WineXpert Chocolate Raspberry Port Pre-Order from midwest

[Tess]

OK...OK....I'll think on the three gal carboys

 

[robie]

OK...OK....I'll think on the three gal carboys

If you buy one carboy, sort of like rabbits, before long you will have 5 or 10. Trust me, sterilization won't help with this problem.

Nah, just kidding. We joke about how they always seem to multiply. The idea is to spread it out and buy things slowly. Over a period of a few years, you can accumulate a lot of wine making stuff. Hope hubby is fairly understanding of your new hobby, you'll need it!!!

 

[Tess]

No he is not lol. He is tolerant of it though. I can see where the three gals would be nice. I can try two different ports at the same time. I go see where I can find a good deal

 

[dmmdtm]

Fwiw...made this last year and found it a bit sweet so added about 750ml of Brandy before bottling. Gave as Xmas gifts and basically wiped out the rest. I have this years batch ( picked up two last year) in the carboy now and should bottle soon. Definitely yummy. D.

 

[Sarah11690]

Yup, us 2 years ago. Still have a few bottles left. While we do like it, we like the Dark Chocolate Orange better. And the Toasted Carmel port made last fall is to die for. Everyone love those two.
We are waiting on the Black Forest Port that will be available soon. What could be better than chocolate and cherries! Our supplier thinks that they will have it in stock in late August or September. Check around because many places had/or may still have the Black Forest Port on early order.

The only medication that I know of is to drink more wine and place the order. LOL!

Hey! Are you guys from Ft. Wayne? A friend helped bottle raspberry chocolate port and she and gave me one for Christmas! It was so amazing! And the first wine I'm trying to make!

 

[Tess]

Fwiw...made this last year and found it a bit sweet so added about 750ml of Brandy before bottling. Gave as Xmas gifts and basically wiped out the rest. I have this years batch ( picked up two last year) in the carboy now and should bottle soon. Definitely yummy. D.

So you basically top off with a whole bottle of brandy. Does it mater what Brandy you use?? Brandy can go from cheap to quite . Maybe Mid grade? lol if that's a proper way to refer to brandy.

 

[Tess]

If you buy one carboy, sort of like rabbits, before long you will have 5 or 10. Trust me, sterilization won't help with this problem.

Nah, just kidding. We joke about how they always seem to multiply. The idea is to spread it out and buy things slowly. Over a period of a few years, you can accumulate a lot of wine making stuff. Hope hubby is fairly understanding of your new hobby, you'll need it!!!

My two 3 gallon carboys are here. Thanks robie

 

[dmmdtm]

So you basically top off with a whole bottle of brandy. Does it mater what Brandy you use?? Brandy can go from cheap to quite . Maybe Mid grade? lol if that's a proper way to refer to brandy.

I think I used a mid range. Not a low end no name but something like a Paul Masson? I added 750ml to a batch that had stuck but now go with 500ml for a norm.

 

[Geronimo]

Pick a Paul Masson VS or VSOP, but don't pay for the age. You'll barely taste it mixed with 3 gallons of super sweet wine. Don't buy a Cognac. Also, it takes quite a bit of brandy to up the ABV so I'd get a 1.75 liter bottle myself. They go for about $20 and it's still pretty decent.

 

[bakervinyard]

Pick a Paul Masson VS or VSOP, but don't pay for the age. You'll barely taste it mixed with 3 gallons of super sweet wine. Don't buy a Cognac. Also, it takes quite a bit of brandy to up the ABV so I'd get a 1.75 liter bottle myself. They go for about $20 and it's still pretty decent.

I thought I read somewhere on this forum that a 750ml. of brandy would up the abv by 1%. Am I mistaken ? If so my Chocolate Rasp Port isn't as high as I thought but boy does it taste gooood. Bakervinyard

 

[GaDawg]

E&J VO brandy is at least 6 years old and a 750ml bottle is less than $15

 

[Geronimo]

The PEARSON SQUARE is used to determine the amount of alcohol needed to fortify a wine. It is necessary to know the percentage of alcohol by volume of the wine to be fortified, also the percentage of alcohol by volume of the spirit to be used for fortification. The spirits most often used for this purpose are brandy and vodka of 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof). Please note that if you know only the proof of the spirit, then you must convert this to alcohol by volume. This is easily done by simply dividing the number proof by 2. For example 80 proof is 40% alcohol by volume (80 ÷ 2 = 40).

A = Alcohol content of spirit to be used.
B = Alcohol content of wine to be fortified.
C = Desired alcohol content of final product.
D = C - B This is parts of fortifying spirit.
E = A - C This is parts of wine to be fortified.

EXAMPLE
Let's say you have five gallons of wine at 15% alcohol that you would like to bring up to a total of 20%. You are planning on using brandy at 40% (80 proof) to fortify this wine. Therefore,

A = 40
B = 15
C = 20
D = 20 - 15 = 5 parts fortifying spirit
E = 40 - 20 = 20 parts of wine

Therefore for every 20 ounces of wine that you need to fortify, you will need 5 ounces of brandy to bring the final product up to 20%. This is a 4:1 ratio of wine to spirits (20 ÷ 5 = 4). Each gallon of wine has 128 ounces. This means you have: 5 x 128 = 640 ounces of wine. Divide this number by 4 and this will tell you how much brandy you will need for this five gallon recipe.
640 ÷ 4 = 160 oz.
Yes, that's right. . .160 oz. of brandy! That's over a gallon!

 

[GaDawg]

I think what you said is :
C=(AxD)+(BxE)/(D+E)

 

[Geronimo]

I think what you said is :
C=(AxD)+(BxE)/(D+E)

D = C - B
E = A - C

Why solve for C if you already have to know it?

Restating your equation (and I haven't checked it)
C=(Ax(C-B))+(Bx(A-C))/((C-B)+(A-C))

 

[TomK-B]

Geronimo and Dawg, thank you two!!! Those explanations may be located somewhere else on the forum, but this is the first time I've seen them. And they are the clearest explanations I have seen. I'm going to copy them to a document that I can keep ready at hand on my computer. Better yet, I think I'll set it up on Excel so I can just plug in the numbers. I'm set to go on this part of the process!

 

[GaDawg]

Tom, I found this handy dandy fortification calculator
http://vinoenology.com/calculators/fortification/

 

[Geronimo]

I thought I read somewhere on this forum that a 750ml. of brandy would up the abv by 1%. Am I mistaken ? If so my Chocolate Rasp Port isn't as high as I thought but boy does it taste gooood. Bakervinyard

That's about right for a 3 gallon batch and 80 proof brandy.

Most of these dessert wines seems to stop around 16-18% ABV so adding a 1.75 liter bottle gets you pretty close to the 20% mark.

 

[TomK-B]

Perfect, Dawg! I've got it bookmarked.

 

[Thig]

If you have a smart phone there is an app called "Winemakers Toolbox" that does all these calculations for you and you can pull your phone out whenever you need them rather than having to go to a computer or calculator. I use it all the time and really like it.