Massive Rhubarb Plant

[Wolfpup]

Buy a few jugs of storebought apple juice. However big of a batch you want to make. Put the juice in an open fermenter, bring the specific gravity up to 1.085 or so. Add half of the recomended nutrient off the nutrient pkg, maybe some acid blend, tannin according to the pkg, maybe some bentinite to help it clear later, and add a pkg of yeast. Let it ferment down to 1.060 or so, add the rest of the nutrient and add peppers to the mix. I would probably slice them at least in half and put in a mesh bag. Let it ferment down, stir every day or so, when it gets to 1.010 or lower transfer to a secondary and remove the peppers. If you want more pepper taste, throw the same ones or new ones into the secondary. Number of peppers will vary according to taste and amount you are making. I have used some pretty hot ones and use maybe 2 to the gallon. Also, I am not really a fan of very hot stuff. Good luck with it, Arne.

OMG, really, this sounds wonderful! A really big fan of the hot peppers. Habaneros and Apple Juice. Yes! How many peppers did you use and was it hot/spicy? Can't imagine a wine that actually bites back. That would be such an interesting flavor. Going to save this in my folder.

 

[Wolfpup]

But I personally would throw a towel over it and visit on the week ends for a couple months.

Ok, still having fun watching the bubbles. Will put it away tomorrow and try not to think about it. Babysitting it for so long, it's hard to not think about. You are right, I probably should get the next batch going. 25 lbs of rhubarb sitting in the freezer, ready to go.

Will probably give it a couple of weeks, get this one settled and work on that frozen juice thing. That will give me some time to get that one all sorted out.

 

[Venatorscribe]

As an alternative, maybe turn your 25 kg into a lovely crumble dessert. I am not being negative about rhubarb wine, but truely apply your new knowledge to a different fruit. At least then you will have something to blend with the rhubarb. Every fermentation here after will be a total breeze compared to the technicalities of a rhubarb wine. You now have the knowledge of Yoda. Time to extend your range and knowledge of fruit wines. You'll have a lot of fun. Especially blending wine cocktails. All the best with your Rh fermentation.

 

[wildhair]

Hmmmm Wise you all are. Much has she learned.

 

[wildhair]

"If it doesn't move - ferment it."
I believe Jack Keller said that. I still have to get my beet wine, melon wine, chamomile wine & cucumber wine going. Trying to save up enough goji berries (a.k.a. - Wolfberries) to make a straight Goji wine. Someone said tomato wine was excellent - might try that. If you can grow it - you can ferment it.
Rhubarb wine is said to make an excellent blending wine - it takes on the flavors of whatever it's added to. Very useful for topping up. I definitely need to make more - if for no other reason that to hide a few bottles & see how it tastes after 5 years................ assuming I live another 5 years.

 

[Arne]

OMG, really, this sounds wonderful! A really big fan of the hot peppers. Habaneros and Apple Juice. Yes! How many peppers did you use and was it hot/spicy? Can't imagine a wine that actually bites back. That would be such an interesting flavor. Going to save this in my folder.

Think I used about 6 Thai (? spelling) peppers. Little bitty hot things, actually still sitting in a gallon. They do get your attention when you take a swallow. Arne.

 

[Wolfpup]

As an alternative, maybe turn your 25 kg into a lovely crumble dessert. .

Ha ha, yes and a nice rhubarb, strawberry pie will be on the menu here shortly. Lots of berries in the patch, just waiting for them to ripen. And our fruit trees are looking bountiful too. Was just hoping to do something with all this rhubarb instead of wasting it every year. Over 50 pounds off it so far and it's still producing like a bunny on steroids.

And I don't know if I'd call my level of knowledge wisdom yet. Sure doesn't feel that way. A little anxious about any possible sugar alterations and then there's the whole PH thing. The last wine shop Bob went to (the one he really liked) has ordered us a PH tester. They said it will be in next week. What if those numbers are out of whack. And then there's the whole bottling thing.

It will be nice to have the whole batch under our belt and a bottle on the table with dinner. We were talking about the fact that we're going to need some kind of wine rack too, if this is going to produce 30ish bottle. How do you guys store all the wine?

But you are right Venatorscribe. Have been messing with this rhubarb for almost a month now, it might be nice to try something different. But if I get this next rhubarb done, we'll have 7ish years to play around with the other fruits. Oh, but next year, the plant will continue production. I really need to perfect this rhubarb thing. Oh boy, so many options.

 

[Wolfpup]

Hmmmm Wise you all are. Much has she learned.

View attachment 49067

OMG, I love this, too cute.

Yes and thanks to you wonderful folks not only has much be learned but the experience has been fairly painless, having such a wealth of information to draw on. For this we are truly grateful.

 

[Wolfpup]

Think I used about 6 Thai (? spelling) peppers. Little bitty hot things, actually still sitting in a gallon. They do get your attention when you take a swallow. Arne.

Ok, that's good to know, so just a few, not like 10 or 15 lbs. Just kind of like a flavoring.

"If it doesn't move - ferment it."

This retired grandma lady at the wine shop told Bob that the last wine she made was with rice. It turned out be a Saki of some kind. He explained it but I didn't quite get it.

This pepper recipe sounds right up my alley though. Can't wait to give this a try.

 

[meadmaker1]

Saki is not as simple as just fermenting with rice.
It requires something like an enzyme or bacteria or " some thing "
And that concludes what I know about saki. And I'm open to being corrected on any details I got wrong.

 

[Venatorscribe]

Ok, that's good to know, so just a few, not like 10 or 15 lbs. Just kind of like a flavoring.

"If it doesn't move - ferment it."

This retired grandma lady at the wine shop told Bob that the last wine she made was with rice. It turned out be a Saki of some kind. He explained it but I didn't quite get it.

