February 2015 Wine of the Month Club

[Stressbaby]

I got it this month!

Official thread for February 2015.

This is your place to experiment, to try something new, and that includes not just new ingredients, but also tweaks and techniques. One gallon batches are the rule, but larger batches are OK. Please post your:

1. Inspiration
2. Recipe
3. Pictures
4. Progress reports

We like periodic updates as they become available. We like to circle back around at one year and see how things turned out.

 

[Stressbaby]

I'm in with 2 wines this month and I'm going 3g on both.

First is a twist on an earlier WotM entry, Hibiscitrus. This originally was hibiscus flowers, satusmas, few kumquats, a lemon, with raisins for body. It got a tweak with grapefruit in the secondary which turned out great.

This time I'm going with a different combination of citrus - I didn't have many kumquats, but more satsumas and calamondins. And I'm using bananas for body, straight citric for acid, and QA23.

400 tropical hibiscus flowers
4oz kumquats, deseeded and lightly pulsed in food processor
11oz calamondins, deseeded and lighly pulsed
13 satsumas
4# bananas
~5.4# sugar
1t tannin
3t pectic
6t citric acid
4g Booster Blanc
QA23 yeast

Bag the flowers and put in primary. Deseed the kumquats and calamondins, lightly pulse in food processor, add to a second bag. Zest the satsumas, add the zest to the second bag. Then remove the pulp from the sections, lightly pulse the sections and add those to the second bag, add to primary. Add tannin and sugar. Bring 1g water to boil with the bananas, simmer for 30 min, strain into primary. Bring 2g water to boil, pour over the bags and sugar and stir. When cool, remove the bag with the flowers, squeeze lightly, and discard. Add 3t pectic and Booster Blanc. Wait 12 hours, adjust the acid with citric (6t to get from 4.08 to 3.28) and add starter.

 

[Stressbaby]

Wine number two

Second wine is Elderberry persimmon. I find native persimmons terribly difficult to make decent wine from. But then I found this recipe online, which calls for boiling the persimmons, something I hadn't tried. Also, there are some interesting twists here like oak in the primary and a huge dose of bentonite. Here is my twist on it.

7# elderberry
9# persimmon
5.4# sugar
1 cup heavy toast American oak chips
Fermaid K/GoFerm
4t pectic
5t tartaric acid
2T bentonite
4g Opti Red
EC-1118

Add 9# persimmon to 1.5gal water, simmer for 30 min. Strain for the thin pulp and add to primary. Put the skins/seeds in a bucket and over a few hours, you'll get more clear runoff. Save this and add to primary. Yields 3/4-1 gal liquid/thin pulp.

7# elderberries, simmer for 30 min in 2.5 gal water; before the water gets too hot, reach in and crush the berries. Dissolve 2T bentonite in some of the hot water from the elderberries, add to primary. Then add the elderberries and water. Cover 1 cup heavy toast American oak chips with water, bring just up to a boil, then pour off the water and add chips to primary. When cool, add Opti Red and pectic and sit overnight. Next morning, adjust the acid with tartaric (5t to get from 4.69 to 3.56) and pitch yeast starter.

The second pic is a sample of both musts I pulled for the yeast starters.

 

[the_rayway]

Hey Stressbaby! Looking good!

I've told myself that I need to bottle a few WOTM batches before I start any new ones. I'm hoping that closer to the end of the month I'll be able to start my grapefruit wine/mead. Or maybe crab/pear? Or apple/chamomile? Darn. The "To Brew" list gets longer and longer every month!

 

[Jericurl]

Raelene, I'm beginning to think we share a brain!
I was considering apple/chamomile mead or grapefruit mead as well!

Whatever I do, it's definitely going to be another mead.
I've had pretty good luck with the 3 recent batches and still plenty of honey left to make at least 3 more 1 gallon batches.

I also need to get on bottling more of my WOTM club wines.




Stressbaby, man you are on it this month!
Question though, what is Opti Red ?

 

[the_rayway]

Sister brains @jericurl ! Lol. I'm so sold on meads it isn't even funny. When I accidentally backsweetened my Jasmine mead with sugar it took me quite awhile to figure out what was missing. the extra honey flavour!

They're just SO GOOD!! (seriously, we should consider joint-homesteading!)

 

[Jericurl]

Maybe this is another 2 batch month.

Right now I'm thinking of boiling some currants in water, letting it cool a bit, adding honey, then adding some grapefruit juice and a star anise.

The other I'm thinking of is chamomile/apple mead and adding sweet woodruff in secondary.

But then...I also have some cranberry juice I should probably use. So I could do a cranberry wine.


eta:

What do you guys think about a lower ABV mead or wine?
Do any extra precautions need to be taken? At what point do you have to pasteurize?
I'm thinking about making something at around 7 or 8 %.
In theory, it would be ready to drink quicker as well.

