# black cherry kool-aid



## hounddawg (Jul 30, 2020)

anybody know the pro's and con's of trying a black cherry kool-aid,, any suggestions, like don't do it ! to add this, but not that, just wanting another experiment,,
Dawg,


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## hounddawg (Aug 3, 2020)

HUM,,, is experimenting with kool aid taboo? just looking for new experiences, i figured i'd at least get a don't do that,  
Dawg


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 3, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> HUM,,, is experimenting with kool aid taboo? just looking for new experiences, i figured i'd at least get a don't do that,
> Dawg



I've never considered that. How would you do it? Just sugar and Kool Aid to ferment or the black cherry after it's done when you backsweeten?


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## KCCam (Aug 3, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> HUM,,, is experimenting with kool aid taboo? just looking for new experiences, i figured i'd at least get a don't do that,
> Dawg


I’ve heard of people adding Kool-Aid during backsweetening for a little extra flavour. But you are the ultimate experimenter. Do you have a bunch of Kool-Aid you want to get rid of? What made you think of it?


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## Rice_Guy (Aug 3, 2020)

You have several formulas of “artificially flavored drink mix”. In general they are minimal formulations and EVERYTHING for yeast nutrition needs to be added ie like making a flower wine. Dawg, this has been on my project list but haven’t gotten to it. There are three basic formulations, 1) sugar sweetened which has anti caking agents, 2) artificially sweetened which has some dextrin and anti caking but it’s minimal, 3) add your own sugar drink mix which again has a slight anti caking agent. All three have acid powder and buffering agents to hold pH.
Of your choices the “add your sugar” is my choice for flavoring a wine. For where I am today Fermaid, DAP and tannin should be used. It probably would do better with added banana for mouth feel and yeast nutrients. Look for a Kool Aid with rounded flavor notes. Cheap formulas mainly have high flavor notes and color.
I had a really balanced peach flavor presweetened that I looked at using BUT this formula had cloud agents I didn’t think I could pull out. In the end decided not to make a cloudy test wine.

A fun project to learn from.


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## hounddawg (Aug 3, 2020)

thanks everyone, it just seemed a challenge, as for properties of it i have no clue, but am taking notes from this post, i had the nutrients and energizer in mind, now i see that is correct, and yes, sugar is a definite, but i'm not sure if straight kool aid or kool aid/some either cherry concentrate or concentrated cherry juice, 
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 3, 2020)

KCCam said:


> I’ve heard of people adding Kool-Aid during backsweetening for a little extra flavour. But you are the ultimate experimenter. Do you have a bunch of Kool-Aid you want to get rid of? What made you think of it?


i'm abnormal you know that,
Dawg


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## Bill MacDonald (Aug 4, 2020)

I'm sorry but that sounds horrible. Why would you add that crap to your wine?


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## hounddawg (Aug 4, 2020)

Bill MacDonald said:


> I'm sorry but that sounds horrible. Why would you add that crap to your wine?


oh no, i would never add kool aid to my country wines, what i ask, is for pro's and con's for a black cherry kool-aid wine, i saw where others have added for more flavor, but not my wines, all my wines i go way heavy on fruits and berries, all my country wines are very robust on their flavor, i make most every fruit and berry in my neck of the woods, and am interested in a outside the box experiment, i have 26 carboys, so i have room for something off the wall, without it interfering with either my wines or my bulk aging, no harm, no foul,,, 
Dawg


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## PandemoniumWines (Aug 4, 2020)

There’s no need to defend yourself hounddawg.

I think it sounds absolutely fun. If you’re not trying new things, you’re not going to learn new things. There’s no need to be snobby about wine; make what you like, drink what you make, and make sure to share!


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## thywinemaker (Aug 5, 2020)

please keep us updated one day i plan on doing an almond wine and a canned pineapple wine


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## Rice_Guy (Aug 5, 2020)

From the point of view of yeast almond has close to no nutritional value. I would treat it like a flower wine and start with that nutrient mix. The almond could be done as a ground flour (as made in a coffee grinder 100 gm at a time) OR it could be added as almond extract OR you could create your own extract with almond flour and grain alcohol.


thywinemaker said:


> please keep us updated one day i plan on doing an almond wine and a canned pineapple wine


There should be recipes on the web for pineapple. One analysis for pineapple juice is gravity 1.062, pH 3.89, TA 0.63%.


