Orange

[ianH]

Got a few demi johns to use so decided to make an Orange wine. I've basically got a carton of concentrate to use and wanted something to do. As you know I'm a returning newbie. The recipe goes like this...... 1ltr Orange juice concentrate, (10p from Asda, out of date), roughly 300ml of double strength cordial, 2lb of honey,(I'm a beekeeper and just had this laying around), sugar, 1tsp yeast nutrient, 3/4 tsp tannin, bottled water. The o.g is 1.092. Yeast is a Muntons white wine yeast, think its GV5 with a BBE 2007. I only wanted to test it and amazingly it started to bubble away in the starter. I've got a red GV8 with a BBE 2013 which I'm itching to try now. What do you think of the Orange wine? It's bubbling away in the demi john now. How long till its done? Thanks for any advice. Ian

 

[hounddawg]

don't know,,,,
qhen your SG is at .999 or lower,
Dawg

 

[Rice_Guy]

, , , 2lb of honey,(I'm a beekeeper and just had this laying around), sugar, 1tsp yeast nutrient,

I really don’t like chemical nitrogen, the ferment is faster and more likely to crash producing bitter flavors/ loss f fruity aromatics. Do you have Fermaid O/ 100% organic yeast nutrient? (Since you are a bee keeper familiarize yourself with a TONSA calculator.)

Honey is a nutrient desert. My guess is that orange juice isn’t much better. ,,, My organic nitrogen process would be to ferment to 1/3 sugar > rack to a carboy/ oxygenate the yeast and add Fermaid K and then keep under air lock. Low temp (ie longer time) will help giving a smooth ferment and reduce the risk of yeast cratering.

 

[winemaker81]

What is "double strength cordial"?

As Richard said, when the SG < 0.999 and is stable for 3 days, call it done. I'd let it rest 3 days to drop heavy sediment, then rack off the sediment.

What is your volume? I agree with David (@Rice_Guy) that you probably need more nutrient to keep the yeast happy and ensure a good ferment.

 

[ianH]

What is "double strength cordial"?

pop you have to dilute with water for kids

The demijohn of wine is now done fermenting and I'm wanting to rack it and clear. Whats best to use to end fermentation and a clearing agent. The og was 1092 and fg 1000. I've added some old stabilizing powder and a Camden tablet but its still bubbling away slowly.

 

[winemaker81]

The demijohn of wine is now done fermenting and I'm wanting to rack it and clear. Whats best to use to end fermentation and a clearing agent. The og was 1092 and fg 1000. I've added some old stabilizing powder and a Camden tablet but its still bubbling away slowly.

How to end fermentation? The general recommendation on the forum is to not try, as it's difficult to stop a ferment at a given point except by adding a spirit to raise the ABV above 18%.

By "stabilizing powder" I assume you mean potassium sorbate, or is it a combination of sorbate + K-meta (potassium metabisulfite)? Sorbate will not stop an active fermentation, but can slow it down and at the end of the process may stop the ferment, but this is not guaranteed.

The stabilizing powder is old? Unfortunately, sorbate has a relatively short shelf life that varies by storage conditions, so if yours is old, you cannot count on it working correctly.

Is the wine under airlock? If not, rack it and put it under airlock and ignore it for 2 weeks, then check the SG. Until you're positive fermentation is complete, it's not useful to do anything else.

 

[BernardSmith]

I wonder how you are finding the taste of this wine? I tend to find that OJ contains too much acid (TA) to be a pleasant drink and so what I have tended to do is use the zest of oranges - none of the white pith, and only the outside of the peel. The zest contains incredibly flavor-rich essential oils and my source of sugar is honey, and so an orange zest mead.
Not a beek , so I have my choice of honey and orange blossom honey is delightful.. But you can certainly use any honey , varietal or not , though I would not want to use an expensive varietal as the flavors from the zest can overpower the flavors coming from the honey - so clover and /or wild flower are also great with the zest. .

 

[Biggz]

I have also read a few places that if you use bread yeast when making small amounts gallon or 2qts that it will not be as dry and will retain most of the fruit flavor compared to the wine yeast. I have tried two 1 gal batches of peach, 1 with Red Starwine yeast and the other with Fleischmanns bread yeast and I like the bread yeast better. The red star yeast was good but a lot dryer and i prefered the bread yeast for these smaller batches. Anything that i use nutrients with i use the wine yeast, i am still new to this as well and you live and learn and try things new.

Also read that Oranges have way to much acidity in them to taste that great as wine so therefore most people just use the zest.

 

[BernardSmith]

My experience - and I use only bread yeast for making whey wine - is that it has no problem reaching 12-14 % ABV. The bigger problem with wine yeast is that it has not been cultured by labs to flocculate in the way that wine makers and brewers need the yeast to drop out of solution. For me this is not a problem because of the intended use of the whey wine, but for those who intend to enjoy flavors other than yeast , it can be.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* some ale yeast, a high malic acid selection last year AND bread yeast are dirty/ high foam. Doesn’t mean much unless you are trying to make crystal clear wine.
* beer/ ale yeast are rated at 8% alcohol too
* @Biggz , if you like it keep doing it

 

[Biggz]

* some ale yeast, a high malic acid selection last year AND bread yeast are dirty/ high foam. Doesn’t mean much unless you are trying to make crystal clear wine.
* beer/ ale yeast are rated at 8% alcohol too
* @Biggz , if you like it keep doing it

I do use wine yeast..i like it but just getting used to how much sugars i like in it with the wine yeast. used it in my orange blossom honey mead and it is dang good and I used it in the strawberry skeeter pee i just started on the 5th.

Thanks for info

 

[hounddawg]

I do use wine yeast..i like it but just getting used to how much sugars i like in it with the wine yeast. used it in my orange blossom honey mead and it is dang good and I used it in the strawberry skeeter pee i just started on the 5th.

Thanks for info

HYDROMETER and read yeast packet for alcohol tolerances
Dawg