This pepper recipe sounds right up my alley though. Can't wait to give this a try.

FYI there is a really good thread on this platform for rice wine. I got similarly excited at the challenge of making rice wine after reading the many posts on the subject.

 

[Wolfpup]

Saki is not as simple as just fermenting with rice.
It requires something like an enzyme or bacteria or " some thing "
And that concludes what I know about saki. And I'm open to being corrected on any details I got wrong.

Ha ha, my thoughts exactly meadmaker. He did say "some thing" about raisins too but my mind kind of tuned out at that point.

FYI there is a really good thread on this platform for rice wine. I got similarly excited at the challenge of making rice wine after reading the many posts on the subject.

I like rice and can steam it just as good as any Chinese cook, but I did try saki once. And much like scotch (please don't take this wrong those of you that call it baby tears or tears of joy, or whatever) but once was enough for me. Not a fan.

And not that I'm a foo foo drinker, I do like jagermeister and beer but something about scotch and saki that never had me going back.

I wonder if the rice is cooked before you ferment it. Never mind, just an idle thought. We'll leave the rice wine to those with the taste buds, I'd rather make mine dance with capsaicin.

 

[opus345]

Busy day yesterday, saw this, relaxed about it all and just let it be.

Gosh, I have some peppers getting to a nice size. I can't believe I was thinking... I wonder if you could make a pepper wine?

Whole new world has opened up for us.

Here is a link to my Capsicumel Mead recipe. I'm on my third batch.

 

[Wolfpup]

Here is a link to my Capsicumel Mead recipe. I'm on my third batch.

Oh my gosh Opus, this recipe looks amazing!! And it's with honey, how exciting is that!

You know, I have obviously been on a huge learning curve but I didn't realize how much I was absorbing. I can understand everything in this recipe except for these two things:

Use Vacuvin to degas and,
Cold Crash, or Pasteurize to prevent bottle bombs.

My peppers are still growing so will have some time to learn what it means.

"A huge hit whenever you uncork it"… I'll bet hey, would love to try it as well. Between your well laid out directions and Arne's "attention getting" recipe, I should have what's necessary to concoct a few "flaming" bottles of my own.

I see you've used Anahiem, Jalapeno and Seranos. Don't have those but I could probably improvise with what's here? These are the peppers I'm currently growing:

Hot Hungarian
Crimson Hot
Hot Red Cherry
Super Chili
Thai Dragon
Cayenne
And my two favorites, Habanaros and Bhut Jolokia (aka Ghost Peppers).

Have some regular Bell and Gypsy (somewhat like the Jalapeno) peppers in the garden too.

Your recipe is saved to my folder and if you don't mind, will probably be knocking on your virtual door when the time comes to put the peppers into action.

Thank you so much for this. It's looks like a perfect recipe! Exactly what I needed.

 

[meadmaker1]

Vacuvin must be some name brand of vacuum system to degrees wine. A question you were bound to ask sooner or later.
Cold crashing is putting your carboy somewhere that keeps it very cold in this case to help stop fermentation. Some times to help clear, I didn't read the link so there may be more to this but we will cover the details as your rhubarb comes along and you start thinking about back sweetening.

Vacuum degassing is no question the wa y to go. The all in one wine pump seems to be the front runner and he is a member. By pulling vacuum on your car boy it causes the co2 bubbles to enlarge and float to the top. Or you can get a gizmo that hooks to a drill and whip the crap out of it.

 

[Wolfpup]

Ohhhhh, ok. Thanks meadmaker.

Back to the total neophyte. We haven't even scratched the surface of the bottling process. My thoughts of simply syphoning from carboy to bottle… hubby, having made the wildhair bottle holder, and him capping the bottles, swish we're done…. is probably a way too simplistic, blonde thought, for what's actually involved.

So when we back sweeten, will it bring back that amazing taste that it had when we were fermenting?

And yes please, let's continue with the baby steps.

On a side note the jugs are still bubbling away. Don't have the heart to put them away yet, still on the counter. Very little sunlight gets to them. They are so fun to watch. All that work bubbling away. They almost seem alive, not quite like plants but sheepishly admitting, I talk to them. Is that normal?

 

[wildhair]

No............ no it's not normal. If it starts talking back - get back on your meds. LOL
At this point - they actually ARE alive. God bless the little yeasties.

 

[meadmaker1]

You are at the first child stage. Over protective over concerned and panicky with every bump and bruise. Then comes number 2 or 3 and suddenly children are bullet proof, they bounce,and germs are afraid of being caught them. Get a couple more going and you'll be asking each other when the last time you checked it was.

 

[Wolfpup]

LOL, you guys are hilarious. And wildhair, no medication required, for some reason it just feels right. They pop a little bubble at the most opportune times... like they are responding.

I've apologized for not having the means to take their SG levels at the beginning and hope they aren't struggling with too much alcohol. And that I know they might be struggling with too much PH but we have some equipment coming next week to help them, if they can just hang in there... then they bubble bubble one and bubble bubble two. Then they relax for a while. Don't know if that's talking back but ... oh boy, maybe some medication is needed.

Great analogy meadmaker, makes total sense. Just like a first born for sure. Explains it perfectly. A couple more weeks with these babies and we'll get some more on the go. Still feeling a little overwhelmed and enjoying the stage they are at. A few other things on the go as well and it's always fun to look at them.

Not to mention quite the conversation piece where they are sitting... what have you got going on there?... and then the fun talk begins.

 

[Wolfpup]

Off topic, just noticed, under my name, it says Senior Member, how did that happen?

Something or someone doesn't seem to be aware of my skill level. That could be completely misleading, should I happen to post something and someone like me saw it, thinking it was coming from someone who actually knew what they were talking about. Is there someone to contact to change that.

It should say something like "newly born member", just out of the fetus stage.