orange vanilla Mel/Meth on the go - currently they all taste like yick, but such is the process!


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 8, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> What is your next mead going to be? WVMJ



Hey WVMJ!
Sorry, I thought you asked what I had on the go  (mommy brain strikes again!)

I'm thinking I would like to do a peach melomel and maybe a pear too. It's all just so yummy!


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 21, 2013)

So, since the winter is feeling awfully long and I received my T&T catalog, I'm starting to think about/plan the plantings I want to get going this spring.

Our yard is only 75'x150'ish, but I'm thinking that I could fit a pair of Manchurian apricots, some high bush blueberries, a haskap or two, some of the new 'sweet' cherries available to us Northerners, a few raspberries, hops, elderberries (thanks WVMJ!), and one each of a red and white grape to grow over the trellis I hope to build. Apparently there are actual red wine and white wine varieties that we can grow up here now! 

This is, of course, in addition to my man-eating rhubarb plant. That thing is nuts. 

I'm hoping that we will be able to find the right piece of property to pick up so I can really start experimenting with different things. I just wish we were in a more temperate zone for growing fruit! Oh I wish I lived in Kelowna, BC like some of my relatives. I would love to be able to grow peaches - I remember as a kid just walking outside at Aunty Elsie's and picking a peach right off the tree just to bite into. Juice running down my chin and all. Mmmmm sun-warmed peaches.

*sigh* Oh well, maybe when I retire  In the mean time, daydreaming about digging in the dirt!

I've also started a 'Wine Co-op' with a few of my girlfriends. We're making 1-2 kits of the Island Mist style wines each month and splitting them between us. It gives us a chance to get together and play with booze, plus try a bunch of different flavours and see what we like! Oh, also picked up a bottle of RealLemon to try a one gallon batch of Skeeter Pee! I'm super pumped 

Ray


----------



## btom2004 (Jan 21, 2013)

Wow you are amazing. Great activity I wish I had your energy. Hey I was looking for a 1 gal recipe for Seekter pee. If you have one please post here. Thanks.


----------



## novalou (Jan 21, 2013)

btom2004 said:


> Wow you are amazing. Great activity I wish I had your energy. Hey I was looking for a 1 gal recipe for Seekter pee. If you have one please post here. Thanks.



It is posted here on this forum, check under wine recipes, specialty wine.


----------



## btom2004 (Jan 21, 2013)

novalou said:


> It is posted here on this forum, check under wine recipes, specialty wine.



I've been looking for a few hours. I just couldn't find a link for a 1 gal recipe so I gave up. I have one bottle of Lemon juice and want to make it using my melomel must.


----------



## novalou (Jan 22, 2013)

btom2004 said:


> I've been looking for a few hours. I just couldn't find a link for a 1 gal recipe so I gave up. I have one bottle of Lemon juice and want to make it using my melomel must.



http://skeeterpee.com/?page_id=17

You can scale this down to 1 gallon.


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 28, 2013)

I've got the 1 Gallon conversion here:
For a 1 gallon batch
378 mL+189 mL - 100% lemon juice (e.g ReaLemon in the green plastic bottles or equivalent)
1.4 Lbs sugar to ferment
.15 tsp (.9 mL) tannin
1.2 tsp (7.1 mL). yeast nutrient (1/2 now, 1/2 later)
.4 tsp (2.4 mL). yeast energizer (1 now, 1 later)
Water to 1+gal
Yeast Slurry
Potassium metabisulfite (Kmeta)
Potassium sorbate (sorbate)
Sparkolloid
1.2 cups sugar to sweeten finished Skeeter Pee. Use more or less for your tastes.

However, I will be the first to admit - math is definitely not my strong point...It looks like making a 2 gallon batch works out better in terms of more 'whole' numbers.


----------



## jdmyers (Jan 28, 2013)

My thoughts skip the math and make a 5 gallon batch of pee you will thank yourself later


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 28, 2013)

You do have a point. I'm looking at the math and going: huh, let's do it the easy way.


----------



## btom2004 (Jan 28, 2013)

Thanks for the recipe. I went ahead and came up with my own before your post. I wanted to use the slurry while it was fresh. Yeah mine came close to 2 gals so it should be fine. If not I'll try this the next time.


----------



## the_rayway (Feb 1, 2013)

Let me know how it turns out btom2004! I'm going to see if I can get another bottle or two for a bigger batch. I'm just so all over the place right now - I'm finding it very hard to focus on one thing.

I just started what I'm hoping will be a Peach Ginger 'Champagne'. It'll be my first go at carbonating something. I tossed in several frozen peach concentrates, fresh ginger, leftover frozen peaches from the summer, and about a pound of dates to hopefully help with mouth feel.

I also scored 24Litres of pure apple juice from a store that is closing down. I got it cheaper than buying it in concentrate! Oh, now what to do to it!?!

I'm thinking of changing the name of my 'winery' to Order & Chaos instead of the Ray Way. It seems to fit somehow (with our life!).


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 10, 2013)

Well, despite the little hiatus from the forum, I have been busy!

I got a call from the guy at our Convention Centre saying he had 200 bottles for me. So off I go to collect them with Wee Man. Two trips later with our 1/2 ton and I'm thinking "this HAS to be more than 200!" Sure enough, as I rinsed them out I counted. 100, 200, 300, 400? 500! 530 bottles the guy gave me. Holy punch! And they all match white and red. I don't think I will ever need another wine bottle 

I also just bottled two of my country wines: Bryan's Wild Blueberry, and Uncharted Seas Blueberry Lanbrusca. I'm very pleased with both of them! The blend is tart with a hint of sweetness, concord at the beginning with some earthy blueberry in the finish. The Wild Blueberry is...perfect. Doesn't taste like blueberry pie, but more like blueberry wow. A little bit tart, a nice smooth sweetness, and a lot of blueberry flavour.

Also, my little wine co-op is chugging along! We've so far done the Green Apple Riesling, Cranberry Malbec, Blackberry Cabernet, and Strawberry White Merlot. In the primary is a Blood Orange and an Apple Pomegranate, we're hoping that we can get those last two bottled before I go back to work in May. The Green Apple, and Strawberry are my favourites out of the four so far.

I also started my Blackberry Port, which I'm very excited about! Lots of oak was included, and it's fermenting like crazy! It went from 1.124 down to 1.010 in 3 days, and then I added the chapatalisation pack. Wow. I may not need to fortify this baby!

We've got my husband's 30th birthday this Saturday, so our friends and family will be on hand to taste a wide variety of our wines. My husband's non-wine-drinking family are already addicts; and my sister is part of the co-op. I just need to find a red that knocks my Dad's socks off...I'm thinking that my Amarone will be the one after another year or two. He's already given my CC Cabernet a thumbs up, which is a huge coup for me!

