January 2014 Wine of the Month Club

[cintipam]

James, I'm glad you like them. They actually hold 1.25 gallons, and I've had no leakage issues from the spigot. Filled with diff flavors of dragons blood I bet they will be a pretty picture. The pic was taken when they were new, even before washing, filled with hose water. So that blue tint is permanent. It's so nice to not try to jam all those gallon jugs in the fridge at one time anymore.

Pam in cinti

 

[the_rayway]

Onion Wine racked to secondary.
I was supposed to leave it a little longer but I got tired of messing with it, plus it was dry.

Hey Jeri, any idea on the green colour? I would have thought it would be a yellowish

 

[the_rayway]

Summary Time!

Ok peoples, it's coming to the end of the month (already? How is that possible?) - time to start thinking about your homework

a) what you learned
b) something you did right
c) something you could have done better
d) any updates on the batches and how they are coming along

Looking forward to hearing from everyone, and seeing how things are doing (pictures anyone?).
Ray

 

[wineforfun]

Ok peoples, it's coming to the end of the month (already? How is that possible?) - time to start thinking about your homework

a) what you learned
b) something you did right
c) something you could have done better
d) any updates on the batches and how they are coming along

Looking forward to hearing from everyone, and seeing how things are doing (pictures anyone?).
Ray

haha Here we go.

a) what you learned A lot of people enjoy making unique 1 gallon batches

b) something you did rightdidn't injure anyone in making my "concoctions" for the month

c) something you could have done betterMade more

d) any updates on the batches and how they are coming alongElderberry=Ageing 30-45 more days, Welchs Grape=Ageing 30-45 more days, Cherry=Ageing 30-45 more days, Red Currant=Bottling in 30 days, Dragon Blood=Bottling this weekend

 

[cintipam]

Rayway, you can call it green onion wine.

Pam in cinti

 

[Jericurl]

It must be my cell phone picture.

It's actually a light sunny yellow color.

 

[the_rayway]

Here's my breakdown for this month:

a) What I learned: Wineforfun is a Smart A$$
b) Something I did well: asking that guy on the other site for his recipe. I think this is going to be killer!
c) Something I could have done better: Paid more attention. I over shot the amount and ended up with more like 2 gallons (is this actually a negative?), used more honey than I had planned, and now I'm not sure I have enough for my February batch of ________.

November's Habanero Apple: Bulk ageing, and mostly clear. No, I'm not afraid to taste it, I swear
December's Apricot Port: bulk ageing/clearing, taking it's sweet time too. I thought it would be far more clear by this point. Considering cold crashing, it's cold enough outside to do it right quick!
January's Pumpkin Hazelnut Mead: sitting on the roasted fruit and thinking about starting a new batch of hazelnut extract using dark spiced rum instead of vodka. Just for more depth/interest. Undecided. Also, it's cleared to this incredible dark brown colour in the carboy. It was dark to begin with, with all the botcheted honey, but this looks like...well, like a good brown ale!

1.29.14 Just racked the Pumpkin Hazelnut off the fruit. It's neon orange and tastes like a jack-o-lantern got drunk and in my mead. Ah well, mead does take some time to come around! You can definitely taste the pumpkin!

 

[LoneStarLori]

Lol, Lori - do I need to buy you a couple from up here and send them down? We even have stand alone bags with a spigot that don't require a box!

OMG, those are so pretty and functional to boot! Now I really want some.

Lori, I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but they will work in a pinch for a party, etc. I also have been using them to keep a gallon at a time in the fridge for easy access. I bought these at Big Lots for 5 bucks each, but later found them at Walmart for a few pennies less. The spigot rotates so you can squeeze these babies into the almost useless places in the fridge, like under the meat drawer etc. I also found that for parties I could put a cooler sideways, put a row of these into the cooler surrounded by frozen icepacks and they stayed cold quite well even in summer.

Hope this helps.

Pam in cinit

Pam, I looked for some here at our one and only Big Lots within 100 miles and they seem to be gone. Maybe they will have more of them closer to summer. (if it ever gets here).
I have been saving the juice bags that come with my kits and I just might use one of them to put a wine cooler type in. Then just pour out what I need for that particular event into something smaller.
In the meantime, I'm gonna keep looking.

 

[drumlinridgewinery]

count me in next month

 

[the_rayway]

So...who wants to take on the February thread?

 

[Jericurl]

Woops! It's already that time again.
I'll get it.

 

[kryptonitewine]

Sorry I was gonna do it but too much life drama right now. I'll do March.

As for my port

What I like. Flavor and aroma are excellent.

What I don't like. Recipe does not call for brandy.

What I'd do different. Make two gallons to experiment with brandy.


