# May 2015 Wine of the Month Club



## Jericurl (May 2, 2015)

Copy and pasted from previous month, and so on and so forth, yadda yadda yadda...

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 month, 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.


*May participants:

1. Jericurl.....Black Briar Reserve (AKA Blackberry wine with DME added)

2. JDesCotes.....Pineapple Wine

3. BernardSmith.....Ginger Mead

4. The Rayway.....Grapefruit Wine

5. OhCrap.....Rhubarb Wine

*


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## Jericurl (May 2, 2015)

I know what wine I'll be making for this month, though it will be later in the month before I am able to do it.
I was digging around and came across the port wine recipe that @Boatboy24 posted (originally found on the Jack Keller website).

Here is the original recipe for one gallon:
_6 lb. blueberries 
1/2 pt. red grape concentrate 
1/2 c. light dry malt 
1-3/4 lb. granulated sugar 
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme 
1-1/2 tsp. acid blend 
1/2 tsp. yeast energizer 
1/2 tsp. wine stabilizer 
4 pt. water 
crushed Campden tablet 
wine yeast 
Wash and crush blueberries in nylon straining bag and strain juice into primary fermentation vessel. Tie top of nylon bag and place in primary fermentation vessel. Stir in all other ingredients except stabilizer, yeast and red grape concentrate. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover well, and set aside for 24 hours. Add yeast, cover, and daily stir ingredients and press pulp in nylon bag to extract flavor. When specific gravity is 1.030 (about 5 days), strain juice from bag and siphon liquor off sediments into glass secondary fermentation vessel. Fit fermentation trap. Rack in three weeks and again in two months. When wine is clear and stable, add red grape concentrate, wine stabilizer and crushed Campden tablet, rack again and bottle. Allow a year to mature. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]_

Now, I don't want a port and I'll be using blackberries instead of blueberries.
I've also cheated by not using whole berries.
So, I'm just basically roughly following the above recipe for this month. I'll probably toss everything together the weekend of the 16th, so please weigh in if you have suggestions. I've already got all of my ingredients.

*Blackberry Wine*
(heck, I may just rob another Skyrim idea and call it Blackbriar Reserve)

1 96 oz can of Vintner's blackberry fruit wine base
64 oz Blackberry wine concentrate from Homewinery.com
Water to 5 gallons
sugar to 1.10% SG
2.5 cups light dry malt
2.5 tsp pectic enzyme
2.5 tsp yeast energizer


Once I mix my water and blackberries together, I'll draw off 1 quart to add back in after stabilization.
Then add in sugar, dry malt, pectic enzyme, wait 24 hours, then add in yeast energizer and pitch RC212.
I'm thinking I should wait until it's finished before adding in the acid.

Now...the questions...Should I add in oak powder and maybe some chips in primary?

Do you think it will actually need yeast nutrient with all of the berry juice?

Should I add a minimal amount of acid during primary, then adjust when finished?


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## JDesCotes (May 2, 2015)

Here is what I'm going to be making this month:

23L pineapple juice (Costco has them for $1 per L!! And the ingredient is just pineapple)
Sugar to 1.1 SG
2tsp pectin enzyme 
4 banana peels, frozen, thawed & chopped
1/2 tsp tannin.
2tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp yeast energizer. 

I am also saving a couple L of pineapple juice for back sweetening once it's cleared and stabilized.

I'm planning on starting this around may 17. Anybody have any thoughts on how to improve my recipe?


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## the_rayway (May 3, 2015)

@jericurl - recipe looks interesting! I would wait on the acid addition until after, as blackberries can be pretty acidic. I've oaked blackberry and really like the profile it gives to the wine - I say go for it! I like American oak med toast on a blackberry to bring that vanilla profile in.

@jdescoates - you might have a bit of trouble getting pure pineapple to ferment - too acidic. Are you able to test the PH of the pure juice? This may be one of those times where you really need to add a bit of water to balance it out. Basically all of the fruit I can get locally is really acidic (crab apples, apricots, ure pears, rhubarb, etc.) so it's something that I watch for now. You don't want to end up with a wine that you have to waaayyy over sweeten to try and bring back in balance. If you're able to test, I would highly suggest it - IMHO  I saw a recipe on another site for Pineapple Habanero mead, and it got me thinking about a Pineapple Chipotle mead. So very interested to see how yours goes!

