April 2014 Wine of the Month Club

[the_rayway]

Mint leaves?

 

[Jericurl]

Yep...here's another clue....

 

[wineforfun]

Mojito-ish?

 

[Jericurl]

yep.

I'm hoping I can come close with it.
I've put another 4 cups of mint leaves in the freezer as well as 2 cups of lime juice.
Once I transfer everything to secondary, I'm going to add that if the flavoring needs some boosting.


"Mojito" Wine Recipe

2 quarts or 8 cups of loosely packed mint leaves
2 cups lime juice
water to 2 gallons plus 2 quarts
½ tsp tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp yeast energizer
sugar to 1.08 SG


Place 8 cups of mint leaves into a pot that has a tightly fitting lid.
In a separate pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Pour boiling water over the mint leaves and cover. Allow to steep for one hour. Strain mint leaves and pour water off into your primary vessel. Place mint leaves back in steeping pot. Bring another 2 quarts to boil and pour over leaves, allow to steep for an hour.

Pour tea into your primary vessel. Add the rest of the water and other ingredients.
I did not add campden tablets since boiling water was poured over the mint leaves.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

So I am wondering if this qualifies....I made a tropical daze and am unhappy with it, too oaky. So I thought to make another batch of TD and blend. My closest decent grocers is 40 miles away and the last time I went to town I thought I bought enough for a full batch of TD...nope, only got 6 lbs of frozen strawberries/ pineapple/ peach/mango blend. I could have made a 3 gallon batch...however I had already mixed 2 gallons of hot water with 12 cups sugar and 48 oz honey, before I realized my lack of frozen tropical blend. So I am making Crazy Daze. I pulled 1 lb 6 oz of frozen peaches, 1 lb 6 oz frozen raspberries and 1 lb 9 oz frozen strawberries from the freezer. Then I dumped in 2 quarts home canned peaches and 3 pints home canned pineapple and 2 quarts Knudson Black Current juice. I also added the juice from the canned fruits as I use very little fruit when I can. Much to my dismay the sg was at 1.098, so added 3/4 of a gallon of water to bring the sg down to 1.086. I also added 8 bananas and 20 oz of reconstituted chopped raisins. To the above I then added 3 tsp acid blend, 1 tsp tannin riche, 4 tsp yeast nutrient, 2 tsp yeast energizer, and 3 tsp pectic enzyme. I let this sit for 24 hours. I then heated 1/2 cup water and added 8 grams of Goferm, let cool then added 1 pkt 71B1122 and 1 pkt ICV D47 yeasts. Pitched and have been stirring twice daily! This is a 6 gallon batch, not a one gallon batch, but if approved I'll continue to post on this crazy concoction I came up with!

we have yet to see spring, we have several new inches of snow from a storm over the weekend and are expecting more snow toward the end of the week!!

 

[Jericurl]

So I am wondering if this qualifies

If you are experimenting, then it qualifies.

 

[jkrug]

That sounds delicious

 

[Jericurl]

I gave my batch a really good stir today.

It smells pretty good.

 

[the_rayway]

I'm interested to see the Mojito again Jeri - didn't someone make one a couple of WOTM's ago? It's a great idea!

I've got a soon-to-be man-eating mint plant that may need some trimming over the summer. Mojito could be the ticket!

 

[Jericurl]

This has been a very slow ferment compared to what I'm used to ....

I checked SG a couple of days ago. Wasn't sure if it was stuck or what, figured it wouldn't hurt so I added a 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient and stirred the heck out of it.
It's down to 1.01 now, still slowly bubbling along.
It smells and tastes fantastic. This one is gonna be a winner.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

What yeast did you use, Jericurl? My Crazy Daze fermented to 1.000 on 4/13 so I racked it to a car boy, by 4/19 is was down to 0.993 and has stayed there. No info yet on flavor! A little early for that. But I did use the "slurry" from this to make a skeeter pee, and the skeeter pee is almost ready. The SP really took on the flavor of the CD! Not near as lemony as I thought it would be! I am hoping my mint plant comes back, because your mint wine sounds wonderful!

