Cream Sherry - Kit conversion or Homemade

[hawkwing]

The Anderson book has a recipe for Raisin Madeira or Sherry, four pounds of raisins and 1 1/2 pounds of sugar for a gallon; no other fruit. I have not tried that so no opinion. He suggest using a Sherry flavor concentrate for a quick Sherry. I don't know if you can still buy Sherry flavor; I haven't looked.

That's about halfway between my two thoughts. Did they add any tannins, pectic enzyme or anything else?

 

[VinesnBines]

Anderson also has a regular raisin wine recipe that uses two pounds of raisins and two pounds of sugar.

For he Madeira/Sherry recipe:
4 lbs raisins chopped or coarse ground
1 1/2 lbs sugar
1 gallon hot water
3/4 oz or 5 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
2 campden tablets
3/4 tsp grape tannin
1 cup Madeire yeast starter
pitch the yeast when the must is 70 degrees
step feed with sugar syrup each time the must drops to 1.000 step feed to 1.010 until fermentation stops.
When fermentation stops cook in estufa for three months, fine, fortify and sweeten to taste; bottle age 1 to 2 years. Instead of baking flavor with Sherry flavor concentrate to make a "quick Sherry".

I did a quick Google search and I think you can find Sherry flavor concentrate.

 

[hawkwing]

Anderson also has a regular raisin wine recipe that uses two pounds of raisins and two pounds of sugar.

For he Madeira/Sherry recipe:
4 lbs raisins chopped or coarse ground
1 1/2 lbs sugar
1 gallon hot water
3/4 oz or 5 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
2 campden tablets
3/4 tsp grape tannin
1 cup Madeire yeast starter
pitch the yeast when the must is 70 degrees
step feed with sugar syrup each time the must drops to 1.000 step feed to 1.010 until fermentation stops.
When fermentation stops cook in estufa for three months, fine, fortify and sweeten to taste; bottle age 1 to 2 years. Instead of baking flavor with Sherry flavor concentrate to make a "quick Sherry".

I did a quick Google search and I think you can find Sherry flavor concentrate.

That's great thanks! Looks like I'll have to wait a while to see the results. Are any of the standard wine yeasts similar to Madeire yeast? A search only turned up some Wyeast I probably can't get.

 

[hawkwing]

Anderson also has a regular raisin wine recipe that uses two pounds of raisins and two pounds of sugar.

For he Madeira/Sherry recipe:
4 lbs raisins chopped or coarse ground
1 1/2 lbs sugar
1 gallon hot water
3/4 oz or 5 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
2 campden tablets
3/4 tsp grape tannin
1 cup Madeire yeast starter
pitch the yeast when the must is 70 degrees
step feed with sugar syrup each time the must drops to 1.000 step feed to 1.010 until fermentation stops.
When fermentation stops cook in estufa for three months, fine, fortify and sweeten to taste; bottle age 1 to 2 years. Instead of baking flavor with Sherry flavor concentrate to make a "quick Sherry".

I did a quick Google search and I think you can find Sherry flavor concentrate.

Ok so I'm finally getting around to starting this. This recipe looks like it is intended to make one gallon? There is a lot of sugar for that amount. My raisins are 29g of sugar in a 40g serving. This is 72.5%. I calculate there are 2 kg of sugars in the recipe for one gallon. This should be a starting SG of around 1.185. Is this correct? Am I missing something?

 

[hawkwing]

Well twelve 750g bags of Sun-Maid raisins or 9 kg or 19.84 lbs soaked and blended in 23 L water is only giving me 1.042 sg. According to the recipe I need to add two more bags yet. This isn't making sense to me. The sugar content isn't matching the nutrition label or it's not free or something like that. Any ideas or explanations before I add sugar?

 

[VinesnBines]

I would add the sugar but if you are afraid of overshooting, wait overnight or 24 hours to take another SG reading before adding the sugar. I suppose more sugars will soak out. I would go with the hydrometer reading and not worry about the label.

 

[hawkwing]

I would add the sugar but if you are afraid of overshooting, wait overnight or 24 hours to take another SG reading before adding the sugar. I suppose more sugars will soak out. I would go with the hydrometer reading and not worry about the label.