Looking good peoples! I've been itching to get something going this month, so hopefully further inspiration will strike soon (...or...just a bit more motivation...)


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## JDesCotes (May 3, 2015)

The only thing I've ever tested the PH of is my hot tub. Can I use the ph strips from that to get a general idea of ph in the juice? What would be considered a "safe" ph for wine making? (I'm still pretty new to making non kit non skeeter per wine)

Any good links you could suggest? I've searched this forum but the IOS app is seemingly returning every post except the ones explaining it.


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## Jericurl (May 3, 2015)

> it got me thinking about a Pineapple Chipotle mead. So very interested to see how yours goes!


 LOL @the rayway

I have 3 cans of pineapple in the pantry that I am going to use for Pineapple/chipotle/lime mead. We can't keep chipotle peppers in this house longer than a week though, so I keep backing it up!

Thanks for the input on the blackberry wine. I'm excited about this one. I always say that don't I? 
But I'm REALLY excited about this one!


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## Stressbaby (May 3, 2015)

JDesCotes said:


> The only thing I've ever tested the PH of is my hot tub. Can I use the ph strips from that to get a general idea of ph in the juice? What would be considered a "safe" ph for wine making? (I'm still pretty new to making non kit non skeeter per wine)



Your hot tub strips are probably in the range of 6.8-8.0. This is way out of range for wine, which is generally 3.0-3.6. You can get pH strips for testing wine/must but a pH meter is FAR more accurate and easier to use.


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## JDesCotes (May 3, 2015)

You are right. Would this be the meter you are talking about?

https://homebrewsupplies.ca/product/2933-checker-1-ph-tester/


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## BernardSmith (May 3, 2015)

That looks like the Hanna pH meter I bought but I think mine was about half the price of the one in your post. That said, one of the advantages of a pH meter is that you can use it to measure TA (a pH of 8.2 is the pH at which the indicator changes color so if you add Na OH to a sample of wine until it reaches a pH of 8.2 that is exactly the same as measuring the TA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085WOIMQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## quiltertoo (May 3, 2015)

I have been following this forum for the past few months. I have seen the wine of the month threads. Where will I find the results from some previous months and have you been doing this for more than a year and have posted results when opening and tasting after aging a year?
Mary Lou


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## the_rayway (May 4, 2015)

Thanks everyone for jumping in on the PH subject! 

@quiltertoo - if you search the older threads, we have several that people have posted results for. Nov 2013, and up from there. Not all threads have 'final' tasting notes yet as some projects are still aging, and others participants haven't gotten around to it yet. Just check the last page or two of the threads and you should see if there has been anything posted.

@jericurl - as usual, you're my sister from another mother!! Lol! Always thinking along the same lines it seems. I want to get some really high-quality pineapple from when it's more in season to do the chipotle deal. Also, I would have to roast my own as I don't want to use canned ones.


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## the_rayway (May 4, 2015)

Alright, procrastination is turned off. I'm going to do a Grapefruit Wine this month.

Tentative Plan:
- 1L fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (from when they were in season, and frozen in the mean time)
- Sugar or honey to SG 1.100ish
- Additives: nutrient, energizer, pectic enzyme, kmeta. 
- Nutrient feeding on the 2/3, 1/3 schedule.
- Dried grapefruit peel - from the original fruit
- water to 1 gallon
- EC1118 yeast

I'm looking to @GreginND's recipe from 2001 to see if I can do something similar. I will get a decent starter going using Go-Ferm because I do worry the acidity might be a little bit high. TBC on sugar or honey - I've got a fair amount of honey left from my last delivery and it is GOOD honey. But I also don't want to muddle the grapefruit flavour too much which is why I'm considering sugar. There will be time to think about it as the grapefruit juice thaws though.

Excited about this!! Also, the thought comes to me that it's time to sneak a bit of my Apricot Port from Dec. 2013. It's still sitting on the American oak cubes, but looks SO inviting right now...