So...my 'wine locker' is currently full. Time to start emptying it out!
Ray


----------



## JoyofWine (Apr 10, 2013)

Hi ray! I enjoyed reading your notes & I'm going to check out that book by Terry Garey you mentioned. So far I've only made kit wines, but hope to one day be brave enough to try my own batch from scratch! Cute pic of your Wee Man by the grapes! 

If you get a chance could you PM a recipe for pickles...since it's off topic for this forum. 
I've always wanted to try making my own, and you seem like a canning pro!


----------



## the_rayway (May 1, 2013)

Updates:
I decided to oak my Blackberry Mead, and man am I ever glad I did! It was in a funny spot with still no flavour to speak of so I thought I would pop in some med-heavy toast oak. It suddenly developed all these wonderful flavours, and the blackberry finally started pulling through. Awesome.

Also picked up the Cheeky Monkey Cab/Merlot/Grenache and can't wait to get it started. Their Malbec is my go to red so far, so I have good hopes about this one!

We're currently clearing the Orchard Breezin' Blood Orange and Apple Pomegranate and so far they are _really disappointing. Not sure what the deal is, but I may be taking them in for my money back. The Blood Orange tastes like weak Tang (does anyone remember that from the old church Sunday school days?) And the Apple Pom is very unexciting. I'm wondering if they are old kits or something.

I'm also clearing the Blackberry Port which fermented out to a wild 19.5%. So far I'm not terribly impressed with the flavour, but am hoping it will come forward as it ages. Maybe in 5 years or so.

I head back to work in one more week, so things will probably slow down on the fermenting fronts. But hopefully spring will arrive soon so we can start having some yummy fruity wines in the back yard. Big, bold reds at the bbq. Fizzy wine by the campfire. *sigh* 

Makes me wish we hadn't had a blizzard today - what a crappy way to bring in May _


----------



## the_rayway (May 16, 2013)

I just got around to tasting my beautiful Honeyed Riesling that I bottled back in January. It's been sitting in the fridge for a couple months and I finally popped it open. OH NO! there are bubbles in the glass! I must have not rinsed my bottled out good enough...no...wait...OH NO!! It's carbonated!!!

The BEST sparkling wine I have ever tasted. It has so many tiny, effervescent bubbles I totally understood how Brother Perignon felt. 

I then had to quickly call around to the people I'd given bottles to, to let them know to either drink 'em quick, or bring them back so I can re-finish them. My girlfriend has 6 bottles and worked her way quickly through them in a weekend! Apparently it was a very _good weekend  It looks as though the honey I used to backsweeten had a bit of wild yeast in it. Which I would have thought about. Had I actually used some sort of thought process :<

The Orchard Breezin' Apple Pom turned out really well for something that tasted so crappy in the carboy - just goes to show, I guess, that you really can't tell with wine what it will do! The Blood Orange is still disappointing to me - but only because I was looking for that really fresh, citrusy orange flavour. It's really more of a really really ripe blood orange sweetness with none of the tart. The other girls seemed to like it though.

The Cheeky Monkey is tasting Gooooood. Like, really good. I'm so excited to see what it will be like in 6 months or so. It seems to have all of the characteristics I really like from each of the grape varieties, and none of the ones I don't. Score for me.

I popped some light toast oak in stick form into the Blackberry Mead, and added another plus a few of the med-dark toast to my Raspberry Mead as well. They are really coming along and I think I'm going to be able to just bulk age them soon. I couldn't be happier with them both at this point. 

On a different note, this is my first week back to work after maternity leave. It's been both really hard to go back, and wonderful to be around adults again. I've had so much fun over the last year watching my son (and my wine cellar) grow. I can't wait to see what this next stage will bring!_


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 11, 2013)

Just bottled my WE Speciale Blackberry Port. It finished at 19%, so I didn't need to fortify any. Right now it's VERY hot, but should be fantastic in a year or two. The blackberry flavour is already starting to come forward a lot from when I added the f-pak.

Will post pics soon.

Also, filtered my Cheeky Monkey Spanish Cabernet/Merlot/Garnacha. So far it tastes like more! Totally my husband's kind of wine with that extra hit of spiciness. 

Our Cheeky Monkey Malbec has been sitting for 6 months now, and when we cracked a bottle...weird. It tasted sweet (even though S.G. was .992), and almost like a flavoured wine it had so much berry flavour. Totally not what we were expecting, and nothing like the last one we made. Others seem to really like it, so I'm not complaining - I'm just astounded that it could be so entirely different from one we made a year ago!


----------



## CoastalEmpireWine (Jun 12, 2013)

When I return home from Afghanistan I plan to start a sweet blackberry mead. I bought a mead kit which came with the honey and etc. Should I add the flavor after I ferment or before I ferment?


----------



## saramc (Jun 12, 2013)

CoastalEmpireWine said:


> When I return home from Afghanistan I plan to start a sweet blackberry mead. I bought a mead kit which came with the honey and etc. Should I add the flavor after I ferment or before I ferment?



Coastal...you may want to consider 1/3 of fruit up front with remainder much later.


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 13, 2013)

Agreed. Fruit in the secondary really makes a difference. Also, I'm in the process of a second round of oak in my blackberry mead and it makes an incredible impact on the mead 

Mine is still very dry, but I will likely back sweeten soon so I can get it bottled to age another year or two (open up carboy space).


----------



## CoastalEmpireWine (Jun 13, 2013)

What kind of oak are you planing on using? I am thinking about a french medium oak to get the mouthfeel and hopefully a hint of vanilla. What do you suggest and how much oak for a one gallon batch?


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 13, 2013)

Mine is a 3 gal, I've used one light toast french oak stick (great, because you can break them down to any size you like), and approx. 20g of medium toast french in large chips. I basically got a little bag of pre-measured oak chips from by LHBS, and split it into 5, then added 3 parts. Mt math skills aren't great, so it seemed to be the easiest way.

I did add a vanilla bean during fermentation, but the oak addition really made it have that nice mellow vanilla flavour. 

When are you back on our side of the pond? How long have you been away?


----------



## CoastalEmpireWine (Jun 14, 2013)

I'll be home very soon. I've been gone for about 8.5 months now. I made 5 gal of apple wine before I left so when I got home it would be aged enough for me to drink


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 14, 2013)

*Whistle* that's some time away! I'm sure it will be wonderful to be home again and in your own space.

And great fore-thought on the apple wine  I'm now looking at what I need to make each season so I'm ready for the next. This is very challenging for me because I always think: 'I want to drink___ now! So I'll make that'. Instead of: 'I will want to drink ___ in 6 months, I should make it now'. Lol.

Started up my second go at Lilac Mead today. First time I poured everything through a stocking as I have heard many do...no one mentioned it had to be a nude coloured stocking! My whole first batch turned black. sigh. Oh well, lesson learned. This time around it will be better.

