Desperate for Raspberry wine ideas!

[winemaker81]

Shows you how much I know - I searched Amazon for "maceration enzyme" and only got a bunch of probiotic supplements.
Duh.
Thanks, Bryan!! This really interests me!

Everyone says "search!", but it doesn't work if you don't know the keywords.

Search the forum for fermentation and maceration enzymes, there are numerous conversations. While I chose the ColorPro (which was recommended in a video on the Musto grapes site), there are numerous choices. I read the vendor literature before making my choice.

 

[Hazelemere]

6 lb frozen raspberries
3lbs sugar
1 imperial gallon of water
nutrient
pectic enzyme
Bayanus yeast
Put sugar on top of the frozen fruit and give it 2 days to thaw.
Then add the water, pectic enzyme and nutrient.
Sprinkle the yeast on top in one spot but don't stir it in
1 day layer gently stir the yeast on top.
2 days later strongly stir the yeast.
After 6 days press the fruit through a strainer that captures all or most of the seeds
Rack with 1/8th tsp potassium metabisulphite/ 2 Imperial gallons into a carboy.
Rack again in 10 days to get rid of sludge.
Then proceed as you would with any other fruit wine.

 

[Hazelemere]

When it is clear and ready to bottle add potassium sorbate and dextrose to SG 1.012 to balance the tanginess and sweetness. This should take about 4 months.

 

[Hazelemere]

If your raspberry wine is too tart sweeten it with sorbate and/or blend with some homemade mead made preferably from unpasteurized honey.

 

[Hazelemere]

6 lb frozen raspberries
3lbs unpasteurized honey
1 imperial gallon of water
nutrient
pectic enzyme
Bayanus yeast
Put sugar on top of the frozen fruit and give it 2 days to thaw.
Then add the water, pectic enzyme and nutrient.
Sprinkle the yeast on top in one spot but don't stir it in
1 day layer gently stir the yeast on top.
2 days later strongly stir the yeast.
After 6 days press the fruit through a strainer that captures all or most of the seeds
Rack with 1/8th tsp potassium metabisulphite/ 2 Imperial gallons into a carboy.
Rack again in 10 days to get rid of sludge.
Then proceed as you would with any other fruit wine.

This raspberry melomel

 

[Hazelemere]

6 lb frozen raspberries
3lbs sugar
1 imperial gallon of water
nutrient
pectic enzyme
Bayanus yeast
Put sugar on top of the frozen fruit and give it 2 days to thaw.
Then add the water, pectic enzyme and nutrient.
Sprinkle the yeast on top in one spot but don't stir it in
1 day layer gently stir the yeast on top.
2 days later strongly stir the yeast.
After 6 days press the fruit through a strainer that captures all or most of the seeds
Rack with 1/8th tsp potassium metabisulphite/ 2 Imperial gallons into a carboy.
Rack again in 10 days to get rid of sludge.
Then proceed as you would with any other fruit port wine i.e. add dextrose to raise the SG to 1.010 every time it drops to SG 1.000. Rack it at least every time you add sugar until the Bayanus yeast craps out at 18% alcohol.

Then add 1 bottle of Chambord (French Black Raspberry liqueur) to a 25 or 30 bottle glass carboy to get the alcohol to about 20%

This is Raspberry Port or Raspberry Chambord

 

[winemaker81]

@Hazelemere, what ABV did you get in each batch?

 

[Hazelemere]

I'm guessing 11 to 12. It starts at 13 with the 3 lb sugar/1 Imperial gallon of water. The sugar content of the raspberries will drop it depending on how much juice comes out of the raspberries during pressing. By the way this recipe using 3 kinds of organic raspberries (including Meeker and Lamberhurst) came first 2 years in a row out of 200 wines each time, including grape wines, at the Salmon Arm Fall Fair as judged by commercial winemakers. I press it after 6 days of active fermentation using a water driven pneumatic bladder press to remove the seeds at about 5% alcohol to eliminate as much seed tannin as possible. If I didn't have a press I'd use panty hose or cheesecloth since the seeds are small. I get 18% alcohol on maxed out bayanus EC1118 yeast using high quality nutrient.