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## WinoDave (Aug 6, 2020)

Doesn’t sound crazy to me, I bought 5 big containers of powder country time pink lemonade and was going to try to make some sort of wine out of it. If it works Yeah Me, if Not oh well, pitch it and I’m out $20.


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## G259 (Aug 6, 2020)

I have a friend who does these types of things, I know that he has done Kool-Aid, but a response might be a few days. I'll ask for pointers.


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## MustyMike (Aug 7, 2020)

I’m thinking you should ferment the fruits you are going to use and add the kool aid at secondary fermentation. Maybe use a lemonade/pink lemonade kool aid flavor to balance your cherry must. I’m assuming you are using sweet cherries though. If you have tart cherries then maybe a Tropical punch would blend well. The possibilities are endless dawg


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## MustyMike (Aug 7, 2020)

MustyMike said:


> I’m thinking you should ferment the fruits you are going to use and add the kool aid at secondary fermentation. Maybe use a lemonade/pink lemonade kool aid flavor to balance your cherry must. I’m assuming you are using sweet cherries though. If you have tart cherries then maybe a Tropical punch would blend well. The possibilities are endless dawg


As a side note: make some kool aid/PGA 190 for a nice cherry port?


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## Snafflebit (Aug 7, 2020)

It sounds like the kind of wine one would make in prison, not that there is anything wrong with that... goes great with burritos?


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## hounddawg (Aug 7, 2020)

MustyMike said:


> I’m thinking you should ferment the fruits you are going to use and add the kool aid at secondary fermentation. Maybe use a lemonade/pink lemonade kool aid flavor to balance your cherry must. I’m assuming you are using sweet cherries though. If you have tart cherries then maybe a Tropical punch would blend well. The possibilities are endless dawg


no,no.no... their will be no kool-aid in my country wines, i have enough carboys for bulk aging and wine makins, no this kool-aid is just for $hit$ & grins, but thank you.
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 7, 2020)

MustyMike said:


> As a side note: make some kool aid/PGA 190 for a nice cherry port?


i put PGA in my skeeter pee port, as well. i use a 32 oz bottle of lemon concentrate per gallon of water, tastes like sweet lemon-aid, but kicks like a mule, that is my only pretty high ABV wine & is a very easy drinker, no one gets a drop without being told no driving, no nothing, because it will ambush you big time... all my other country wines are from 11% to 14%, all with double to triple the amount of fruit/berries, i aim for the taste from the tree or bush or briar patch, of the fruit or berry, nature prefects it,,, i just add alcohol,,,  
Dawg


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## reeflections (Aug 7, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> i have 26 carboys,



26 carboys? Is that where I'm going? I've only been doing this for about 6 months and I have 9. I keep telling my wife I just need one more but then....


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## hounddawg (Aug 7, 2020)

reeflections said:


> 26 carboys? Is that where I'm going? I've only been doing this for about 6 months and I have 9. I keep telling my wife I just need one more but then....


yep, wont be long before one day you can't hardly walk in your wine room and you wonder what the heck happened, not to mention any empties call to you in your sleep begging to not them dry out,, please refill me,,,,,, lol
Dawg


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## reeflections (Aug 7, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> yep, wont be long before one day you can't hardly walk in your wine room and you wonder what the heck happened, not to mention any empties call to you in your sleep begging to not them dry out,, please refill me,,,,,, lol
> Dawg


When I first started to do this I thought I should be careful not to get addicted to drinking wine. Had no idea I could get addicted to carboys!


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## G259 (Aug 7, 2020)

G259 said:


> I have a friend who does these types of things, I know that he has done Kool-Aid, but a response might be a few days. I'll ask for pointers.



It turns out that he hasn't made Kool-Aid wine, but he did say that he might use some as a flavoring if needed.


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## hounddawg (Aug 7, 2020)

G259 said:


> It turns out that he hasn't made Kool-Aid wine, but he did say that he might use some as a flavoring if needed.


thank you for trying, i appreciate you,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 7, 2020)

reeflections said:


> When I first started to do this I thought I should be careful not to get addicted to drinking wine. Had no idea I could get addicted to carboys!


hey there's folks on here that's got 10 times as many or more as i do,,,, bulk aging, making lots, my state allows only 100 gal a year ,, lol
Dawg


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## G259 (Aug 8, 2020)

. . . 200 if you have another person living in your household, that can put up with you. For me, it's 100 (~)!