1 packed litre lilac flowers
4 litres water
2 bananas, chopped
8 dates, and 8 dried apricots
1.5 Kg honey
Tannin, Yeast nutrient, Lemon juice, 10g med toast French oak

Made all the major parts into a tea which I steeped for an hour. Then added the honey and powders and stirred up. I'm waiting for it to cool a bit more before I add Campden. I'm hoping to leave everything floating in there for a few days (2?3?) before taking it all out. we'll see how it goes with the flowers.

I've heard good things about Lilac mead, so here's hoping!


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 21, 2013)

Ah summer in Manitoba - everyone goes into a frenzy of gardening, picking, freezing, and canning - including me  I've even managed to sock a few things away for future wine and mead batches 

The Lilac Mead is coming along nicely (I think). I risked a taste at the last racking, and while it tasted quite vegetative, there were hints of floral, vanilla and something perfume-like. With a lot of time, and some patience, I think it will be very nice!

I bottled my Autumn Spice Apfelwine, and the Schnellert Family Apple Wine from apples I picked last summer. They taste AWESOME, with some more aging and mellowing, I think they will be an excellent example of a beginners country wine.

Also, we've got a new member of the (wine supplies) family! A demijohn I picked up at a garage sale for $25! It's my very first 54L.

My CC Sterling Malbec/Shiraz is nearly ready to bulk age for a little while. While it's doing that, I'm going to be weighing the pros and cons of a med toast Vadai barrel. From what I read it sounds like a worthy investment for someone who is looking to improve on their wine making. 

On other notes: I've got 75 jars of jam and jelly already put up, and the kids are enjoying it immensely. Life is sunny and good! Here are some pictures of what's been going on:


----------



## JoyofWine (Jul 21, 2013)

Order & Chaos! Lol love it! Cool looking demijohn. Sounds like you've been busy!


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 22, 2013)

Hey JoyofWine!
Did you ever get around to trying pickling? I'm nearly ready to do up a batch of fridge pickles


----------



## JoyofWine (Jul 24, 2013)

Hi! Yes I did! We've done 2 batches of both pickles and asparagus! Turn out so good! Thanks for your tips!


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 29, 2013)

Awesome JoyofWine - I'm going to try garlic scapes pickled soon - hopes are high!

Bottled today - caramel apple wine! As my first batches are getting bottled and tried I'm finding that I need to monitor the acid levels better. I'm always reading that you should monitor them, but didn't really pay attention. This stuff has a really forward tart apple flavour wrapped with caramel and subtle vanilla. Mmmmmmm!


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 9, 2013)

With summer winding down, I've had to put everything wine on hold for everything canning. Talk about busy. Then, of course, it seems like every country in the freakin' world wants to send a delegation over right now. Long days, and long evenings.

I did manage to filter my Blackberry Mead and the Orange Creamsicle (which I bottled too). While I might lose points on the nose of the mead - which is slightly 'odd', I think I've got major points on the taste. Yum.

Been making my Liqueurs as well: apricot, blueberry, Kaluah, Manitoba Pear, etc. They're always nice to have around the house. And soo much better than from the store,

Here are some pics of the Order & Chaos "Cannery"
Blueberry Basil Vinegar
Boozy Tart Cherries
Crabby Applesauce
Pickled Garlic Scapes
Honeyed Apricots
Lemony Cauliflower Pickles
Mixed Fridge Pickles
And there has been so much more since then!


----------



## the_rayway (Sep 25, 2013)

Right, so back at it with fall fresh California juice buckets!

In a three-sided effort, we have purchased two 'Gold Medal Series' buckets: a Malbec, and an Amarone with grape skins included. Also one 'Silver Medal Series' Merlot which I've added CabSauv grape skins to. I have also added 1.5 cups of oak to each, and will be adding fresh blackberries to the Amarone (primary), as well as raisins (secondary). 

The acid levels in all three was very low: .20%, so I've added 1oz acid blend to each to start, knowing that I may need to add another 1.5oz.

We have great hopes for these, and I'm very excited to see how they come up.

I started a gallon of 'Pure Pear' a little while back in the spring: pure pear nectar, and some honey to up the s.g. It's been a bear to clear with 1/4 of the gallon clear, but 3/4 of thick clouds of sediment. I finally got around to adding sparkelloid today - which I've never used before. I hope it will do the trick.

I'm still going back and forth on the Vadai barrel. For a couple of reasons: a) cost. I need to save up! b) quantity. I'm worried that I won't make enough red wine to keep it full. and c) I really need a dedicated space to keep it, which I don't have right now. I need to get on re-doing our cold storage room!


----------



## the_rayway (Oct 29, 2013)

California Juice buckets are looking good - I've racked them into some clearing/aging carboys for them to degas and clear. Hopefully by the time they are clear enough, I'll have received my oak barrel for Christmas  Then it'll be into the barrel with each of them! I'm thinking I'll cycle the Amarone through first, then the Malbec, and finish with the Merlot.

Tasted the Lilac Mead the other day and I'm impressed. It has a really nice lilac nose, tastes sort of like a cross between a Gewurztraminer and a Chardonnay. Very dry, I'll need to do some bench trials to see if it will take any honey or sugar.

My CC Malbec Shiraz has just finished a 3 month bulk age, and I'm getting ready to bottle it (hopefully this week). I was very impressed with it a few months ago, so I'm really looking forward to tasting it again...and making the labels of course. I've nearly settled on a design I like.

The Peach-Ginger experiment is...interesting. I added another can of peach punch concentrate to it the other day (no extra sugar) and it still tastes VERY strongly of ginger. I think it's time to get this one on the right track. I'm just not sure how to do that. I could potentially add a few more cans of concentrate as a sweeter...? Perhaps a shot of Orange Oil as well just to up that peachy-citrusy flavour. Looks like more bench trials coming up.

I'll be bottling my Blackberry Mead at the same time as the Malbec/Shiraz. It's looking really good, and I'm very happy with one. The Raspberry as well. The funny thing was that I lost nearly all of the acid in both of them during fermentation. I've adjusted to a better taste. 

Yesterday I started a Hot Pepper Apple Wine that's going to be for cooking (I think). I did 1 gallon of Apple Juice (not from concentrate), 2 large partially dried Cayennes (with seeds), and 3-4 Habaneros (some with seeds, some without) and sugar to get it to 1.100. I've done the Campden and the Pectic, but even without the yeast it smells like something I would just drink as is :: I love me some spicy anything! I just love spicy.

The sparkelloid went into the Pear Mead a few weeks ago and did nothing. I noticed that there seems to still be gas in the carboy though, so I've been shaking it to degas, then will read some better instructions on how to use the Sparkelloid. The ones that came on the package were vague at best.