 

[Raptor99]

I press it after 6 days of active fermentation using a water driven pneumatic bladder press to remove the seeds at about 5% alcohol to eliminate as much seed tannin as possible.

A certain amount of tannin is beneficial. Tannin help to protect the wine, and give it a more rich, complex flavor. Do a search on sacrificial tannins vs aging tannins to learn more about what tannins do in wine. I add oak to some of my fruit wines in secondary to contribute tannins and complexity of flavor. In a blind taste test among family members, blueberry wine that was oaked was the clear favorite over blueberry w/o any oak. But I don't go overboard on the oak. A little bit is all you need.

Wines with a higher tannin content need a longer aging time. But once the tannins mellow they are very nice.

 

[BigDaveK]

My red raspberry was WAY too tart and still not very good. I've done a million things to try to improve. Now, I'm trying to decide if they are going to be wine or jelly. Or adding color to white wines...hmm.

Yes they really multiply!

It will certainly add color...and my jam last year was fantastic!

 

[Raptor99]

Most country wines benefit from some backsweetening. If you want it to taste like raspberries, it needs some sweetness. You can test a sample with a little added sugar to see how you like it.

 

[David Violante]

Or honey… it adds an amazing touch…

 

[BigDaveK]

Or honey… it adds an amazing touch…

I've added some brown sugar a couple times. Can add a nice not quite identifiable flavor to the right wine. Have to be careful, though.
Experimenting with honey is on my list.

 

[Raptor99]

Brown sugar goes well with peach wine.

 

[BigDaveK]

Brown sugar goes well with peach wine.

Ooh, that sounds good!
All brown or a mix?

 

[Raptor99]

I usually use a 50/50 mix of brown sugar and white sugar. Then I add part of a vanilla bean in secondary.

I try to think about combinations that taste good in food: peach + brown sugar + vanilla or cherry + chocolate. One experiment on my "to do" list is peppermint chocolate. So many things to try!

 

[Cosyden]

I made apple wine from 100% juice a couple of weeks ago. I’d bet a few pounds of raspberries chucked in would be worth a try.

 

[BigDaveK]

I made apple wine from 100% juice a couple of weeks ago. I’d bet a few pounds of raspberries chucked in would be worth a try.

I crushed and pressed my apples last year for a 100% juice wine. Turned out really well! I need to shake things up a bit this time. Maybe a bit of brown sugar, maybe a bit of cinnamon, maybe something else? Raspberries might be good! Thanks!

 

[Jovimaple]

I crushed and pressed my apples last year for a 100% juice wine. Turned out really well! I need to shake things up a bit this time. Maybe a bit of brown sugar, maybe a bit of cinnamon, maybe something else? Raspberries might be good! Thanks!

I did a spiced apple wine with whole nutmegs and cinnamon sticks. It was awful. I think I used 2 whole nutmegs in one gallon during aging and that was way too much. Be careful with the spices.

 

[Jovimaple]

Also, I did a raspberry Dragon Blood that ended up being a favorite. It was almost a year ago so I get to open the last bottle I saved very soon.

I second the chocolate raspberry idea. I just added 2 oz/gallon of homemade chocolate extract (cacao nibs in vodka for several months) to half my FWK Strawberry. I had done that with 1 gallon each of the FWK Blackberry and Strawberry I made last year and I love it so I decided to make more.

I have also made 4 batches of the Apres Chocolate Raspberry dessert wine kit. That's been a favorite, as well. My homemade extract is more of a bitter chocolate flavor than the flavor in the dessert kit. I may try adding a bit of homemade vanilla extract to my choc strawberry to see if I like that.

Raspberry wine was my first wine, as well! I followed a recipe that ended up being low on fruit for one gallon, and I topped it off with water because I didn't know any better. It was flabby, so I tried to fix it by topping off with a favorite raspberry wine. That made it a little better.

I have a bunch of last year's raspberries in the freezer so I will be watching this thread for ideas, as well!