 

[HeadWatersWine]

I am in for this month. I have an orange started...
8 blood red oranges (all they had the day I went to buy them)
2 cans of orange juice concentrate
36 oz of white grape juice
36 oz of water
5 ripe bananas peeled/sliced simmered in pint of water for 20 mins
1 pound of white grapes
1.5 pounds of cane sugar made into simple syrup
1 tsp peptic enzyme
1 tsp of yeast energizer
starting sg 1.084
Fermenting well so far.

Inspiration for this wine was a recent wine festival that had an "Outrageous Orange" wine. Wanted to make my own.

 

[Deezil]

What do you guys think about a lower ABV mead or wine?
Do any extra precautions need to be taken? At what point do you have to pasteurize?
I'm thinking about making something at around 7 or 8 %.
In theory, it would be ready to drink quicker as well.

10% ABV is usually considered the tipping point

Usually needs a little extra sulfite, or drank quicker

Mead and quick drinking don't usually go together.. kind of a waste of honey to drink it quick.

 

[Stressbaby]

Question though, what is Opti Red ?

It is a yeast cell wall polysaccharide addition which is supposed to help smooth the wine, stabilize the color.

http://www.scottlab.com/product-115.aspx

 

[the_rayway]

Maybe this is another 2 batch month.

Right now I'm thinking of boiling some currants in water, letting it cool a bit, adding honey, then adding some grapefruit juice and a star anise.

The other I'm thinking of is chamomile/apple mead and adding sweet woodruff in secondary.

But then...I also have some cranberry juice I should probably use. So I could do a cranberry wine.


eta:

What do you guys think about a lower ABV mead or wine?
Do any extra precautions need to be taken? At what point do you have to pasteurize?
I'm thinking about making something at around 7 or 8 %.
In theory, it would be ready to drink quicker as well.

Hey jeri,
IMHO, I would say go for a "BOMM" method. It would likely need to be consumed within 1 year, so quick drinking would be the name of the game. But if that's what you're looking for, no worries! These appear to be very popular on the Got Mead site, but I've never tried it myself (can't use smack packs).

The Island Mist kits I've done usually come in around 6-7% and they keep well for about 18 months before starting to go down hill.

 

[Stressbaby]

Feb wines

Moved both of my Feb wines into the carboys yesterday. On the left is the hibiscus-citrus, on the right the elderberry-persimmon.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

So, I'm going to do my "experimental" cranberry wines this month. I have 6 different yeasts and am going to make 6 identical cranberry wines, except for different yeasts. I would have gotten it going by now, but a flu bug has gotten me behind in my "hobby". I'll let you know my step by step when I get it going

 

[HeadWatersWine]

Also am doing a Vignoles from juice. Bought 5 gallons and it came with label that said Acid 1.51, pH 3.0 and Brix 21. Juice provider said to add yeast nutrient and pitch yeast. I thought the acid is too high so I asked around to those who know. Got different answers from leave it alone and if you don't like the acid at the end try to lower it then or use calcium carbonate and lower it .2 I decided to be proactive and added calcium carbonate and also changed the yeast they sent with juice from Motrachet to Lavlin 71B. Now the wait is on as it ferments.

 

[angwyrd]

I have decided to try a chocolate mead using a hodge midge of the storm the castle recipe and one I found for strawberry chocolate mead on the home brew forum. Thought I'd go for a Jaffa using 2L of orange juice in the primary, and then after racking at a week or so added a chocolate syrup made with cocoa, water, more honey and some vanilla extract I made with vodka and vanilla bean. That was nearly a week ago and the secondary sulked for a few days but last night it was bubbling away.

I'm using one of those new sterilocks that don't need water, has anyone tried one of them before? I thought it might be a good time to try one as they Jaffa is supposed to sit for a year before the next racking so the bitter oils from the cocoa dissipate and there's no danger of any evaporation leaving the mead open to nasties.

 

[HeadWatersWine]

The orange is done fermenting. Racked and I am enjoying what was left over. Next time I do this one I will not use L11118 worked very fast. Too fast for a fruit wine. The good news is it is wine. Will let it set a few months and see how it is then. Right now it is a good early wine. Wife thinks it has grapefruit taste to it. That is after being sweetened. Hoping the orange will come through in time. If not I love grapefruit.

 

[Stressbaby]

Also am doing a Vignoles from juice. Bought 5 gallons and it came with label that said Acid 1.51, pH 3.0 and Brix 21. Juice provider said to add yeast nutrient and pitch yeast. I thought the acid is too high so I asked around to those who know. Got different answers from leave it alone and if you don't like the acid at the end try to lower it then or use calcium carbonate and lower it .2 I decided to be proactive and added calcium carbonate and also changed the yeast they sent with juice from Motrachet to Lavlin 71B. Now the wait is on as it ferments.

That's what I would have done on both counts FWIW. Keep us posted!


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[Stressbaby]

Here is the elderberry persimmon. This is a very nice wine. More than average work to make, but probably worth it. It got currants in the secondary. The persimmon doesn't come through but the currants and elderberry definitely do. Good tannins and good body. Having it tonight with fried chicken.