I've also got a Peach Apricot Chard and a White Pear Pinot Gris on the go for Christmas gifts. Haven't had the Pear before, so I'm really interested to see how it is.

That about catches me up! I think I'll need to start a new thread soon with all of my recipes and steps so I can remember what I've all done/said with my Country wines and Meads. We'll see if I can find the time while I'm recovering from my surgery in a few weeks


----------



## the_rayway (Nov 19, 2013)

Finally bottled!
CC Sterling Malbec/Shiraz - at three months, already tastes like a winner! Big, dry, oak and dark fruit, and has that hit of spice and pepper from the Shiraz.

Belligerent Blackberry Mead - the picture totally doesn't do the colour justice. It's a pinkish-purple, very delicate in the glass. Right now it needs at least a year in the bottle, to let the fruit come out and to balance a bit more. But I enjoy the hint of blackberry and honey it already has. It's slightly sweet, and mildly oaked.


----------



## Jericurl (Nov 19, 2013)

Holy smokes, lady!

You are a machine! Or possibly mental! Maybe both.

This is an awesome thread.
I was about to go to bed when I clicked on this, and of course had to finish all 6 pages.
I'm truly in awe.
Will post more specific impressions and some questions tomorrow.
My sleep aid is kicking in and I've found it is best to get off the internet when I start to feel it. Otherwise I begin to post insane ramblings.

Keep up the fantastic updates on this thread.


----------



## vernsgal (Nov 20, 2013)

I agree with Jericurl. How do you find all the time let alone have the energy? I remember when all my kids were young I had time for nothing let alone having any brain left to work with lol.


----------



## the_rayway (Nov 20, 2013)

You two are hilarious! 

I'm looking forward to your questions Jeri  

And Kim - it's because both of my kids are in bed at 7:00. That gives me three whole hours in the evening to play!


----------



## Jericurl (Nov 20, 2013)

Ok, 
First, how many bottles of wine do you have in your house?

What is your favorite so far?

How much harder is mead than wine?
It seems messier/more involved than wine so I haven't messed with it at all.
I love honey, but from the descriptions people give, I'm not sure that I would like mead.


----------



## jamesngalveston (Nov 20, 2013)

holy crap what a post...you either got better meds, are you guit the meds...
lol...you go girl


----------



## the_rayway (Nov 20, 2013)

Thanks James! (I think?) Lol. Hope you like my labels 

Jeri, here goes:
I just counted the other day and I'm at approx 250 bottles of wine, mead, Island Mist, and port. Not bad for only doing this for less than 2 years!

For favourites, I would have to say: 
Reds: either the cheeky Monkey Malbec, or the Cellar Craft Cabernet. They are good, early drinkers that never last around here.
Whites/Rose: The WE White Zinfandel is a winner, although I haven't really made many whites yet.
Island Mist: Hands down the Peach Apricot Chardonnay
Meads: TBC - none are over two years old yet. If you could say I'm a toddler in wine making - I'm still in the egg for meads. The Orange Creamsicle has big potential though...
Port: RJS Apple Tatin is INCREDIBLE

Meads are the same as wines to make IMHO. There are always things you can tweak and get very technical about - but at the same time you can toss a bunch of honey, water & yeast together and still end up with something drinkable. They do take some time to come around though if you go over 10%. Like, years.

We have a thriving beekeeping industry up here with all of the crops around, and I can get local sourced honey for $2.50/Lb. A guy I work with has his own bees and is giving me honey for $1.00/Lb plus some of whatever I make. Pretty good deal! I like buying/ supporting local, and I'm a fantasy-reading nut, so mead is a natural extension of these things for me. 

I would suggest you find yourself 3Lbs of a nice, untreated, unpasturized honey like wildflower, or clover; mix up a 1 Gallon batch with some D47 and let her rip. Toss in some yeast nutrient as well, just to make sure she takes. Then check out "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm and have a look. There's so much fun to be had!

Speaking of, I requested a recipe from a member of a mead site I go to and he said I could use it/post it for our Wine of the Month Club. Pumpkin Hazelnut Mead. Yum! Maybe for January? Or December 

So...short story long...I like making stuff.


----------



## vernsgal (Nov 21, 2013)

Raelene I am always in awe of what you can achieve! I've got my 1st mead(raspberry) sitting at 2 months. I am totally new at these and hope you don't mind if in the near future I shoot you a list of questions Lol. I just acquired 1/2 a doz. 1 gal more carboys and am planning on filling them with different meads.


----------



## the_rayway (Nov 21, 2013)

vernsgal said:


> Raelene I am always in awe of what you can achieve! I've got my 1st mead(raspberry) sitting at 2 months. I am totally new at these and hope you don't mind if in the near future I shoot you a list of questions Lol. I just acquired 1/2 a doz. 1 gal more carboys and am planning on filling them with different meads.



Oooohhh! Good score! And good idea 

For sure send me a list of questions - I won't promise that I will know the answers, nor that the answers I have will be 'the best way', but I'm always happy to share the little bit that I do know! Send it on!


----------



## Stressbaby (Nov 21, 2013)

the_rayway said:


> Speaking of, I requested a recipe from a member of a mead site I go to and he said I could use it/post it for our Wine of the Month Club. Pumpkin Hazelnut Mead. Yum! Maybe for January? Or December



Great thread.
I hope you post or make this, the recipe sounds interesting.
Like you, I find myself planning 2-3 months ahead on the Wine of the Month club. I already have my December, January, and February wines lined up...


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 2, 2013)

For the sake of my obsessive list habit, here is a list of everything I've made thus far. This includes wines/ports/meads/beer in all stages: fermenting, clearing, ageing, bottled, and gone!

Next to start will be the Apricot Port from scratch for the December Wine of the Month Club.