Jim

 

[LoneStarLori]

Hey Jeri, any idea on the green colour? I would have thought it would be a yellowish

It must be my cell phone picture.

It's actually a light sunny yellow color.

So...who wants to take on the February thread?

Rae, I wish I could but I have a lot going on this month. If you don't get any takers, I'll try to keep it up.

This is my Onion from November. It didn't really take on the honey color in my photos either. But it looks rather inviting and is even starting to tasting like wine. There is hope!

 

[ckvchestnut]

Lori that's looking good!

 

[LoneStarLori]

Ok, I'm going to be super lazy here and just post the thread link for the Blood Orange wine for the recipe, original pictures and bascis.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/january-2014-wine-month-club-42739/index7.html#post480272

What went right: Not much in the beginning. The oranges didn't yield as much juice as I thought they would. They were also far more expensive than I anticipated. Almost $4.50 a pound. The flavor was lacking in the fruit and there was a LOT of peel verses pulp and juice. I had all the ingredients and a few extra regular Texas oranges on hand to supplement the lack of juice. I also think I chose the best yeast.

What I could have done better; Bought more fruit and tried to get as much juice as possible. I ended up with a lot less than one gallon. I also should have tested the SG before adding all the sugar the recipe called for up front. The starting SG was WAY too high at 1.12.

Update and thoughts; The color and clarity are really nice. I am surprised at how well I can taste the orange so young. Due to the high starting SG, this stuff is HOT! It goes down like a brandy. Hopefully it will mellow out in a few months.

Here is a pic from the 28th before I racked it again. I filled up the headspace with marbles. More marbles than wine in the end.

I am pleased with the color for sure.

I may only get 2 bottles out of this, but it might be worth a second try next year.

 

[the_rayway]

Thanks Jeri for taking on next month! If people are really busy, I'm happy to take it on

Lori, I LOVE that colour on the Blood Orange! I've been tossing the idea of doing a grapefruit around now that the really nice ones are in from Texas. Saw a case on for $30 the other day, about 40Lbs of fruit.

Also, I'm impressed that people are tasting the onion wine - after the cat litter comments, I was a bit concerned. Nice to see it starting to turn out though! I think it really would be a good cooking wine flavour. Not sure if I have the guts to try it before summer though, I'm afraid that the smell would be too overpowering in our little house.

Jim - I'll look forward to 'seeing' what you're up to in March!

See you all on the February thread!

 

[mangojack]

Wild Plum Wine,I started 3gal. today. here the recipe,if anyone would like it.
for two gals.7quarts water,6lb wild plums,1tsp Citric Acid,1/8 tsp tanni n,1 tsp yeast nutrient,1tsp yeast energizer,2 campden tablets ,1/2 tsp pectic enzyme,4 lbs. sugar white or Brown,
boil 1 gal of water eith sugar,put plums in a straining bag,put in primary,pour hot sugar water over plums,add all engredients when cool,,except Yeast,stir,cover for 24 hrs.make a yeast starter with 1 cup warm water,1 table spoon of sugar yeast,cover for 15 min,add to wine primary,cover stir daily for 8 days,remove bag of plums after squeezing all juice from bag,cover primary let work 6 more days stirring daily,rack into secondary vessel,discard all pulp,top up if needed,air lock,rack in 30 days,discard any pulp,top up,air lock,rack in 60 days,discard any pulp,take 1 cup of the wine,add 1/4 cup of sugar stir until completely dissolved,return to the wine,top if needed,air lock,repeat this step every 60 days until wine clears and fermentation has stopped.stabilize,sweeten to taste,degas ,bottle,wait 3 to 6 mo. to drink,9 mo. to 1yr.is best.

 

[mangojack]

Rae, I wish I could but I have a lot going on this month. If you don't get any takers, I'll try to keep it up.

This is my Onion from November. It didn't really take on the honey color in my photos either. But it looks rather inviting and is even starting to tasting like wine. There is hope!

I have made sweet red onion wine it turned out quite well.yours has a nice color.

 

[vernsgal]

sorry for the delay on this post. I can't believe how much reading on you guys I have to catch up on. It's great to be back though!
update on my choco /cherry port.
I step fed the wine and got it to 17% ( which I've read isn't bad) then added my cherry brandy which brought it up just over the 18% mark. The taste of cherries is still good with a small aftertaste of chocolate. The body is med. to heavy
( I guess the bananas came through on that). The color is good. Now I just have to decide what to sweeten it with.It ended at 1.012. I'm not sure if I want to just use simple syrup or to use some other flavoring, maybe do an fpak? Suggestions?

 

[LoneStarLori]

The color is beautiful! How does it taste to you? Is it too dry? If it is, you might want to do a little back sweetening some simple syrup. It sounds like the flavor is good and full of cherries.