A couple of other thoughts (if I write them down, I won't forget...right?): 
1 - someone please remind me that when the rhubarb is ready, I should do Rhubarb Vanilla with Earl Grey recipe I've got kicking around in my head. 
2 - Strawberry season this year I want to pick enough to do my canning (obviously), plus enough to get a gallon of pure juice for a wine. Who wouldn't want to drink that?!? Possibly with the addition of some pink peppercorns. Yum!
3 - See if I can scavenge enough wild plums this year for a batch. I've been itching to do plum, and a campground near here has them growing wild everywhere. Need to plan my attack carefully...

Who doesn't love summer!?! I tell you, when you only get hot weather for 2 months out of the year, you really need to plan to enjoy it as much a possible!


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## Jericurl (May 4, 2015)

> Also, I would have to roast my own as I don't want to use canned ones.



I need more information on this. We roast and freeze green chilis all the time but I've never smoked them. And it would be very easy to get Manthing onboard with roasting/smoking peppers! He's already out in the garden inspecting the pepper plants daily to see where they are on blossoms/immature peppers.


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## BernardSmith (May 4, 2015)

Planning on making a ginger mead this month - 
1lb of fresh ginger (chopped )
Boiled for 20 minutes (remove root and allow to cool) in 1 gallon of spring water
2.5 lbs of wild flower honey (all my varietals are in 2 lb containers) whirled with ginger tea to aerate the honey. 
Top up volume so that SG = ~ 1.090 (potential ABV = ~ 12%) - 2.25 lbs of honey in 1 gallon has SG 1.090 so there should be a little more to allow for lees and topping up at first racking
Nutrient & energizer
D47
Allow to age 3 months;
Check TA (should be ~ .65%) - consider adding citric if TA is significantly lower. 
Stabilize; 
Backsweeten to ~ 1.010 with .25 lb of honey dissolved in cup of mead from previous batch
Bottle
Age 3 - 6 months


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## the_rayway (May 4, 2015)

Jericurl said:


> I need more information on this. We roast and freeze green chilis all the time but I've never smoked them. And it would be very easy to get Manthing onboard with roasting/smoking peppers! He's already out in the garden inspecting the pepper plants daily to see where they are on blossoms/immature peppers.



You know he would totally want to  And FYI my pepper plants aren't even able to be planted for another several weeks - never mind having fruit on them yet!!!


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## BernardSmith (May 5, 2015)

First image - boiling 1 lb of ginger (chopped and grated in my food processor). The ginger tea smells quite delicious. I am cooling this to room temperature so pored the tea through a straining bag and removed the ginger root then added 1 Campden tablet to the liquor. Looks like about 1/2 gallon of water boiled down and /or was absorbed by the ginger.


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## BernardSmith (May 7, 2015)

Pitched D47 into the ginger metheglin yesterday and this morning the mead is actively fermenting - and smells quite delicious.


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## the_rayway (May 8, 2015)

May 2015 WOTM - Grapefruit Wine

Ok, so here's how it actually went down:
- 1L Grapefruit Juice (fresh squeezed in season and frozen) S.G. 1.046
- 1/16tsp kmeta
- 1/4 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 1 bag President's Choice Peach Ginger Tea
- 2 grams Elderflowers
- 8 halves dried apricots (my own)
- Water to 1 gallon
- Sugar to 1.100
- EC1118 started with GoFerm
- 1/8 tsp Yeast energizer
- 1/8 tsp FermK

I thawed the juice and dosed with Kmeta, then tossed everything into the bucket except the energizer and nutrient. Pitched the yeast starter. By morning she was fermenting just fine, so I tossed in the energizer and nutrient.

The must was sweet and not very tart or acidic, I did not add acid to this point, and will wait it out a little bit to see how it comes along. I added the elderflowers, tea, and apricots because a) turns out I used the grapefruit peels in a body scrub for a friend, and b) to get more complexity out of the wine. I think they will pair nicely together however, and am looking forward to the results.

I will check the SG at bit later this morning to see how it's perking along.


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## JDesCotes (May 8, 2015)

@the_rayway I LOVE the colour of that wine so far, can't wait to see it clear.


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## the_rayway (May 14, 2015)

JDesCotes said:


> @the_rayway I LOVE the colour of that wine so far, can't wait to see it clear.



Me too! I hope it doesn't lose its tint after it settles out.