Vintner's Reserve	White Zinfandel
Vintner's Reserve	White Zinfandel
Order & Chaos Winery	Apple Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Wild Blueberry Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Caramel Vanilla Crab Apple Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Spiced Crab Apple Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Concord Grape Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Peach Ginger Wine
Order & Chaos Winery	Wild Blueberry & Concord Grape Blend
Order & Chaos Winery	Apple Wine with Hot Peppers
Order & Chaos Winery	Welches Wine Competition - WMT
Order & Chaos Winery	Rhubarb & Mixed Berry Mead
Order & Chaos Winery	Blackberry Mead
Order & Chaos Winery	Raspberry Mead
Order & Chaos Winery	Lilac Mead
Order & Chaos Winery	Orange Vanilla Mead
Order & Chaos Winery	Pure Pear Mead
R. J. Spagnols	Apple Tatin Port
R. J. Spagnols	Orange Chocolate Port
Wine Expert Selection Speciale	Blackberry Port
Cheeky Monkey	Chilean Malbec
Cellar Craft Sterling	Amarone
Cellar Craft Sterling	California Cabernet Sauvignon
Cheeky Monkey	Chilean Malbec
Cheeky Monkey	Spanish Cabernet/Merlot/Garnacha
Cellar Craft Sterling	Malbec/Shiraz
Tosca Fresh Juice fr California	Merlot (silver medal series)
Tosca Fresh Juice fr California	Malbec (gold medal series)
Tosca Fresh Juice fr California	Amarone (gold medal series)
World Vinyard	Washington Riesling (Breanne)
Mosto Italiano	Riesling
Island Mist	Peach Apricot Chardonnay
Island Mist	Peach Apricot Chardonnay
Island Mist	Blackberry Cabernet Sauvignon (Co-op)
Island Mist	Green Apple Riesling (Co-op)
Island Mist	Cranberry Malbec (Co-op)
Island Mist	Strawberry Merlot (Co-op)
Cru - Orchard Breezin'	Apple Pomegranate (Co-op)
Cru - Orchard Breezin'	Blood Orange (Co-op)
Island Mist	Peach Apricot Chardonnay
Niagara Mist	White Pear Pinot Gris
Order & Chaos Winery	Chocolate Vanilla Ale


----------



## Jericurl (Dec 16, 2013)

Raelene, I may be picking your brain here pretty soon.

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that my February Wine of the Month batch is going to be a mead, I just need to figure out what recipe I want to use, and if I want to get my honey from Sam's club or order it online somewhere.
I read entirely too much fantasy, etc. Actually between the two of us, we have well over 1000 books. Eight 6ft tall bookshelves crammed full and we still have stacks of books around the house that need a home. A good 50-60% are scifi/fantasy genre.
Throw in nerd tv shows and gaming, mead is pretty much going to be a foregone conclusion for me.
Right now I'm thinking up different mead recipes for Skyrim and Game of Thrones themed meads.


----------



## jamesngalveston (Dec 16, 2013)

well, if i wine the mega millions, i will buy a winery, then hire raylene to run it...lol


----------



## jamesngalveston (Dec 16, 2013)

hard to imagine her with unlimited budget and full blown winery....she would but gallon out of business.


----------



## vernsgal (Dec 16, 2013)

Jericurl said:


> Right now I'm thinking up different mead recipes for Skyrim and Game of Thrones themed meads.


A dragonfruit mead might be good for game of thrones


----------



## Jericurl (Dec 16, 2013)

Vernsgal,

It would work well for Skyrim too!


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 16, 2013)

Jeri - one day we definitely need to meet! Lol, when I was in school, I didn't know anyone else who read fantasy. I'm lucky now that my Brother In Law does, and has connections to all the fantasy/gamers/etc. around the city. I get my geek-fix from him  Love, love love the idea of Game of Thrones Meads! Quirky names are running through my head already. Since I am regrettably horrible at video/computer games, I've never had a chance to get a feel for them  Always wanted to try though!

Are you thinking you want to do a straight up traditional? Melomel? Metheglyn? What is your brain telling you will taste good? We can work it from there. Depending on how much the actual honey is to shine through will determine where/what kind to get for the best results.

Or, you may want to consider doing a 'BOMM' mead (short for Bray's One Month Mead), which is drinkable fairly quickly (think Dragon's Blood), to give you an idea of if you like it. There's also JAOM (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead) which is the same idea. These use either beer or bread yeasts, have imperfect recipes that work perfectly for what they are. People really seem to like them. I personally will get around to trying both, but just haven't had the time yet!

James - you win, I'll pack up the family and move! Lol! Ohhh, a whole winery to play with...


----------



## vernsgal (Dec 17, 2013)

Jericurl said:


> Vernsgal,
> 
> It would work well for Skyrim too!


you could always throw a pepper or 2 in and call it dragon's fire


----------



## vernsgal (Dec 17, 2013)

vernsgal said:


> you could always throw a pepper or 2 in and call it dragon's fire


I meant Drogon's Fire


----------



## the_rayway (Dec 17, 2013)

vernsgal said:


> I meant Drogon's Fire



Or Dragon's Breath?

Or if you wanted it to go in Chronological order, according to the books/movies. You could do an "Into The Fire", then branch out into dragons, etc.


----------



## Jericurl (Dec 17, 2013)

Oh, I like the idea of Drogon's Fire.

And White Walker......Red Wedding....man, I could go on and on.

Raelene, I'm lucky I think. Both Manthing and my best friend love sci-fi/fantasy. It's nice to have someone to swap with and/or discuss books.


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 1, 2014)

Finished and bottled my Raspberry Mead today! Bottled in blue long neck bottles. I'll post pics when I've got them labelled. "Raving Raspberry Mead" is the name.

I learned so much from this batch and it's sister the Belligerent Blackberry Mead. Like: don't sorbate until you're ready to sweeten; and ALWAYS test acid if your wine tastes like nothing even after a year. Duh.

Here is the final recipe at bottling. Please be gentle, it was one of my early batches and I know I did things wrong...

*Primary (plain mead, 5 gal recipe)*
10.12.12
- 16.5 Lbs multifloral honey
- water to 25 L
- 2.5 tsp yeast nutrient, split 2/3 & 1/3
- 2.5 tsp yeast energizer, split 2/3 & 1/3
- 1 Pkg D47 yeast
OG 1.089
I fermented this to SG 1.020, then racked to two buckets, one for blackberries, one for raspberries

*Additions* - final product 3 gallons
I used the last gallon of plain mead to top up as I went along, until I ran out.
11.2.12
- 2 Gallons plain mead
- 5 Lbs Raspberries
- 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
11.6.12
- 1 vanilla bean, split & scraped
11.16.12, racked
- 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
- 3/4 tsp bentonite in 1 cup warm water
1.11.13
- 3 campden tabs, crushed
- 3/4 tsp sorbate
- 2 cups water for top up
5.8.13
- 7.5 grams medium toast french oak chips
- 1 stick light toast french oak
11.4.13
- 1/4 tsp kmeta
1.1.14
- 3 campden tabs, crushed
- 3/4 tsp sorbate
- sugar to SG 1.018
- 6 tsp acid blend

Also, my Peach Ginger is nearly ready to bottle. Still tastes like yuck to me, even after tweaking a bit with peach punch concentrate. Grrr...Might just have to bottle the thing and wait another year. Ginger is way overpowering still - maybe as a cooking/marinading wine?


----------



## vernsgal (Jan 1, 2014)

Ginger is a little strong ,I think like cloves, but I'm sure with age it 'll mellow out some. I will always have faith til the 1 year mark! Lol


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 25, 2014)

Hey Kim!
I used the Peach Ginger to marinate a pork roast the other day - tasted fantastic. I've nearly got the energy to bottle that gal and a half. Just need to clean a few more bottles.

