# Summer 2016 WOTM Club



## Jericurl (Jun 17, 2016)

It's so very hot, and many of us don't ferment near as much as we would like over the summer months.

I decided to go ahead and combine June, July, and August into one Wine of the Month thread. Feel free to go back and peruse previous threads for some great recipes and ideas for your own wine experiments.


*So without further ado:*

This is the official thread for our unofficial club, open to anyone who is interested in making a one gallon (or larger) test/experimental batch and sharing the recipe, process, ups and downs with the rest of the club.

We like:
a) full recipes with all ingredients and steps as you go along
b) pictures
c) helpful suggestions on recipe ideas, stumped members
d) thinking outside the box
e) pictures! (did I say that already?)

At the end of the summer, we would appreciate a recap of the good, the bad and the ugly of the primary fermentation, as well as periodic updates throughout the year as you go along.

At the one year mark, we will all pop open a bottle of the previous year's wine and take pictures, post comments on how it turned out, and hopefully have a tried and true recipe to post in the recipes section.

Some months we have a lot of people participate, and sometimes life catches up with us and we aren't able to ferment as much as we might like. Feel free to drop in, drop by, drop a comment, whatever.
We welcome questions and suggestions from participants and casual observers alike.

If you aren't participating in this months thread, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for any WOTM wines you have planned for this year.


*Gamble......Sun Water (skeeter pee) and Blueberry/raspberry DB

Steve H......Tiger Lily Wine

Stressbaby.....Persimmon Wine

Jericurl.....Herbal Mead

Mennyg19.....Date Mead*


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## Jericurl (Jun 17, 2016)

I don't know if I will be fermenting at all this summer.

I do still have an herbal mead planned, but keeping the house below 78-80 degrees can be a bit of a struggle most days. We are expected to hit 100 degrees for the next few days and I seriously doubt I will be in the mood for much more than laying in front of the air conditioner with a cold drink!


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## Arne (Jun 17, 2016)

We are having those hot days up here, too. Not quite a hundred, but hard to tell the difference between a hundred and 97. Cherries and currents are getting ripe. I picked some of each yesterday and both need a little more time. Supposed to cool off a bit next week, tho. Maybe a day or two below ninety. Would be nice. Arne.


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## Stressbaby (Jun 17, 2016)

My plan for a summer experiment was an estate quadberry using elderberries, blackberries, haskaps, and jostaberries...although you might say the haskaps and jostaberries are token fruit so that I can call it quadberry. It will be mostly elder/black. 

The haskaps are mostly picked, the jostaberries are just starting to ripen, and the blackberries and elderberries obvsly have a way to go.


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## CheerfulHeart (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm planning a 3 gallon Tropical DB. Still deciding between pineapple or guava juice. Leaning toward using guava nectar if I can find a good price for it. I visited Maui in April and fell in love with the flavor of guava blended with pineapple! Papaya was not a favorite. 

I have to do my fermenting out in our enclosed patio or the laundry room which is uninsulated. So the silver lining to the over 100 temperatures during the summer is my fermenting gets a good start.


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## Jericurl (Jun 18, 2016)

Lol....If you want it to!


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## gamble (Jun 18, 2016)

*1st Skeeter Pee and Dragons Blood*

Hello
Cab and Shiraz bulk aging so time for Summer Wines. Standard Skeeter Pee (name changed per wife's direction see below) and a Blueberry/Strawberry Dragons Blood. No issues and no surprises,would add more sugar for primary (abv at 8 and 9%) EC 1118 for both. Sparkolid worked overtime to produce super clear finish. Now cooling and ready to report for duty tonight for Smoked Ribs dinner.


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## SteveH (Jul 16, 2016)

*Tiger Lily Wine aka Day Lily or Ditch Lily*

Tiger Lily White Grape/Peach Wine 

So finally going to try this! I'm new to making wine but completely fascinated by the process and what you can use! 

Tiger Lily Wine 
(day lily, ditch lily)
*one Gallon batch*

2.5-3 quarts of Tiger Lily Petals 
2 of 11.5 oz cans of Welch’s 100% white grape/peach frozen concentrate
5.78 pints of water (92.5 oz)
3 cups of sugar (withhold a bit and add if needed for desired SG)
1/8 tsp powdered grape tannin
1 tsp of yeast nutrient
2 tsp acid blend
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast


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## SteveH (Jul 16, 2016)

*Tiger Lily Wine*

2.5 - 3 quarts of fresh picked and plucked tiger lily petals rinsed. We did not freeze the petals for this batch. 