I did a really thorough degassing over the lost few days, along with the final nutrient additions as I was starting to get just the _slightest_ sulfur smell. Racked to secondary and airlocked. SG is at 1.010.

A few hours later I heard a clatter in the library, and went to investigate. I had a Wine Eruption Accident: grapefruit barf everywhere and it shot my airlock right off! I've never had an eruption like this. Quite impressive. 

Anyhoo, after I cleaned everything up, it appears the it was lots of 'barf' and very little wine that had managed to make a run for it. I re-airlocked and now it's perking along nicely. I'm hoping this one makes it to under 1.000, but I won't be super disappointed it it doesn't. I also picked up some grapefruit concentrate, as well as a fresh grapefruit in case I decide it needs a bit of a perk/top up.


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## sour_grapes (May 14, 2015)

Oh, dear. Where is the "unlike" button?


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## Jericurl (May 18, 2015)

Ok...here we go!!!!!

1 96 oz can of Vintner's blackberry fruit wine base
64 oz Blackberry wine concentrate from Homewinery.com
1 lb currants
Water to 5 gallons
sugar to 1.10% SG
2.5 cups light dry malt
3 tsp pectic enzyme
2.5 tsp yeast energizer
2.5 tsp yeast nutrient
8 T American Oak powder
2 grams FT Rouge Soft
2 grams FT Blanc Soft

Yeast is 71B

By the time everything has been said and done, this is at 6 gallons. I'm hoping that doesn't dilute the flavor too much, but since each of the blackberry base was supposed to make 5 gallons apiece, combining them even at 6 gallons should much a wine with good body. In theory anyway.

eta:
Added 1 oz french chips
2 tsp tannin


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## OhCrap (May 20, 2015)

First attempt under way,

2.5kg rhubarb

325 grams light raisins

4.29 L water

2 kg sugar

1/3 tsp tannin

1.5 tsp yeast nutrient

1.5 campden tablets

1 tsp pectic enzyme

1 pkg yeast Qa-23 Lavlin


Ok so I thawed rhubarb in primary and added 1.5kg sugar + campden (I held back .5kg in case I over shoot or if I under shot I could add more)
It's now 3 days on. I've strained rhubarb and added rest of ingredients except yeast.
I undershot my target gravity. Wanted 1.085/1.090 hit 1.066 ish so I made a syrup with the additional .5 kg sugar, let it cool and added it to primary. 
Hit 1.093 
It's now covered and waiting on yeast, I'll do that tomorrow. Attached a pic of hydrometer sample.
Tastes nice and it's not even started but it's always a good thing to start with a nice sample [emoji3]


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## fabrictodyefor (May 20, 2015)

OhCrap said:


> First attempt under way,
> 
> 2.5kg rhubarb
> 
> ...



So, you don't say when you added, or if you have already added the water. It may be a little light. I did the math and you had a little over 5 pounds of rhubarb to a little over 4 quarts of water. I have made rhubarb wine several times and I don't add quite that ratio of water to rhubarb. But I do allow the rhubarb and sugar to soak for 3 days, then make my wine. Rhubarb takes a year or so, so you may want to freeze some rhubarb in order to make a flavor pak later in your process. Rhubarb happens to be one of my very favorites! Good Luck with yours


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## OhCrap (May 20, 2015)

fabrictodyefor said:


> So, you don't say when you added, or if you have already added the water. It may be a little light. I did the math and you had a little over 5 pounds of rhubarb to a little over 4 quarts of water. I have made rhubarb wine several times and I don't add quite that ratio of water to rhubarb. But I do allow the rhubarb and sugar to soak for 3 days, then make my wine. Rhubarb takes a year or so, so you may want to freeze some rhubarb in order to make a flavor pak later in your process. Rhubarb happens to be one of my very favorites! Good Luck with yours





I added the water with the rest of the ingredients, I ended up with so of 1.093 so if if ferments to .995 it'll 12.8% where I'm aiming for. 
How do you mean light?


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## the_rayway (May 20, 2015)

Hey @OhCrap! I believe she means light on flavour - generally you want a fairly high low amount of water compared to fruit. 5Lbs of rhubarb/gallon might require the addition of an Fpack of pure rhubarb to really bring out the flavour once fermentation has happened.