Currently on the go:
In primary
1) 3 gal traditional mead

In secondary
1) 5g original Skeeter Pee
2) CC California Cabernet
3) Bellissima Coconut Frascati
4) Bellissima Tropical Riesling
5) 1-2ish gal Pumpkin Hazelnut Mead (WOTM)

Bulk ageing/clearing
1) 3x5 gal fresh juice bucket experiment (malbec, amarone, merlot)
2) 1 gal Lilac Mead
3) 1.5 gal Apricot Port (WOTM)
4) 1 gal Welches Competition Wine
5) 1 gal Peach Ginger Wine
6) .5 gal Pear Mead
7) 1 gal Apple-Habanero Wine (WOTM)

I think that's all for now! These Wine of the Month wines are really exciting to me, so much to experiment with, and great people involved who are so willing to share their experiences, wins, and failures. My notes on those wines is in each month's thread.

A few notes about the above: 
The traditional mead was going to be my barrel break in ferment, but since that's off the rails I've decided to ferment it with a good amount of french med toast oak chips to get that mouthfeel and flavour. This was my first use of BA11 and it smells heavenly while fermenting! Then I will likely leave one totally plain, and amp the other up with some vanilla beans. Also, I just got my 1/2 Lb of fresh beans and am really pumped to use them!

Again, due to lack of barrel, the 3 juice buckets will instead get a layered oak treatment: I'm thinking I'll start with a bit of heavy toast hungarian on the Amarone and Malbec, then to a medium toast french or american (depending on availability). The Merlot I would like to go with a french medium, then an american medium. Keep it nice and soft and round. Taste and watch, taste and watch 

I attempted to bench test the Pear Mead a couple of weeks ago, but it's going through a phase. It tasted awful all over the place. So back into the basement it goes until it decides to behave itself.

I'm basically just keeping the Lilac in the jug until I can get some bottles cleaned. I've been procrastinating with bottling in clears because the ones I have are a beast to delabel. Then, I tried the oven method: 250F for 10 min and the labels peeled off like nothing! The glue residue wiped away with a bit of mineral oil. FANTASTIC!!! I'll be getting on those right quick.

I've also been tossing the idea around of an Apple Blossom mead, and a girlfriend might be able to bring me back a few Lbs of Apple Blossom honey from her upcoming holiday. If she does I'll be hard pressed to wait until the trees bloom to make that one. The flavour profiles on the honey sound incredible - everyone talks about how 'buttery' it tastes. Oh.My.Word. Buttery. I love buttery. And apples! Lol!!

And last but not least: No, I have not labeled my Raspberry Mead yet. Printer is out of ink and I have no time to get to Staples! Soon though, my pretties, soon....

Christmas seriously depleted my stock, so I'm going to try and up the reds and mist types as that's what the extendeds all drink. I would also like to try a 3rd Riesling (likely Cheeky Monkey). Since the last two were so disappointing, this will be my final go. If it doesn't taste good - I'll not make it again! Drinking it from the LC will have to do!

2014 is looking like a great wine making year, and I'm planning (and planning, and planning) on better tasting, more patience with ageing, and more success all around as I start heading into my 3rd year of wine making!


----------



## Jericurl (Jan 25, 2014)

> I learned so much from this batch and it's sister the Belligerent Blackberry Mead. Like: don't sorbate until you're ready to sweeten;



Out of curiosity, why shouldn't you sorbate until you are ready to sweeten?

Also, I went to Sam's and got 5 lbs of honey.
Now I've just got to decide what I want to do with it.
Since it is cheapo generic nonspecific honey, I'm thinking I will either add fruit or some spices to it rather than making a plain mead that highlights the honey itself.


----------



## the_rayway (Jan 27, 2014)

Mostly to save on sorbate: I'm finding that I was sorbating my early batches thinking it was like KMeta (because of the kits I had done, where you always added both even to a dry red). Then I wasn't actually sweetening the wine. Seems like a waste to me.

Yaay for Sam's honey! I would be doing the same - find something to be the focus and let the honey stay in the background. At least until you can get your hands on some nice varietal honey! I've been checking this site out: http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/


----------



## Winorick (Feb 17, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> Mostly to save on sorbate: I'm finding that I was sorbating my early batches thinking it was like KMeta (because of the kits I had done, where you always added both even to a dry red). Then I wasn't actually sweetening the wine. Seems like a waste to me.
> 
> Yaay for Sam's honey! I would be doing the same - find something to be the focus and let the honey stay in the background. At least until you can get your hands on some nice varietal honey! I've been checking this site out: http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/



Be real careful with the amounts of Potassium sorbate that you add. No more than 1/2 tsp per gallon. Too much can ruin the wine.


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 18, 2014)

Guys, do a google on beekeeping groups in your area, they might not be on the honeylocator, but if you can get in touch with a local beekeeping group its so much better than store bought honey. What is the point of making a mead if the honey isnt at least an equal part of the final taste? You guys show why kits are sometimes not the best way to learn how to make wine, they should explain in the instructions better what each additive is for so you can learn something other than just add package A and then B. Also with your sorbate and metabisulfite they both expire, get fresh stuff every year, toss out old sorbate but you can still use the old sulfite for rinsing stuff off. Find those beekeepers in your area, get to know them and take a bottle of what you make back to them to share, you will likely get a good introduction to bees that way. WVMJ


----------



## the_rayway (Feb 18, 2014)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Guys, do a google on beekeeping groups in your area, they might not be on the honeylocator, but if you can get in touch with a local beekeeping group its so much better than store bought honey. What is the point of making a mead if the honey isnt at least an equal part of the final taste? You guys show why kits are sometimes not the best way to learn how to make wine, they should explain in the instructions better what each additive is for so you can learn something other than just add package A and then B. Also with your sorbate and metabisulfite they both expire, get fresh stuff every year, toss out old sorbate but you can still use the old sulfite for rinsing stuff off. Find those beekeepers in your area, get to know them and take a bottle of what you make back to them to share, you will likely get a good introduction to bees that way. WVMJ



Hey Jack,
That's exactly what I do - we have an incredible beekeeping community here with fantastic honey. However, to start out, I don't see why someone shouldn't find what's readily available and do a test batch. If they decide mead is the way to go for them, then they can do the foot work and create those relationships. Goodness knows I hit up my honey lady for enough honey! Lol. She loves it when I bring the kids around 

Regarding the kits and the chemicals - it's true, when I started I needed to do a whole lot of research before I started to understand what everything was for. Still need to do more to really feel comfortable with everything. However, it's a journey, and I'm enjoying the scenery along the way.


----------



## Jericurl (Feb 18, 2014)

Jack, that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'd like to find someone who actually has local hives and come to some sort of agreement with them.