 

[wineforfun]

Jeri,
This sounds really good. Glad to hear it is going well. I may have to try this one when I get back from vacation.
So you didn't put the mint leaves in the primary?
And I assume you made a 2 gallon batch?
Thanks.

 

[Jericurl]

I used K1-V1116 for the yeast. That's interesting that your skeeter pee took on the flavor from your yeast slurry. I had read that sometimes it does that but it's good to see it in action. That adds a whole new area for experimentation and different flavors.

DJ, no mint leaves in the primary. I completely strained it off. There are a couple of green bits in it, but they are pretty tiny. Believe me, there is plenty of mint flavor. I don't find it overwhelming, but you definitely know it is there. Also, yes this is a two gallon batch. I'll be transferring to secondary tomorrow. I'm considering putting some fruit in one of the gallons and leaving the other one as is.
I've got blueberries and strawberries in the freezer.

 

[Jericurl]

Ok, I transferred to secondary this evening.

I ended up with 2 gallons and 1 quart.
I added 4 cups of blueberries to one of the gallon jugs and left the other as is.
I think the blueberries will pair nicely with the mint and lime. I'm thinking of filling a pint jar with blueberries and covering them with vodka in case the blueberry batch needs a little more flavoring.

On a slightly related note......I am now completely out of 1 gallon jugs!

 

[Charlesthewino]

Hey winesleeper. Be careful of the spring tornados! At least you have a basement. You can always drink wine if the tornado comes thru! If you drink enough wine you will realize like Dorothy that you're not in Kansas anymore.


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[buffalofrenchy]

I bought today a 2 gal fermenter and 1 gal jug so I will give it a shot to this monthly experiment.
So far my experience is limited to dragon blood (original recipe) and winexpert wine kits.
This is my plan (inspired from a recipe on this website "Concord Raspberry Dessert Wine")
1 gallon Concord grape juice
2 cans Welch's frozen white grape raspberry concentrate - Maybe 3 cans for more body/SG
TBD cup(s) sugar
12 oz frozen raspberries in a mesh bag
1 tsp peptic enzyme
1 packet Premier Cuvee yeast
1 tsp yeast nutrient

Goal is a full body sweet dessert wine with roughly 16 %
Right now given my (low) experience level I think I should ferment dry starting with maybe 1.11 then back sweeten after the K meta and potassium sorbate like for dragon blood instead of chaptalisation.
I am thinking about using 2 cans of concentrate and add juice then check SG. If I am far from target then add the third can. After that add sugar to get to 1.11 (To be verified). Then raspberries, yeast nutrients, and peptic enzyme. Next day I ll pitch the yeast.

 

[Jericurl]

The only thing I would keep in mind is that the higher your alcohol %, usually the longer it takes to be really good. That hot alcohol burning taste takes a while to calm down.
I'm guessing that you are making a 2 gallon batch?

 

[buffalofrenchy]

I was planning on making a gallon batch. Recipe is a derivative from the following:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f2/concord-raspberry-dessert-wine-34728/

 

[the_rayway]

I'm updating the original post to include everyone's experimental batches. Looks like it's time to start the May thread! Who would like to take lead?

(Jeri - I have a simple solution to your carboy situation! Buy more carboys! )

 

[Jericurl]

What I learned: Not really sure that I learned anything this time around. I did have fun with this recipe, overall. It tasted good from the start and if it pans out, I will definitely be making a 6 gallon batch. I used herbs that I had picked, cleaned, dried, then froze between paper towel layers. They kept their color and actually seemed just as intense as they were fresh picked.

What could have gone better: Nothing really. This was easy and no fuss. I never really got worried about anything during the ferment and I had all my supplies ready to go.

What I would do differently:
I think I would have gotten a stronger/more zippy lime flavor by using lime zest instead of store bought lime juice. Also, my regular mint plant didn't quite have enough growth on it so probably 80% of the mint used was apple mint. I'd like to try this again with regular mint. The apple mint tastes fine, but I do find there is a subtle difference in the taste.