Put petals in nylon straining bag, tie closed, and set in primary. Meanwhile, bring one quart of water to a boil and stir in sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and quickly pour over nylon bag in primary. Cover primary and set aside for five minutes. 

Add remaining water and white grape juice concentrate to cool the must. Stir in the remaining ingredients (tannin powder, yeast nutrient and acid blend).

Checked SG 1.100 

Add K-meta (potassium metabisulphite powder) Just found our “pinch measuring spoon” with the piggy on the handle and it IS 1/5th of a quarter tsp.

Covered and let set for 24 hours and then 
*Add Lalvin EC-1118 yeast tomorrow.


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## Stressbaby (Jul 16, 2016)

Looks like I'm in for the Summer WotM. Persimmon wine. 

I've made no less than a dozen batches of persimmon wine and none of them have been any good. Most of them get a funky gym bag smell on or around day 3 and it never goes away. I've got 10.5# of frozen persimmons in the freezer that have to go to make room for the REAL WINE FRUIT. So today I pulled them out figuring what the heck, may as well try something different. I've had really good luck adding bananas to some "second run" wines so I'm going to try a banana-persimmon wine. This will be a 2 gal batch.

10# persimmons
2 cans Welch's white grape concentrate
All of the leftover frozen overripe bananas I can dig out of the freezer
Sugar: ~4#, aim for OG 1.085
GoFerm
Fermaid K
Tannin: 3/4t
Pectic enzyme: 8t divided
50/50 mix of citric and tartaric acid to pH of 3.3-3.4
1/2 cup oak chips what the hell
3 gal water
Optiwhite
Bentonite on day 3


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## Stressbaby (Jul 17, 2016)

With 3.5# sugar, initially 1.072. I'll recheck and adjust a bit more before pitching the yeast. 1.5t each of tartaric and citric brought pH from 5.13 to 3.65. I'll ferment right there and adjust down post-ferment if needed.

And this is what American Persimmon must looks like. Yummy!


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## SteveH (Jul 18, 2016)

Added Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, sprinkled on top dry, entire packet.
Next day a nice foam, SG at 1.080
Gently stirred this twice a day. 
Three days and SG at 1.032, let bag drip drain into primary, very gently squeezed bag a little bit, then transferred into secondary (glass jug) with airlock. Secondary fermenting nice, still strong.
Today, SG at .994 secondary fermentation noticeably slowing down.


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## Stressbaby (Jul 23, 2016)

Moved my persimmon wine to 3 gallon carboy, not quite full. The smell is not particularly pleasant.

The good news is I'm up to about 85# of blackberries and 40# blueberries in the freezer and the elderberries are coming on strong.


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## Jericurl (Aug 14, 2016)

Well, it's been a ridiculous amount of time since I fermented anything, so I decided to start an herbal mead.
I think this is probably more in line with what my ancestors may have made.
SG is a bit low on this one. I'm not sure if I'll be adding more honey later to up that or if I will leave it pretty low.

4 oz dried hawthorn berries
big handful of basil and lemon basil
2 sprigs of rosemary (about 6 inches each)
couple springs of lemon balm
1 top of a bergamot (about 6 leaves)
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 lbs of honey

SG @ 1.065 

Yeast is Cotes de Blanc


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## Stressbaby (Aug 20, 2016)

Here is my persimmon wine after second racking. Looks great, does not smell bad either.


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## Jericurl (Aug 20, 2016)

Stressbaby said:


> Here is my persimmon wine after second racking. Looks great, does not smell bad either.



Ok, that's not bad at all!


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## Jericurl (Aug 20, 2016)

SteveH said:


> Added Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, sprinkled on top dry, entire packet.
> Next day a nice foam, SG at 1.080
> Gently stirred this twice a day.
> Three days and SG at 1.032, let bag drip drain into primary, very gently squeezed bag a little bit, then transferred into secondary (glass jug) with airlock. Secondary fermenting nice, still strong.
> Today, SG at .994 secondary fermentation noticeably slowing down.



That color is amazing!


