Regular readers will be familiar with my elderflower wine production wine. So I'm going to post all 4 wines here. New readers may want to look back at previous blog entries for elderflower quickie wine to get a fuller description.
This year's significant experiment was playing with the added acids. Mrs Critter Wine prefers her wines to be easy on acidity. So i guessed the main problem for her may have been tartaric acid. So i made some without that and used only citric acid, which has a fruity flavour.
Personally speaking i get on fine with the clean crisp acidity of tartaric acid. So i continued to use a blend of that and citric acid for some of the wine. The result was not a marked difference. However Mrs CW hasn't commented on the acidity being too much for her, so perhaps it worked? Then again she didn't comment for any of the variations, so perhaps she's adjusted?
What i noticed is that the citric acid only version is a little softer. But only a little, and so i can't rule out deceiving myself. Having said that i perceive an edge to the acid blend version that i prefer. Anyway, enough rambling, here's the recipes i used in 2015.
Recipes:
1st Batch: 5 Gallons
NB i left the flowers and must in the secondary fermentation vessel for 2 weeks. Not what i'd recommend, but more on this later.
10 Litres Reg Grape Juice (Don Simon, pure pressed)
3 Kg Sugar
5 Teaspoons Pectolase
4 Teaspoons Citric Acid
2 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Tronozymol)
Yeast (GV1)
Water to 5 gallons
3 Litres Elderflowers
OG: 1076
2nd Batch: 5 Gallons
NB this must for this wine was left in the primary fermenter for 2 weeks. It had therefore more or less finished fermenting when i moved it to secondary and added the flowers. Not what I'd recommend but more on that later.
Almost exactly the same ingredients and quantities as above. The only differences being that i added no pectolase and used the lees left from the previous brew instead of adding fresh yeast. OG, not surprisingly, was also the same.
3rd Batch: 5 Gallons
Very similar ingredients to above wines but with a variation in acids. Here's the list, for clarity.
10 Litres Reg Grape Juice (Don Simon, pure pressed)
3 Kg Sugar
5 Teaspoons Citric Acid
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Tronozymol)
Yeast (GV1, lees from previous brew)
Water to 5 gallons
3 Litres Elderflowers
OG unknown cos my hydrometer broke, but it's safe to assume the same as above, i.e. around 1076.
4th Batch: 5 Gallons
Back to an acid blend, but different to batches 1 and 2. Also a difference in juices. The ingredients list then, again for clarity.
4 Litres Reg Grape Juice (Don Simon, pure pressed)
6 Litres Reg Grape Juice (Asda, Pure Pressed)
3 Kg Sugar
3.5 Teaspoons Citric Acid
1.5 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Tronozymol)
Yeast (GV1, lees from previous brew)
Water to 5 gallons
3 Litres Elderflowers
OG unknown cos i hadn't replaced my broken hydrometer. If my memory serves me Asda RGJ is a little sweeter than Don Simon. So OG may be a few points up, i'd guess no higher than 1080 tho.
Method
For all wines this is a summary of the method.
1st Batch:
Flowers were collected on a dry and sunny day. They were put into bin bags, on their sprays. The bags tied up and left overnight. Next day the bags were shaken for a few minutes so they fell off their sprays. The flowers (and the pollen) were measured in 3 litre batches and put in freezer bags. Measure the flowers without pressing them into the measuring jug. And only shake them down enough to get a flat level for easy reading against your measure. Put them in the freezer.
Dissolve the sugar in hot water. Dissolve the acids and nutrient in water. Add all ingredients (except the flowers and yeast) to a fermenting bucket and stir well. Ensure the temperature is not too high to knobble the yeast. Measure the gravity.
Add the yeast. Cover. Once a day, for the next few days, stir the must sloshily and recover. After 5-7 days transfer to secondary fermentation vessel under airlock. Make sure to leave plenty of sediment in the primary fermentation vessel cos you'll want it for the next batch. Add 3 litres of flowers in a tied up muslin bag, or two.
After another 5-7 days remove the bagged flowers and rack the wine to demi-johns and fit airlocks. Leave for at least 4-5 weeks. By which time it'll be clear. Amazingly it'll also be ready to drink. It'll improve for the next 4 weeks or so. You can bottle it now if you want.
2nd, 3rd and 4th Batches:
Dissolve the sugar in hot water then allow it to cool. Dissolve the acids and nutrient in water. Add all ingredients (except the flowers and yeast) to a fermenting bucket containing the lees from the previous brew, stir well. There's no need to add yeast. Measure the gravity.
From here proceed as above for batch 1, tho you won't need to stir daily during primary fermentation.
Miscellaneous Bits and Pieces
As i mentioned earlier i didn't rigidly stick to my preferred timing. I got ill and couldn't tend to the brewing. The good news is that it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I won't be repeating the 2 week primary fermentation, neither the 2 week long flower infusion at secondary fermentation. But it's good to know it need not spoil the wine if you get a little slack.
6 Litres Reg Grape Juice (Asda, Pure Pressed)
3 Kg Sugar
3.5 Teaspoons Citric Acid
1.5 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Tronozymol)
Yeast (GV1, lees from previous brew)
Water to 5 gallons
3 Litres Elderflowers
OG unknown cos i hadn't replaced my broken hydrometer. If my memory serves me Asda RGJ is a little sweeter than Don Simon. So OG may be a few points up, i'd guess no higher than 1080 tho.
Method
For all wines this is a summary of the method.
1st Batch:
Flowers were collected on a dry and sunny day. They were put into bin bags, on their sprays. The bags tied up and left overnight. Next day the bags were shaken for a few minutes so they fell off their sprays. The flowers (and the pollen) were measured in 3 litre batches and put in freezer bags. Measure the flowers without pressing them into the measuring jug. And only shake them down enough to get a flat level for easy reading against your measure. Put them in the freezer.
Dissolve the sugar in hot water. Dissolve the acids and nutrient in water. Add all ingredients (except the flowers and yeast) to a fermenting bucket and stir well. Ensure the temperature is not too high to knobble the yeast. Measure the gravity.
Add the yeast. Cover. Once a day, for the next few days, stir the must sloshily and recover. After 5-7 days transfer to secondary fermentation vessel under airlock. Make sure to leave plenty of sediment in the primary fermentation vessel cos you'll want it for the next batch. Add 3 litres of flowers in a tied up muslin bag, or two.
After another 5-7 days remove the bagged flowers and rack the wine to demi-johns and fit airlocks. Leave for at least 4-5 weeks. By which time it'll be clear. Amazingly it'll also be ready to drink. It'll improve for the next 4 weeks or so. You can bottle it now if you want.
2nd, 3rd and 4th Batches:
Dissolve the sugar in hot water then allow it to cool. Dissolve the acids and nutrient in water. Add all ingredients (except the flowers and yeast) to a fermenting bucket containing the lees from the previous brew, stir well. There's no need to add yeast. Measure the gravity.
From here proceed as above for batch 1, tho you won't need to stir daily during primary fermentation.
Miscellaneous Bits and Pieces
As i mentioned earlier i didn't rigidly stick to my preferred timing. I got ill and couldn't tend to the brewing. The good news is that it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I won't be repeating the 2 week primary fermentation, neither the 2 week long flower infusion at secondary fermentation. But it's good to know it need not spoil the wine if you get a little slack.
Thanks Steve, it's always encouraging to have good feedback ... especially when i've been slacking and haven't updated my blog for ages.
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