November 2016 WOTM Club

[Stressbaby]

Triple elderberry rosé wines did not ferment very fast, possibly because I split up one packet of yeast. But today I moved them to carboys.

Both the simmered solution (Batch A) and the pressed juice (Batch B) had hardly a trace of green goo. The pomace batch (Batch C) had a fair amount of green goo which you can see that in the pic, Batch C, far right. The color of Batch C, very light to start with, not surprisingly darkened up a LOT over the course of the ferment, to the point where it was as dark, if not darker than Batch A. Batch B developed some off odors at one point during the ferment, and it struggled a little bit, training behind the other two. I hit it with an extra pinch of Fermaid K and it seemed to respond. Batch C smells the best, very fruity, but Batch A smells pretty good too.

 

[wineforfun]

Plan on making another batch of t'ej (Ethiopian style mead) which uses twigs from a plant called gesho. My plan is to boil the gesho in about 3 qts of water blend about 3 lbs of mesquite honey in the water and top up to make a gallon. I always make t'ej with 71B but this time I want to see what difference Safbrew BE-256 might make.

What did you think about the t'ej with the BE-256?
Also, how many ounces of gesho per gallon'ish of t'ej are you using?

I just finished a batch last month and cut back to 3oz. from 4oz. of gesho, per 3/4 gal. water and it has a much smoother taste. Not as much bite as using the extra gesho.

 

[BernardSmith]

Truth is I have yet to taste it.
I used 4 oz of gesho which I boiled (not near my notes at this time - will get to them Sunday evening) I think for about an hour, allowed the tea to cool and mixed the honey with the water in a blender to aerate the must (the boiling having removed all the oxygen *). I then added the inchet (the twigs) and filled the fermenter so that there was a gallon of spring water. I checked the airlock last night and it was still active but my fermenting room is deliberately quite cool - I tend to ferment around 60 F
For this batch I am planning to move away from the "pure" version. I was listening to Ayale Solomon (I think his name is) who makes tej commercially at Bee D'vine and who said that in Ethiopia people often include all kinds of other additives to flavor their tej much like brewers add fruits and herbs and spices to their beers - so I might add some liquorice extract or star anise and some vanilla...

* correction.

 

[Jericurl]

Today I finally ordered some gesho (and some berbere!). I can't wait to get it in and start my own batch.

 

[BernardSmith]

Tej is a lovely mead.

 

[dcbrown73]

I guess it's too late for my Cherry Chocolate Walnut fortified wine? It's my first self-made recipe? (I didn't start it until 12/3)

It's already went ballistic fermenting. It's only 5 gallons (but with 12lbs of extra cherries) and it fermented over. (thank god for the plastic bag!) None of my wines ever had big bubbles like this one had while fermenting.

I initially planned to make my first regular cherry wine (3g) and then the other two into the fortified wine, but this stuff seems to pack A LOT of punch flavor and body wise. I'm not sure if it will end up overpowering being just regular cherry wines. Most I've seen and tasted weren't remotely this dark and strong flavored. Maybe I should just make the entire batch into a fortified wine.

 

[Jericurl]

I guess it's too late for my Cherry Chocolate Walnut fortified wine? It's my first self-made recipe? (I didn't start it until 12/3)

David, I've got a thread started for December. You can add it there if you'd like.

 

[Stressbaby]

Update on elderberry experiment...
Racked all three wines today. It doesn't seem accurate to call these wines "rosé." The color is too dark. Happy to report that all will be drinkable. Batch A is the clear leader based on clarity, color, taste, and absence of green goo. All of these wines are fruity, but batch A is the most characteristic of elderberry. Batch B is lighter in color and cloudier. Neither A nor B have any green goo. Batch C has a candy taste and some goo, but good color.

 

[BernardSmith]

Update on my tej. Checked the gravity last night and found that it was still quite full of sugar - (at about 1.025 - after a month of fermentation at about 60F using SE-256). This yeast is OK at this temperature so I am a bit surprised at how slow the fermentation is proceeding compared to the tej I have made previously using 71B. Trying to decide what I want to do - allow it to ferment at a higher temperature or place the carboy outside so that the yeast will fall out of suspension and then stabilize and bottle. It tastes surprisingly drinkable although a few points less sugar would make it taste a little better

Update on a second mead - a hopped mead started at the same time. This mead is now bone dry but with the hops it is not quite in balance. Planning on stabilizing and adding enough sugar to bring the gravity close to about 1.005 (about 2 oz). May also add some star anise

 

[Norton]

I'm doing an experiment. I have two riesling kits. I will make them the same except for the temp of the fermentation process. In one I will go by the book on temps and in the other I will keep it as close as possible to 55.

So far the problem was clearing the by the book Riesling. I've never had that problem with a kit. I don't know if this will invalidate my experiment or not. I believe it happened because all the co2 wasn't out before I added the clearing agent.

 

[CheerfulHeart]

Quick update on my apple wine...it's all racked, it cleared like a dream and it is very smooth. It cleared on its own and I just split the 2 gallons into 2 one gallon containers. Decided to spice one and leave the other unspiced. The apple flavor is a bit weak at the moment but the wine is a lot less sweet than the last time I made this. The additional EC-1118 really helped. Thanks@Jericurl and @ Stressbaby! Your advice about the yeast was exactly right. I might add half a small can of apple juice or cider frozen concentrate to each to boost the flavor a bit. Still thinking about that.

 

[Stressbaby]

Triple elderberry experiment UPDATE:

Racked the three wines today and sampled them. They are all quite clear. Sample A (simmered) is the darkest, approaching a light red wine; it smells and tastes of red fruit. Sample B (pressed juice) is the lightest, slowest to clear, and smells and tastes of cherries (?!). Sample C (fermented on the fruit) doesn't really have much aroma and is intermediate in color, and closest to elderberry in taste.

 

[Stressbaby]

Triple elderberry experiment, bottled.
These all fell clear quickly on their own. Interesting how the color different had largely resolved.
I didn't notice this until posting the picture, but "C" has a bit of a brownish tint. It looks fine in real life. I had to use up most of "C" topping up my regular 3 gallon batch of second-run elderberry.