Cellar Craft Brandy with vanilla for port?

[Jacktar]

I'm about to fortify and bottle my CC kit port, but I've noticed a very present vanilla taste in my Brandy. Does anyone have any thoughts on using this? I'm sure it will affect the taste, but not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I'm about to fortify and bottle my CC kit port, but I've noticed a very present vanilla taste in my Brandy. Does anyone have any thoughts on using this? I'm sure it will affect the taste, but not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Try doing a sample first -

 

[Thig]

I actually like the taste of vanilla, but yes do a sample first. I have a Toasted Caramel Port that taste like "candy corn" or is it corn candy?

 

[ibglowin]

I made a double batch a few years ago of La Bodega Port and used a 50/50 blend of E&J VSOP and XO. The XO is definitely got a lot of vanilla flavoring. Wife loves it (everyone does for that matter)

 

[markb1983]

I dont mean to hijack this thread but, what should a finished brix and hydrometer reading be? The reason I ask is because I fortified a syrah kit and it seems to be missing something. Either not enough sugar from back sweetening or not enough brandy...

Thoughts?

 

[ibglowin]

Thats a personal preference sort of thing. How much wine did you start out with? What was the ABV? How much brandy did you add? What is the SG now after adding brandy and backsweetening?

 

[markb1983]

I started with 5.3 gallons of sterling silver syrah. I added (2) 1.5 liter VSOP Plus 1 750. Ill go run and grab some numbers.

 

[markb1983]

For finished port, my brix is at 2. My Finished SPG is 1.004

Thoughts?

 

[ibglowin]

What did you use to backsweeten it? What is wrong with it taste wise currently? If you just used simple syrup and it taste watered down then more than likely your TA has been diluted (dropped) from the large brandy addition You may need to do a bench trial with Tartaric acid additions. When I made my last batch of Port from Petit Syrah I backsweetened with not one but two full 32 oz cans of Alexanders Zinfandel concentrate (for 7.5 gallons) . That helped with the backsweetening as well as adding back some more acid.

 

[markb1983]

Brilliant!! I used simple syrup. I just poured a regular glass of port and the brix was around 7, not 2. My guess is that there is not enough sugar. I tinkered around with it for a little and added more simple syrup and noticed a difference. I still think i will add some TA. How much did you use?

 

[ibglowin]

I believe my final SG was ~1.008 which is fairly sweet but that's the way we like it. I didn't have to add any as I used the Alexanders concentrate which had plenty of acid.

 

[markb1983]

what would you recommend to use on a syrah? Im going your route!

 

[ibglowin]

I used this and if you need more sweetness you could use a can. It will impart a different flavor since its concentrated grape juice but it will add sugar and acid in one step. I would think this would work well with a Syrah port as well.

 

[markb1983]

How much did you use for 6 gallons?

 

[sour_grapes]

How much did you use for 6 gallons?

See earlier post:

When I made my last batch of Port from Petit Syrah I backsweetened with not one but two full 32 oz cans of Alexanders Zinfandel concentrate (for 7.5 gallons) .

 

[ibglowin]

I was going off my failing hard drive (memory) LOL I back sweetened to 1.03 and not 1.008. I used two full cans of Alexander's and still had to add a cup or two of simple syrup to reach the 1.03 SG.

 

[jsiddall]

I was going off my failing hard drive (memory) LOL I back sweetened to 1.03 and not 1.008. I used two full cans of Alexander's and still had to add a cup or two of simple syrup to reach the 1.03 SG.

That makes much more sense. I made a La Bodega following the directions and ended up with 7.6 °Bx (1.030 SG).

It is quite sweet but that seems in line with commercial examples.

At 9 months old mine is starting to loose some of the over-the-top vanilla from the F-pack and somehow seems a bit less sweet now too. Much better than at bottling for sure.