I have added the zest (via potato peeler, no pith) to my *Grapefruit Wine* to enhance the flavour. No more explosions, but there is still a decent amount of yeast floating at the top. Hoping to check tonight for a finished S.G./


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## OhCrap (May 20, 2015)

the_rayway said:


> Hey @OhCrap! I believe she means light on flavour - generally you want a fairly high low amount of water compared to fruit. 5Lbs of rhubarb/gallon might require the addition of an Fpack of pure rhubarb to really bring out the flavour once fermentation has happened.
> 
> I have added the zest (via potato peeler, no pith) to my *Grapefruit Wine* to enhance the flavour. No more explosions, but there is still a decent amount of yeast floating at the top. Hoping to check tonight for a finished S.G./




Gotcha... I have plenty left in the freezer...I'll wait and taste at a later stage and adjust to suit


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## Jericurl (May 20, 2015)

Do you have a steam juicer?


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## OhCrap (May 20, 2015)

No juicer at all


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## the_rayway (May 20, 2015)

Rhubarb gives up it's juice pretty easily after freezing. just plonk it in some cheesecloth and all you will be left with is a bit of stringy goo  Just IMHO!

My repeatedly mauled/transplanted rhubarb is back again this year and growing like crazy!!


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## Jericurl (May 20, 2015)

I still need to make some rhubarb wine. 

The problem is...everytime I get any in the house it ends up paired with basil for lemonade. Or with strawberries for a pie!


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## JDesCotes (May 21, 2015)

finally got the supplies in last night including a Hannah ph meter and buffer solutions. Turns out that pure DOLE pineapple juice has a PH of 3.78. After some addition of tartaric acid and acid blend I got it down to a comfortable 3.4. 

Pineapple wine is started now using 

30L of pineapple juice
8 cups sugar (Sg at 1.095)
1 tsp tannin
1 tsp yeast energizer
2.5 tsp yeast nutrient 
Acid blend and tartaric acid.


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## JDesCotes (May 21, 2015)

Note to future self if ever I do this pineapple recipe again... DONT USE YEAST ENERGIZER!! 

I made this on a 3rd generation yeast which had just finished two skeeter pees and this is what I come downstairs to today... Luckily I had the foresight to place it in the laundry sink! 




Not bad for my first eruption! Haha.


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## Jericurl (May 21, 2015)

Good lord!!! That is insane! 

You should name it Stink Meaner!


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## JDesCotes (May 22, 2015)

Transferred half the must out to a carboy last night and the bucket must STILL rose enough to pop the lid and move it about 2 inches off to the side. (Though the foam must have either subsided and fallen back into the must or evolved and walked out the door as there was no evidence aside from some debris on the side of the bucket)

I am actually afraid to go in to the basement now in fear that one day it will be there waiting for me.


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## Jericurl (May 22, 2015)

Oh it will be waiting all right...

Silently...sitting in the dark...

Watching...

Waiting....


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## the_rayway (May 22, 2015)

...Ready to pounce when you're least expecting it...

My goodness, that is one heck of an eruption! I've never seen one so foamy before! Citrus/tropicals do weird things.

My grapefruit peels are nearly white already, so i'm hoping I can rack this baby into a fresh carboy soon.


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## BernardSmith (May 22, 2015)

Update on the ginger mead. 
No photo but Thursday morning about 16 days after pitching the yeast the mead was incredibly clear (not yet bright but clear enough to read through). 
As for the pineapple eruption, my experience too has been that pineapple produces an enormous amount of froth and foam. I have a gallon quietly aging but I started the fermentation in a 3 gallon carboy and there was about a gallon of froth. I doubt that the source of the problem is with the nutrients or "energizer". I suspect the problem comes from the amount and type of particulates that constitute the fruit itself.


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## OhCrap (May 22, 2015)

I couldn't resist a sneaky peak at my rhubarb wine.... Lovely smell and a nice fizzing sound from the happy yeast


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## fabrictodyefor (May 23, 2015)

if you thief a sip or two at this point it will taste like rhubarb champagne...don't as me how I know that... 