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## mennyg19 (Aug 31, 2016)

Ok, even though summer is almost over, I'm gonna pipe in here.
I tasted mead for the first time in my life yesterday and I am absolutely hooked. So, I'm gonna do my first batch. As I am overseas, I am using the metric system. If you have a problem with that, just know that congress passed a law in the 80s requiring the country to switch over to the metric system. So I win. 

So heres my recipe for a 5 liter batch:
1.5 kg of honey
.5 kg of silan (date honey/syrup)
3 dried medjool dates pitted
Water to top off till about 4.5 liters to give room for foam.
Shake the hell out of my 5 liter demijohn
Add redstar champagne yeast.
Shake the hell out of it again
And airlock.
Sit for a month, rack, and let it sit for at least 3 months afterward. 

Wish me luck!!!! Im aiming for more of a semi sweetish finish.


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## mennyg19 (Sep 1, 2016)

So here's a picture of my must (is that what an unfinished mead is called?) right after shaking the hell out of it:


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## Hinermad (Sep 1, 2016)

mennyg19 said:


> As I am overseas, I am using the metric system. If you have a problem with that, just know that congress passed a law in the 80s requiring the country to switch over to the metric system. So I win.



That's fine, but remember there are two kinds of nations in the world - those who use the metric system, and those who have landed men on the Moon. (grin)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how your date mead turns out. I think it sounds great!


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## mennyg19 (Sep 1, 2016)

Took a gravity reading. The thing didn't sink!!! 
1.122


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## Jericurl (Sep 1, 2016)

Whew, that's a pretty good amount to ferment.

If you get it down to 1.01, that will give you 14.70% ABV, not bad at all.
How's your fermentation looking?


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## mennyg19 (Sep 2, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> How's your fermentation looking?




Looking pretty slow. Airlock not bubbling a lot, but I do see fizz coming up through the must


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## mennyg19 (Sep 4, 2016)

Ferment still pretty slow, airlock bubbling about 5 times a minute. I still see fizz coming up though. Looks like an opened bottle of pepsi... (Not as much fizz as coke). I hope its working. Im not measuring until it quiets down entirely


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## mennyg19 (Sep 8, 2016)

Snapped a pic last night. My dates turned white!


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## Jericurl (Sep 29, 2016)

Here we are, Herbal Mead on the left.
So far, so good. I did end up adding some random things here and there. My original primary amount was larger than I anticipated so I had to ferment in two 1.5 gallon containers. I tinkered with it adding a little more water and a little more honey. SG for both containers was @ 1.08. Then I probably had a half gallon less than 3 gallons when I racked to secondary. So I made a second tea with the same herbs and added about a pound, pound and a half of honey and added that to my carboy. I had three roses bloom so I pulled those off and added them to the carboy, as well as a basil bloom.


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## mennyg19 (Oct 6, 2016)

Racked my date mead tonight. Gorgeous dark color. Sugar and alcohol levels are a bit high for me so I will top off with water to cool it down... its small so I didnt purposely taste, but I got a splash while racking (I'm still new to racking). I so far love it, so I hope it just keeps getting better


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## hounddawg (Oct 6, 2016)

when you make a wine from flowers do you use the entire bloom
Dawg






SteveH said:


> Tiger Lily White Grape/Peach Wine
> 
> So finally going to try this! I'm new to making wine but completely fascinated by the process and what you can use!
> 
> ...


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## mennyg19 (Oct 6, 2016)

Question: my ferment stopped. I think its cuz the alcohol level is too high. I added water so the alcohol percentage should now be lower. Will my fermentation restart or was my yeast killed off by the high alcohol and I now have to add more yeast?


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## Jericurl (Oct 6, 2016)

hounddawg said:


> when you make a wine from flowers do you use the entire bloom
> Dawg



I pinch off any leaves/green parts, but other than that, I pitch the whole flower in.


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## Jericurl (Oct 6, 2016)

mennyg19 said:


> Question: my ferment stopped. I think its cuz the alcohol level is too high. I added water so the alcohol percentage should now be lower. Will my fermentation restart or was my yeast killed off by the high alcohol and I now have to add more yeast?



Without having SG measurements, it's really hard to know. And even then, would likely only be speculation. If your yeast was the Redstar Pasteur Champagne yeast, then I believe it usually goes 13-15%, so you can probably get 16% easily, but I don't know how much of your sugar has already been converted and how much is left. It could all be gone and adding water only dilutes all of it. It could have a bit more to go and restart. But being that it has been fermenting this long, I doubt it would restart. If you made a starter and got a really healthy colony going and added some kind of nutrients/energizer you might be able to get a bit more out of it, but ...it's hard to tell.

eta: You have a beginning SG amount...what are you at now?


