Rhubarb wine convert

[JBP]

Lovely surprise this weekend. Made a 1 gallon batch of rhubarb wine using @GreginND recipe over a year ago. Had frozen excess rhubarb from a very sentimental patch and hubby was reminiscing about rhubarb wine at hunting camp (maybe not a well-finessed recipe). I do remember adding some frozen strawberries (amount unknown). After initial fermentation and racking, it sat unattended for too long - "life got in the way." Didn't even add k-meta at 3 month intervals (oops). Finally remembered it and gave it a racking plus k-meta a couple of months ago in prep for bottling. A friend and I tasted it on Saturday - let's just say the 5 bottles one usually gets out of a gallon ended up being only 4. Didn't think I was a country wine fan, but this was really really nice. Not at all what hubby remembers (less rocket fuel approach) and MUCH better.

Thanks to this forum for the skills, the recipe and the guts to take on something new (@BigDaveK, @vinny - not evenly remotely in your league). Planning an expanded repertoire in 2023.

 

[vinny]

Ha! Give it 6 months. I'm not even in 'our' league.

Glad to hear it was great. I am still working on the recipe, but I'm gonna pull it out right now so I have to figure it out tomorrow.

 

[vinny]

Suddenly, my day is booked tomorrow. Kiwi, rhubarb, and bananas. Something good should come of it.

 

[BigDaveK]

I agree this forum is a fantastic and priceless resource.
15 months ago I had 2 glass carboys and a bucket for making hard cider. Now I have...um....more.
Have fun and good luck with the "expanded repertoire"!!!

 

[JBP]

Always thought all those 1 gallon/1/2 gallon carboys in my basement were just for handling overflow from larger batches as I moved through various stages. Browsing country wine ideas...

 

[BigDaveK]

Always thought all those 1 gallon/1/2 gallon carboys in my basement were just for handling overflow from larger batches as I moved through various stages. Browsing country wine ideas...

You're lucky to have all those other containers!
They can certainly be used for overflow. For example, my pear wines this year were 4+ gallons in primary, 1 gallon and 3 gallon in secondary, and after settling and one or rackings I'm left with a 3 gallon to bulk age.
Also, most of my wines this year were 1 gallon batches. Learning, exploring, playing with recipes - makes no sense to make a large batch of something I may not care for. Yes, it was a fun year!!

 

[vinny]

Something unexpected happened. Holes in bags...

I now have a bowl full of rhubarb kiwi juice. It looks like I am making rhubarb kiwi wine with bananas for mouth feel?

Ah well, roll with the punches.

 

[BigDaveK]

Something unexpected happened. Holes in bags...

I now have a bowl full of rhubarb kiwi juice. It looks like I am making rhubarb kiwi wine with bananas for mouth feel?

Ah well, roll with the punches.

Might be a winner! Fingers crossed!

 

[Arne]

Keep close track of what you do or that will be the one you really really love and wont be able to make it again cause you forgot how you did it. Been there done that. LOL, Arne.

 

[vinny]

Might be a winner! Fingers crossed!

At least I can say I've tried something you haven't!