I went the cheap grocery store route just to make sure I wouldn't be wasting my time and legwork on a beverage I didn't much care for.


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 18, 2014)

You guys are fast learners, its interesting watching the progression of newbies  Keep the imagination coming! WVMJ


----------



## littlefootwines (Mar 5, 2014)

Hi Raelene. Very good read you have going here found it while looking for something else. I saw a few pages back in your canning section something called garlic scraps can you please tell me what that is. I am canning things also making jams and such and that got me wondering would that be something i would like to try? Thanks.

Shane


----------



## the_rayway (Mar 5, 2014)

Hey there Shane!
Garlic Scapes are the green shoots that garlic puts out at the beginning of the season (I think I have a picture of them all swirled in the jar?). If you have garlic, or an easy access Farmer's Market, you will find them. I did a basic dilly bean recipe, and the garlic scapes add their own mild garlic flavour. Very crunchy!


----------



## littlefootwines (Mar 7, 2014)

Hi thanks got it scapes figured thats what it was tryed to grow my own garlic but it was just to wet here over the last couple years rotted in the dirt. I have used the greens like green onions grow them myself. I boil can and find the dill and garlic are run over by the vinager how much do you use?. 

Shane


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 10, 2014)

So...I've decided it's time to start actually sampling a few of my bottles that have been patiently aging.

*Orange Vanilla Mead (first attempt):*
It's approximately a year and a half old (not looking at my book here, so could be a bit off), and was bottled back in the fall. I used a pure orange extract for most of the orange flavour, vanilla beans and a touch of extract for the vanilla.

The Mead has a definite chemical nose, which I'm contributing to the extract. Flavour was unremarkable until I added a pinch of acid blend. Then it opened up and you could taste the citrus and a mild vanilla in the background. I'm disappointed so far, but considering it was a complete experiment within my first 6 months of making wine/mead, it's not bad 

At this point, I'm thinking that next time I attempt a batch (because there WILL be a next time!) I'll consider:
a) Replacing all of the water with orange juice; 
b) Prepping a really solid vanilla extract several months beforehand;
c) Mildly carmelize some of the honey to get a caramel vanilla flavour; 
d) Medium toast American Oak for the vanillan;
e) A 'specialty' yeast like BA11 or ICVD254 instead of good 'ol EC-1118

This way I'm hoping it will have a 'real' orange nose and flavour, acid to match, and the vanilla will be more pronounced and layered. Should give me a more complex mead.

It's amazing how much you learn in a year and a half! Much of the tweaks I'm looking at I had no idea of when I made this batch. Also, I'm more appreciative of the 1 gallon batches now for experiments: 6 bottles v.s. 18 makes a difference in space on my racks, and if it had turned out horrible - I would feel horrible dumping it!! Good thing it tastes ok  Maybe next time I'll try it with a shot of OJ and a vanilla bean twist ::


----------



## vernsgal (Apr 10, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> It's amazing how much you learn in a year and a half! Much of the tweaks I'm looking at I had no idea of when I made this batch. Also, I'm more appreciative of the 1 gallon batches now for experiments: 6 bottles v.s. 18 makes a difference in space on my racks, and if it had turned out horrible - I would feel horrible dumping it!!



Great post Ray. I'm in to a lot of mine coming into the one year mark. It's funny how much you learn over the months ,with help from this site, how you would do things now than as to what you originally did. ie: different yeasts,tannins,oaks.


----------



## TinyPirate (Apr 18, 2014)

I have heard that mead is only "good" after two years, great at three. Maybe save the remainder for a rainy day some time in the future. 

A friend told me his father made mead that was terrible on first sample, but they found a bottle recently - now ten years old - and it was superb!


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 18, 2014)

That's kind of what I'm hoping - I've got no problem waiting!

I can't wait to start another batch and do it up with the tweaks.


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 25, 2014)

Just started a Cheeky Monkey Pinot Noir last night. Haven't really heard of many people doing this kit, so we're not entirely sure what we're in for. I've heard Pinot Noir can have a gamey flavour, but this kit didn't mention that in the profile - so I'm hoping it will be the non-gamey version.

I switched the EC-1118 for ICV D254, which is supposed to bring out the fruit flavours and a bit of spice. Excited for this batch!

Racked Dad's Amarone (Tosca bucket from California) off the oak and it's certainly starting to taste quite a bit better. Popped in 3 g(ish) of Tannin Riche Extra for better smoothness and mouthfeel. Waiting on results - but the test glass was quite good!


----------



## the_rayway (May 19, 2014)

Schnellert Family Apple Wine
This wine was started in July of 2012 - my very first straight up 'Country Wine', made from the most sour apples I have ever come across. It was a 1 Gallon Batch, fermented in the old family farm's cider jug.

I cracked this open, nicely chilled today and was immensely surprised and impressed. It has a nice cider nose - all apple. Taste is smooth, buttery, a hint of spiced rum and vanilla. It tastes very similar to a nice off-dry white, but far nicer than most I've tried. This stuff is SMOOTH! Light-medium body, and golden colour.

This is a fantastic success for me - my first country wine that I went in nearly blind with tastes like something I would spend a good $15-$20 (Canadian) for in the store.

This firms up my belief that it did go through a spontaneous MLF like I mentioned somewhere in my first post in this thread.

Recipe - 1 Gallon
Primary:
2 Lbs, 2 oz White sugar
4 Lbs very sour apples, chopped
1/2 a rum-soaked vanilla bean
1/4 tsp Tannin
1 Tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 Campden Tab
EC-1118 Yeast
Water to 1 Gal
_______________
Secondary additions:
8.6.12 1/2 Lb white sugar
2 cups apple juice from original apples
Top up with water
9.1.12 1/2 Vanilla bean, Madagascar Bourbon
10.23.12 1/4 tsp pectic enzyme
11.13.12 Campden tab
12.31.12 2 part fining agent
7.1.13 Filtered and Backsweetened with sugar to 1.012, bottled

Looking at this now, I realize I never sorbated the wine before sweetening. There is no indication of any bottle fermentation, so a year must have been enough time with finers and filtering to be 'safe'. Won't repeat that oversight again though! Also, you can tell it was during the beginning of my wine-making career as there is a lot of fussing near the beginning. 

At this point, I would say that I wouldn't change a thing about it. And I hope I can hit up the folks who's apples I picked for another picking this year!


----------



## Deezil (May 19, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> I cracked this open, nicely chilled today and was immensely surprised and impressed. It has a nice cider nose - all apple. Taste is smooth, buttery, a hint of spiced rum and vanilla. It tastes very similar to a nice off-dry white, but far nicer than most I've tried. This stuff is SMOOTH! Light-medium body, and golden colour.
> 
> This is a fantastic success for me - my first country wine that I went in nearly blind with tastes like something I would spend a good $15-$20 (Canadian) for in the store.
> 
> This firms up my belief that it did go through a spontaneous MLF like I mentioned somewhere in my first post in this thread.