And yes, I meant a little light on flavor. Last years batch I believe I had 45 lbs of rhubarb, 4 1/2 lbs of raspberries and ended up with about 5 gallons of wine. The first rhubarb I made was 25lbs of rhubarb and 2 1/2 lbs of raspberries, ending in 5 gallons of wine and had to add a flavor pak. The second batch is a stronger rhubarb flavor with that lingering raspberries at the end. I haven't bottled it yet, but it is probably ready to go!


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## OhCrap (May 23, 2015)

fabrictodyefor said:


> if you thief a sip or two at this point it will taste like rhubarb champagne...don't as me how I know that...
> 
> 
> 
> And yes, I meant a little light on flavor. Last years batch I believe I had 45 lbs of rhubarb, 4 1/2 lbs of raspberries and ended up with about 5 gallons of wine. The first rhubarb I made was 25lbs of rhubarb and 2 1/2 lbs of raspberries, ending in 5 gallons of wine and had to add a flavor pak. The second batch is a stronger rhubarb flavor with that lingering raspberries at the end. I haven't bottled it yet, but it is probably ready to go!




Hehehe, I took a gravity reading, for purely research, and obviously couldn't throw it back in so I HAD to drink it...tasted bloody nice still very sweet but a real rhubarb pie taste. Dropped from 1.093 to 1.060 in 2 days ) I estimate I'll be racking late Monday evening


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## JDesCotes (May 24, 2015)

Wow. Pineapple wine went from 1.095 to <1.0 in less than 3 days! 

Went downstairs today and there were practically no bubbles on the surface. Very odd behaviour from my monster. 

It is now racked to a carboy and I hope it doesn't explode again, I figure I'll leave it a couple days to be sure it's done fermenting then start the clearing process. 

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to clear this? Can I kmeta+sorbate and add more pineapple juice, or would that hinder the clearing process?


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## the_rayway (May 24, 2015)

Hey @jdescotes - I would add the meta/sorbate/juice first, then go on to clearing. It's always sad when you've got this perfectly clear wine and then it clouds up when you add something 

I still haven't racked my grapefruit, but the peels are getting more white, so it's infusing!


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## OhCrap (May 25, 2015)

Well there it is, racked to secondary. It dropped to 1.011 this morning so I racked it. Am I right to rack every 2 weeks or so? And if so do I need to add anything while I'm racking, campden tablet etc  I also kept some extra in a sanitised bottle for topping up after racking
Oh the sample has a lovely taste to it, it's definately wine, a bit sweet but when it finishes yummmmmm I hope


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## Jericurl (May 25, 2015)

After I rack to secondary, I only rack again when sediment is over 1/2 inch or 3 months, whichever happens first. Unless they start falling out really fast. I'm always paranoid I'll rack too soon and take some of the flavor out, so if sediment is falling out really fast after I rack to secondary, I'll usually make myself wait until it's been in secondary for about a month. Then I jump to the 1/2 inch or 3 months schedule.

And let's be honest, sometimes the racking doesn't happen at 3 months, sometimes it's closer to 6.

Ok, so I really just rack when my kitchen is clean and I'm not feeling lazy.


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## OhCrap (May 25, 2015)

Jericurl said:


> After I rack to secondary, I only rack again when sediment is over 1/2 inch or 3 months, whichever happens first. Unless they start falling out really fast. I'm always paranoid I'll rack too soon and take some of the flavor out, so if sediment is falling out really fast after I rack to secondary, I'll usually make myself wait until it's been in secondary for about a month. Then I jump to the 1/2 inch or 3 months schedule.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Hehehehehe... Ok I'll wait till the brew shed gets a once over


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## Jericurl (Jun 6, 2015)

I racked this to secondary a couple of weeks ago and put in another 3 lbs of blackberries.

I plan on taking this one all the way down to dry, letting it clear out completely, then adding some oak cubes for a couple of weeks.

So far so good, though it does remind me of communion wine at this point.


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## OhCrap (Jun 9, 2015)

I racked my rhubarb wine again last week as per the 1/2" Lees. Topped it up from the extra bottle I had left over from primary. It's tucked away in the dark at 20c along with a kr sc shiraz kit and 15L db


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## the_rayway (Jul 5, 2015)

Racked my neglected grapefruit wine today. Final S.G. is 0.988 - I didn't think it could go that low!! tasted like gak, but that's to be expected when it's that dry.