I'm going to add sugar. Does more than 1/2 c acid blend sound like a lot? I'm basically doing a 6 gallon batch.

 

[VinesnBines]

The Anderson recipe does call for 5 teaspoons so that would be 30 teaspoons or 10 tablespoons - there are 16 tablespoons in a cup so 1/2 cup seems according to the recipe.

 

[hawkwing]

Thanks! I added part of the acid and will test in a bit and adjust. I am waiting to add sugar. I tested again and am up to 1.095. Theoretically the raisins should get me to 343 g/L or 1.130 sg approximately. That is about 17% alcohol. I added 3 tsp pectic enzyme to the recipe which might be helping and the stirring after adding other ingredients. The instructions were to step add the sugar anyway so I'll see where I'm at before I add the yeast.

Would it be worth adding bentonite or anything else? I expect it will clear after fermentation without.

 

[VinesnBines]

I don't bother with bentonite at the start. Looks too much like mud to me. I would do the step feeding too.

 

[hawkwing]

I don't bother with bentonite at the start. Looks too much like mud to me. I would do the step feeding too.

The must or the bentonite? They both look like mud.

Actually my calculations were off. The volume is closer to 30 L so the expected sg is closer to 1.100. Anyways I likely should wait a day to add yeast.

I was going to use 71B. What do you use?

 

[hawkwing]

Is there a recipe in the book for a Madeire yeast starter?

 

[VinesnBines]

I’ve never made the recipe. I would, though suggest EC1118 or other Champagne yeast if not using Madeira yeast. The Madeira yeast starter is made from Madeira yeast. A quick Google search shows EC1118 as the best alternative. If you step feed, 71B will poop out too soon.

 

[VinesnBines]

I intend to play with the recipe but it is still on the list.

 

[hawkwing]

I’ve never made the recipe. I would, though suggest EC1118 or other Champagne yeast if not using Madeira yeast. The Madeira yeast starter is made from Madeira yeast. A quick Google search shows EC1118 as the best alternative. If you step feed, 71B will poop out too soon.

I chose 71B for the flavor contribution. It’s supposed to be fruity and good for white desert wines. I was intending to fortify anyway.

 

[hawkwing]

So far no luck with fermentation. The SG was around 1.095 without adding any sugar to start. I'm not sure if my yeast was too old or if I added too much sodium metabisulfite. I converted the campden tablets for a 6 times batch and it was 3/4 tsp which seems like too much. When I made apple cider I've only added 1/4tsp. I waited a day before adding the yeast but to be honest I couldn't tell if the yeast was alive before than. I can either add 1118 or wait until Tuesday and get another package. I've read agitating it to put in air will help reduce the sulfites. I'll see what happens.

 

[VinesnBines]

You may not have needed K-meta with the packaged raisins. Let the yeast have 24 to 48 hours. to get going. If you add more yeast, rehydrate with water - at least 1/2 cup and add a teaspoon of sugar. When the foam is double the volume of water, you can be assured the yeasts is active. Then add to the must.

I would go with EC-1118.

 

[Raptor99]

Most packaged raisins are treated with sulfites. Check the package.

You can help to release the sulfites by soaking stirring vigorously. Then make a yeast starter to build up a strong yeast colony and acclimate them to the challenging environment:
1. Rehydrate the yeast with GoFerm (or warm water with a bit of sugar). Follow the rehydration temperature on the yeast package.
2. Once it is clearly fermenting (maybe 30 min. or so), add some of your must to double the volume of the starter.
3. Wait until it is clearly fermenting again (could take 1-2 hours or more)
4. Then add the nicely fermenting yeast to your must. Don't stir it for the first 12 hours.

 

[hawkwing]

Sun-Maid raisins list raisins as the only ingredient. No oil or sulfites. That is why I chose them. Only ones I could find without oil.

I’m thinking my yeast was no good. I put in in a jar with some water sugar and yeast energizer. Then I aerated it with my wort aerator. It didn’t seem alive. I’ll probably switch to 1118 but I wanted to try a different yeast and am not 100% yet.

 

[Raptor99]

One of the benefits of making a yeast starter is that you can verify that your yeast is good before adding it to your must.