Sometimes I forget to write a bit about the basics that go on, or updates. I do quite well with writing about starting new brews tho. Tonight I bottled some wine, and enjoyed it, and at daft o'clock I'm still awake. It's been a busy day, and there's more to do but I'm tired now. So I'll just blog instead.
All the brewing activity started because I'll soon be away for a little while doing a workshop. So I checked what needed brewing attention. 5 gallons of the Cranberry & Blueberry wine need racking into DJ's. But there are not 5 empty DJ's. So that means I have to bottle wine. After some 30 minutes of poking around the assorted 30 full vessels, and consulting my better half, the decision was made. I was going to bottle a gallon of Rose Petal, a gallon of Green Tea & Ginger and a gallon of Ginger & Lemongrass.
And so I did, and for each gallon I bottled I got to drink a glass. So it's a good night. The wines are all excellent. Sometimes this is a problem, if they are all good then you want to make them all again. If this keeps on happening then you have a lot of variety to work into your routine. And if you want to keep on experimenting then you just have to brew more. You see how this can quickly become an obsessive and crazy kind of thing!
There's something else I'm enjoying about the flavours from the evening, and memories of food it's gone with. The Green Tea & Ginger goes so well with a curry, the Ginger & Lemongrass goes a treat with something like Thai Green Curry. So I wonder if a Rose Petal wine goes well with Turkish and middle eastern food?
None of these wines take an age to become good drinking. At most a year and in the case of the Ginger & Lemongrass only about 6-8 weeks. So what are you waiting for? Me ... I still have more brewing stuff to do tomorrow .... racking, degassing and stabilising.
Enough of my ramblings. Cheers.
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Thursday, 22 March 2012
Monday, 5 March 2012
Recipe Blueberry & Cranberry Quickie
One of my better half's favourite quickie wines is Blueberry & Cranberry. I made heaps of it in 2010, and basically this is an attempt to make another one. So here's an old post for how I've done it before, because I couldn't find the same ingredients this time around.
5 Litres Red Grape Juice
2 Litres Blueberry Juice Drink
3 Litres Cranberry Juice Drink
3.33 Kg Sugar
Yeast Nutrient
4 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Citric Acid
Water to 5 gallons
Yeast; Gervin D (GV D)
OG 1078
The blueberry and cranberry juice drinks that I used were just the best I could get. So the highest fruit content, but always watered down. They were also all natural ingredients, no preservatives. But they were blends of various fruit juices. So the named fruit is the dominant one.
Dissolve sugar in about 1 gallon of boiling water. Put all ingredients apart from yeast into a fermenting bin. Stir must well to mix. Measure gravity to ensure it's in the range you want, adjust if necessary. Check temperature is on the right range for your yeast, it'll be written on the packet of yeast. Adjust if necessary. Stir very sloshily to get plenty of air dissolved in the must. Then add yeast and cover.
Each day, for the next few days, stir sloshily for a couple or 3 minutes and then cover again. After about a week transfer to secondary fermenters under airlocks. When it stops fermenting then rack, degas and stabilise. Fine if required (but shouldn't be).
This wine will be ready to drink 6-8 weeks from starting. It will be around 11% ABV.
The result will be a table wine, well balanced. A light, crisp, rosé with a clean edge. Something you would be happy to pay around £5 a bottle for if you bought it in a supermarket. Not bad for a few 10's of pence per bottle!
Update 12th June 2012;
This has turned out to be a fine table wine, just as good as the version I was trying to replicate. So i'm now quite happy that blueberry and cranberry quickie can be done in more than one way. Go ahead and give it a go with the juices that are available near you, no need to find ocean spray which may be a relief to those of you who get into the politics of food!
Ingredients; 5 Gallons
5 Litres Red Grape Juice
2 Litres Blueberry Juice Drink
3 Litres Cranberry Juice Drink
3.33 Kg Sugar
Yeast Nutrient
4 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Citric Acid
Water to 5 gallons
Yeast; Gervin D (GV D)
OG 1078
The blueberry and cranberry juice drinks that I used were just the best I could get. So the highest fruit content, but always watered down. They were also all natural ingredients, no preservatives. But they were blends of various fruit juices. So the named fruit is the dominant one.
Method
Dissolve sugar in about 1 gallon of boiling water. Put all ingredients apart from yeast into a fermenting bin. Stir must well to mix. Measure gravity to ensure it's in the range you want, adjust if necessary. Check temperature is on the right range for your yeast, it'll be written on the packet of yeast. Adjust if necessary. Stir very sloshily to get plenty of air dissolved in the must. Then add yeast and cover.
Each day, for the next few days, stir sloshily for a couple or 3 minutes and then cover again. After about a week transfer to secondary fermenters under airlocks. When it stops fermenting then rack, degas and stabilise. Fine if required (but shouldn't be).
Discussion;
This wine will be ready to drink 6-8 weeks from starting. It will be around 11% ABV.
The result will be a table wine, well balanced. A light, crisp, rosé with a clean edge. Something you would be happy to pay around £5 a bottle for if you bought it in a supermarket. Not bad for a few 10's of pence per bottle!
Update 12th June 2012;
This has turned out to be a fine table wine, just as good as the version I was trying to replicate. So i'm now quite happy that blueberry and cranberry quickie can be done in more than one way. Go ahead and give it a go with the juices that are available near you, no need to find ocean spray which may be a relief to those of you who get into the politics of food!