I had a fair bit of space in my carboy so I topped up with 2 & 2/3 cups of strong grapefruit juice.


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## JimmyT (Jul 5, 2015)

the_rayway said:


> Racked my neglected grapefruit wine today. Final S.G. is 0.988 - I didn't think it could go that low!! tasted like gak, but that's to be expected when it's that dry.
> 
> I had a fair bit of space in my carboy so I topped up with 2 & 2/3 cups of strong grapefruit juice.




My grapefruit wine from January wotm taste pretty bad also and it finished at 1.004. I can't wait to back sweeten it to get it back to where it should be and actually be decent


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## JDesCotes (Aug 2, 2015)

Pineapple wine FINALLY cleared and was bottles today. Took a bottle over to my in laws place to celebrate their anniversary and it was a HUGE hit!

Here were the reviews:

1. It is delicious as is
2. It will likely get even better if left to age for 6 months
3. It tastes just like pineapple juice except is crystal clear
4. You cannot taste the alcohol
5. There is lots of alcohol  after one glass you certainly feel it. 

I will certainly repeat this recipe and I don't think I would change a thing! Made with 100% pure dole pineapple juice from Costco it totalled about $1 a bottle to make and it tastes AMAZING!

It's so good I'm looking around the area for a wine competition to enter it in!


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## BernardSmith (Aug 3, 2015)

Always lovely to receive compliments on your wine. You say that it has plenty of alcohol but if it started at 1.095 (your earlier post) then it will be about 12.5 % alcohol which is about standard for most wines. Is your pineapple dry or sweet?


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## JDesCotes (Aug 3, 2015)

I did back sweeten it.


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## OhCrap (Feb 28, 2016)

My rhubarb wine is refusing to clear.....it's still in dj's, I think I might cold crash if and add finings... I kept a small bottle for top ups, wasn't needed, it tastes pretty good if slightly tart...


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## OhCrap (Mar 31, 2016)

Here it is after fining and racking...
Sample was tart bit nice, lacking a little in flavour (as I was told it would be)
After and before pictures
I've never done an fpac is there any sticky on it?


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## OhCrap (Apr 19, 2016)

Just bottled my rhubarb wine 10 mins ago....personally I'm impressed, taste is not what I as expecting, it was nicer I back sweetened slightly and just took the real tartness out.. Ok so 6 gallons going on this year
Pic below


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## OhCrap (Apr 19, 2016)

Pic of rhubarb just bottled


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## reefman (Apr 19, 2016)

It always feel I've accomplished something when I get my wine bottled.


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## Jericurl (Apr 19, 2016)

Gorgeous! And it appears to have cleared up nicely.


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## PhilDarby (Apr 19, 2016)

I might be wrong but I seem to recall rhubarb clears well if u add pectolytic enzyme, during ferment.

looking good there, its cleared well ;-)


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## OhCrap (Apr 19, 2016)

I had added it at the very start, it took a while and a lot of patience but it got there and I'm very happy with it


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## OhCrap (Apr 24, 2016)

Had a bottle of my rhubarb wine last night....it's a winner no doubt but unfortunately I only got 5 bottles in total, have to get going again.. Can't wait


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## Jericurl (Apr 25, 2016)

Ok...finally got this bottled today!

As soon as I get some labels made I will post pictures. I think it still needs to age a bit, but so far I'm happy with it.


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## the_rayway (Feb 15, 2017)

Coffee filtering this tonight. The grapefruit has a lovely flavour, is quite dry, and not too bitter.

I've added a sprinkle of cardamom which I am immediately filtering out, just to add a hint. A touch of acid blend, if you can believe it, and sweetening to close to 1.008. I thought of adding some lemon hot pepper, but it muddles it just a touch too much.

I'll bottle in a week or two, once I'm confident it won't re-ferment. My sorbate is a bit on the old side. This should be ready for summer drinking!!


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## the_rayway (Apr 3, 2017)

Bottled!!! I ended up running it through the filter machine before I filtered my cab and rose. It currently tastes...weird. I think it's the over-abundance of k-meta, plus bottle shock right now. I'll crack a bottle in a month or two and let it air out a bit, and see where I'm at!


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