My first batch of Apple went through spontaneous MLF too; I had the same impressions as you, although the random strain of MLF I was 'blessed' with didn't produce much of the buttery sensation..... Dangerously smooth though lol


Congrats!


----------



## the_rayway (May 19, 2014)

Thanks Deezil!

The empty glass smells like an apple liqueur, all vanilla, oak, sweet and tart. 
Dangerous is right.


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (May 19, 2014)

Congrats Ray! One thing to look into is if you are going to let it do MLF they say that the bacteria can eat the sorbate and give your cider a geranium smell, I have never smelled that one before, just backsweetened, sulfited and fined and filtered (non sterile) and put in beer capper bottles in case that wasnt enough stabalizing. So did you use crabs, were they also bitter or just sour? WVMJ



the_rayway said:


> Schnellert Family Apple Wine
> This wine was started in July of 2012 - my very first straight up 'Country Wine', made from the most sour apples I have ever come across. It was a 1 Gallon Batch, fermented in the old family farm's cider jug.
> 
> I cracked this open, nicely chilled today and was immensely surprised and impressed. It has a nice cider nose - all apple. Taste is smooth, buttery, a hint of spiced rum and vanilla. It tastes very similar to a nice off-dry white, but far nicer than most I've tried. This stuff is SMOOTH! Light-medium body, and golden colour.
> ...


----------



## the_rayway (May 19, 2014)

Hey Jack!
I used regular apples, but they were bitter and sour. I think the owner called us in too early on that tree by about a week or so. I tried using some for applesauce, and it needed a LOT of brown sugar to make it edible. The kids hated it, and they love applesauce like nothing else.

Never heard that before about the MLF - interesting though, I'll look into it for future reference!

How`s the cider coming along?


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (May 20, 2014)

We already drank a lot of our cider we made this season, more waiting to be bottled but garden and orchard need our time first, we do more of a cyser style vs just cider, I like the body the honey gives and boosting the alcohol a little make it more stable. We also made a Goldrush varietal, put it through MLF to knock down some of the acid, still waiting to see if that worked. We are switching to 22 ounce beer bottles for ciders now, put them in a box, put a label on the box and not on the bottle or on the cap so we dont have to keep scraping and cleaning cider bottles. Do you know what kind of apple you made your cider from? Jack


----------



## the_rayway (May 20, 2014)

Hey Jack, I like the idea of a cyser. Mine really is more of a wine than a cider as it's sitting around the 13% mark  Totally by accident of course.

I haven't a clue as to the type of apple unfortunately. We have so many apple trees in Winnipeg that are very well established many of the owners have no idea as to the type. It is the most-grown fruit in the city as far as we can tell. Kind of like Peaches in Kelowna. I once asked my neighbour what type of tree his was and he replied "crab apple". He's in his 70's and the tree was planted before he was born. His mother who is in her 90's also has no idea what type it is. 

Wish I could get the crabs and apples from my Great-Granny's place. We loved those little sours like crazy when I was growing up. Helped feed 5 generations of my family too!


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (May 20, 2014)

Ray, is the apple tree still there or is it to far away? If its still alive grafting is pretty easy. WVMJ


----------



## the_rayway (May 20, 2014)

It's still out there, but I've no more room to do an apple. However, my sister in law is looking to plant some trees...I'll chat with her. Thanks for the great idea!


----------



## WVMountaineerJack (May 22, 2014)

Do you guys already have an apple tree? You can graft over onto a small rootstock like a B9 or P2, something that only gets like 8 feet tall or less. They can be pruned like a peach tree to keep them smaller and keep all the branches in reach in theory. WVMJ


----------



## the_rayway (May 23, 2014)

Actually, my neighbors have apple trees - I used up the little space I had on 2 Apricot trees. My yard is perfect for them, and they are much harder to come by here than apples  

I may have to just pray to the Gods of Fermentation for a good variety and a special picking each year for my ciders/wines. Part of the excitement is the experimenting, yes?


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 17, 2014)

Just bottled both my Pure Pear Mead, and my Lilac Mead. 

Lilac Mead: started July 2013, bottled Aug 2014. 1 US Gal = 5 bottles with a bit to spare. I added nothing to this come bottling time. S.G. is .999 and it's dry. Colour is dark golden with hints of pink in certain lights. Smell is floral. First sip is spicy, balanced with acid and dryness. If you roll it on your tongue it has a lingering honey taste. Still a bit green, but it's 13% so I can give it time to age. This is my first ever dry wine or mead that I have bottled. It reminds me of a dry Gewurtz, or a spicy Sauv. Blanc. Both are ok by me. I'm actually surprised at how much I do like it considering that I'm not a dry white drinker.

Pear Mead - started July 2013, bottled Aug 2014 1/2 gal US, yield 2x750 + 1x375. I sweetened this one with a bit of sugar to 1.010, and added a touch of acid blend. Colour is light gold. I find it still to be quite harsh, but with some potential once it smooths out. You can just taste the pear and vanilla, but there is still a lot of green taste which boots most of that out the door. I plan to crack the split bottle next summer and see how it's going. This one ended up at 11%, so I'm not sure how long I'm ok to age it for. A year or two for sure.


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 19, 2014)

Here are a couple of pics of the Lilac. You can see the hint of pink in the one shot. It was the last of the bucket, so there's a fair amount of sediment floating about


----------



## the_rayway (Feb 24, 2015)

Right, so I keep this thread _super_ up to date 

I popped the cork on my Raving Raspberry Mead today. It's nearly two and a half years old now. Colour is still really beautiful, hot pink! The flavours have developed a lot since I last cracked a bottle: the fruit has brightened up considerably and really shines. The bitterness that was present before is entirely gone and it has a nice honey aftertaste. Drinking it is like having a handful of fresh raspberries picked right off the bushes. 

Acid and sweetness are in balance, and it feels fresh and perfectly tart-sweet in you mouth.

It's brought back to me (yet again) just how much ageing pulls a wine/mead together. It also gets me excited all over again about my mead making!! 
Cheers!
Raelene


----------



## the_rayway (Feb 7, 2016)

As usual, I kind of suck at keeping this all together 

I've got a bunch of my WOTM wines/meads/ports ageing in the basement, and it's time to get them bottled!

Banana Bochet Port
Apricot Port
Apricot Blackberry Mead
Dark Berry Wine
Traditional Mead with Oak
Grapefruit Wine
Summer Strawberry Wine
Franken Mead
Franken Port

I'm going to say that all have benefited from my 'absence' over the last year or so...I will try very hard to post as I go along.

Cheers,
Ray


----------