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## hounddawg (Aug 8, 2020)

G259 said:


> . . . 200 if you have another person living in your household, that can put up with you. For me, it's 100 (~)!


yep, i'm single, and they won't count my dog, for i reckon we're both in the same boat, of course what you drink can't be counted huh? lol
Dawg


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## KCCam (Aug 8, 2020)

G259 said:


> . . . 200 if you have another person living in your household, that can put up with you. For me, it's 100 (~)!


So if you made 100 gal/yr and bulk aged all of it, would it be legal to have 500 gal aging? ie, is it the amount you actually ferment, or the amount you have on hand?


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## hounddawg (Aug 8, 2020)

KCCam said:


> So if you made 100 gal/yr and bulk aged all of it, would it be legal to have 500 gal aging? ie, is it the amount you actually ferment, or the amount you have on hand?


as long as i have not over 100 gal marked per year, 
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 8, 2020)

KCCam said:


> So if you made 100 gal/yr and bulk aged all of it, would it be legal to have 500 gal aging? ie, is it the amount you actually ferment, or the amount you have on hand?


um,,,, i reckon i could keep as many gallons as i wish as long as no one year exceeded 100 gallons, all my carboys are marked for year and type , same with my wine bottle labels,,,
Dawg


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## G259 (Aug 8, 2020)

Me too, I started in 1892, lol! . . . yeah, prove it!


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## KCCam (Aug 9, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> as long as i have not over 100 gal marked per year,
> Dawg


In Alberta, you can only have 460 litres (121 US gallons) of wine, in total, at any time. If you already have that much aging, you can’t even start a 1 gallon batch. *BUT, *you can also have 121 gallons of beer, and 121 gallons of cider. Guess I’ll have to start making beer and cider! Lol.


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## G259 (Aug 9, 2020)

KCCam said:


> So if you made 100 gal/yr and bulk aged all of it, would it be legal to have 500 gal aging? ie, is it the amount you actually ferment, or the amount you have on hand?



The reason for the '1892' comment was to illustrate the complexity of the issue. Law enforcement would have the necessity of proving guilt or intent, however your own documentation could be used against you, and would be confiscated immediately.
Everything I read about it says 'per year', I don't know how that applies to aging though, and the amount you have 'on hand'.
I think that if a law is ambiguous, it could have more than one meaning, the 'nod' goes to the opposing party. Is is a calendar year? A revolving year? At any one time?
If (supposedly) you got 'raided' Jan. 15th, you could say that 'I only made 1 gallon this year'!


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## KCCam (Aug 9, 2020)

G259 said:


> The reason for the '1892' comment was to illustrate the complexity of the issue. Law enforcement would have the necessity of proving guilt or intent, however your own documentation could be used against you, and would be confiscated immediately.


Yah, in Alberta, it’s moot. Doesn’t matter when you made it, you can’t have more than the limit at any time.


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## G259 (Aug 9, 2020)

OK, but everything I read (and it could be wrong) says 'per year'. US only?

Searched it. It is per 'calendar year', so if I have a wine aging for two years, it's a different year vintage, and shouldn't be a problem, I think.


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## KCCam (Aug 9, 2020)

G259 said:


> OK, but everything I read (and it could be wrong) says 'per year'. US only?
> 
> Searched it. It is per 'calendar year', so if I have a wine aging for two years, it's a different year vintage, and shouldn't be a problem, I think.


Yes, Canada is different. Every province is different. I don’t think Ontario even has a limit. Not that any of this matters to me, it’s just curious how widely different the rules are.


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## G259 (Aug 9, 2020)

I think it's handled federally in the US. It's interesting that it's provincial in Canada, although with the federal agencies like the ATF, it's not surprising that it's isn't here!


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## vinny (Mar 17, 2022)

Hey Dawg, did you ever try this? I was just thinking of what my next experiment is going to be and thought I'd see if anyone else went this route..


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## mikewatkins727 (Mar 18, 2022)

Uh, psst, @vinny, the last post before yours was August 2020. Maybe @hounddawg will notice and post a reply.


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## ChuckD (Mar 18, 2022)

If you check his stats it lists a join date but no last activity. I have heard this means he is no longer a member. I don’t remember seeing anything about why.


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## vinny (Mar 19, 2022)

Weird. I realize this post is old, but he was replying to my posts less than a month ago.. Oh well, might have to go down this road alone. Thanks for the replies.


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