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## hounddawg (Oct 6, 2016)

thank you.
i really did not know, 
i have as of yet never tried flower wine, 
but from reading post it sounds if nothing else interesting, 
DAWG







Jericurl said:


> I pinch off any leaves/green parts, but other than that, I pitch the whole flower in.


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## SteveH (Oct 8, 2016)

hounddawg said:


> when you make a wine from flowers do you use the entire bloom
> Dawg



Jericurl has waaaaaay more experience than me, so.... what she says! On my tigerlilly batches though I followed the recipe i had at hand and used the petals only snapping them off near the base.


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## Jericurl (Oct 8, 2016)

SteveH said:


> Jericurl has waaaaaay more experience than me, so.... what she says! On my tigerlilly batches though I followed the recipe i had at hand and used the petals only snapping them off near the base.



And that's absolutely fine as well. But the stamens, etc, have a lot of pollen and nectar in them and that is where a lot of the aroma and flavor comes from so I always include it.


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## SteveH (Oct 9, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> And that's absolutely fine as well. But the stamens, etc, have a lot of pollen and nectar in them and that is where a lot of the aroma and flavor comes from so I always include it.



And that is what I will do next year! Makes good sense.


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## mennyg19 (Oct 9, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> Without having SG measurements, it's really hard to know. And even then, would likely only be speculation. If your yeast was the Redstar Pasteur Champagne yeast, then I believe it usually goes 13-15%, so you can probably get 16% easily, but I don't know how much of your sugar has already been converted and how much is left. It could all be gone and adding water only dilutes all of it. It could have a bit more to go and restart. But being that it has been fermenting this long, I doubt it would restart. If you made a starter and got a really healthy colony going and added some kind of nutrients/energizer you might be able to get a bit more out of it, but ...it's hard to tell.
> 
> eta: You have a beginning SG amount...what are you at now?




I measured and its 1.006 (started at 1.122), that is after I added .8 of a liter of water. I started with 4.2 and topped off after fermentation stopped. I tasted it and its a bit honey harsh. Not as smooth as the one I tasted before I started, but that was aged for a year. I hope that it will smoothen out over the next few months.


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## Jericurl (Oct 9, 2016)

mennyg19 said:


> I measured and its 1.006 (started at 1.122), that is after I added .8 of a liter of water. I started with 4.2 and topped off after fermentation stopped. I tasted it and its a bit honey harsh. Not as smooth as the one I tasted before I started, but that was aged for a year. I hope that it will smoothen out over the next few months.



That's really good then!

It makes sense that it wouldn't be as smooth. It will need time to age out, but I'd put money on it being spectacular by this time next year.


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## mennyg19 (Oct 10, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> That's really good then!
> 
> 
> 
> It makes sense that it wouldn't be as smooth. It will need time to age out, but I'd put money on it being spectacular by this time next year.




Bottle age or bulk age... that is the question...


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## Jericurl (Oct 10, 2016)

mennyg19 said:


> Bottle age or bulk age... that is the question...



I try to bulk age no less than 9 months before bottling. I just bottled three batches that are just about a year old.


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## mennyg19 (Nov 19, 2016)

So I ran out of patience. I bottled on Friday. Had it over the weekend and it is out of this world. My taste buds aren't so nitpicky, so I wouldn't be able to tell you if the dates come through, but a friend who was raving about it said he tasted it.
At two months old, this mead is a winner. I'm planning another 10L because this aint gonna last too long.
Here's a pic:




I also love the bottles I bottled in. They came in a case of 17 and were about $1.19 each. They're 500ml


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## mennyg19 (Nov 20, 2016)

Question:
I want to age at least one bottle for at least a year (I have 6 bottles left). Will it age well in screwtop bottles? Also, at what temperature should I keep them? They're right now in my basement office which is usually in the upper 60s to lower 70s


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## mennyg19 (Jan 1, 2017)

So I took out another bottle for tasting to a few brewing friends. The best compliment I got was "man, this is like liquid sunshine"
I asked him to explain so he said: "its warm, smooth, calms everything down, like laying in the beautiful sun"


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