Thursday, 30 December 2010
Did Some Bottling too
I should mention that I also bottled the last gallon of the Green Tea & Ginger Wine too.
Woohoo Country Wines Again
Seems like an eternity since I last started a "proper" country wine. That is to say one made with ingredients that I have to process. I do like it and today I went at it with an old-time brew, Tanglefoot - Parsnip wine.
I followed pretty much the recipe that I used when I made this brew last year. But here is a full recipe and method cos I have some new piccies.
3.7 Kg Parsnips
3 Kg (approx) Sugar (OG 1080 -1090)
2 Lemons, juice and zest
1.25 Oz Root Ginger (bit less than last year so ...
0.75 Oz Crystallised Ginger (to make up the shortage in root ginger)
3 Teaspoons Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets
Yeast Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast
Water to 3 Gallons
Method
Wash and thoroughly scrub the parsnips but don't peel them, you'll be thankful of the save effort cos there's plenty of them ...
Top and tail them then slice 1 inch thick. Bring 1.5 gallons of water to the boil then add parsnip slices and simmer until they are tender but not mushy. The skins keep the slices together well, and also have heaps more flavour and nutrients than the insides.
This picture is only half of them and that's a gallon pan. If you put to many in one pan they're much more prone to mush up. About half way through cooking very gently stir them, just enough to flip some of the top ones or bring some from lower down up to the surface.
Simmering took 30 mins but check them frequently, they are done just before they start to split in the middle, so if they split quickly proceed to the next step. You should have a clear, almost colourless, liquid and intact parsnip slices so pour the juice through a colander into your fermenting bin.
You now have lots of un-needed cooked parsnips that you can mash or roast. Boil up 2 Kg of sugar in plenty of water and add that the fermenting bin too.
Bruise and coarsely chop the ginger, zest the lemons (no pith), put in a muslin bag and tie it up. Add to the fermenting bin and allow to cool (covered) for a few hours then add citric acid, tartaric acid and enzyme and crushed campden tablets.
Here's the lot. Just to the left of the lemons is a little pile of pith. This was on the inside of the skin when I zested with a potato peeler. You really don't want pith in your wine, it'll make the wine too bitter. A sharp knife deals with it easily, a blunt knife will likely make it a painful chore. Cover and leave overnight then add yeast, nutrient and top up to 3 gallons with sugar solution to get your desired gravity. Stir daily for 7-10 days, remove the zest and ginger, then transfer to DJ's and thereafter rack, top-up, degas, stabilise etc when appropriate.
This should clear with no problems in a couple of months or less, but if not then chitin based finings work well. Gelatin finings don't seem to do it. I've never needed to use a starch enzyme, but if you want to then I'm sure it won't do any harm ... I don't know whether pectolase is needed but I keep using it anyway!
Some Thoughts
My last batch of this had an OG of 1086, and ended up being about 12.5% ABV. It's dry, a little zesty and gingery, the parsnip seems to lend a very slight earthy, grassy and maybe even radish notes! Make it well and this will be ready to drink after only 4-5 months, but will seriously improve if you give it 8-12.
Many wine-makers are seriously scornful of parsnip wine, and wine made from other root vegetables. But if you are interested in keeping old traditions going, even with a modern twist, then pay no attention. Go for it. Their suggestions to leave out the parsnips and use grape juice/concentrate instead may make a wine they prefer, but they are not you, and they don't know why you make it. They may say that using parsnips came from a time when good quality sugar was scarce or too expensive, and that now there is no point in making it. But then again brewing is simply an old way of preserving juices and having a safe drink when water quality is suspect. Now we have ways to preserve juice and plentiful safe water .... but we still brew.
Then, just as it is now, people cared about the quality of their brews. It was much harder to get good quality back then so paying attention to detail was important. The combination and concentration of flavours isn't a coincidence, neither is stuff like leaving the skins on. These old time brews are great if made wellI make it cos I like this tradition, and because it makes a cracking wine if done well. Of course my recipe is a little tweaked thanks to many of the advances that passed decades have brought. It's also a great seasonal (winter) wine. You will be able to knock people down with a feather when you tell them what it's made from - even the ponces who are scornful!
I followed pretty much the recipe that I used when I made this brew last year. But here is a full recipe and method cos I have some new piccies.
Ingredients for 3 gallons
3.7 Kg Parsnips
3 Kg (approx) Sugar (OG 1080 -1090)
2 Lemons, juice and zest
1.25 Oz Root Ginger (bit less than last year so ...
0.75 Oz Crystallised Ginger (to make up the shortage in root ginger)
3 Teaspoons Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets
Yeast Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast
Water to 3 Gallons
Method
Wash and thoroughly scrub the parsnips but don't peel them, you'll be thankful of the save effort cos there's plenty of them ...
This picture is only half of them and that's a gallon pan. If you put to many in one pan they're much more prone to mush up. About half way through cooking very gently stir them, just enough to flip some of the top ones or bring some from lower down up to the surface.
Simmering took 30 mins but check them frequently, they are done just before they start to split in the middle, so if they split quickly proceed to the next step. You should have a clear, almost colourless, liquid and intact parsnip slices so pour the juice through a colander into your fermenting bin.
You now have lots of un-needed cooked parsnips that you can mash or roast. Boil up 2 Kg of sugar in plenty of water and add that the fermenting bin too.
Bruise and coarsely chop the ginger, zest the lemons (no pith), put in a muslin bag and tie it up. Add to the fermenting bin and allow to cool (covered) for a few hours then add citric acid, tartaric acid and enzyme and crushed campden tablets.
Here's the lot. Just to the left of the lemons is a little pile of pith. This was on the inside of the skin when I zested with a potato peeler. You really don't want pith in your wine, it'll make the wine too bitter. A sharp knife deals with it easily, a blunt knife will likely make it a painful chore. Cover and leave overnight then add yeast, nutrient and top up to 3 gallons with sugar solution to get your desired gravity. Stir daily for 7-10 days, remove the zest and ginger, then transfer to DJ's and thereafter rack, top-up, degas, stabilise etc when appropriate.
This should clear with no problems in a couple of months or less, but if not then chitin based finings work well. Gelatin finings don't seem to do it. I've never needed to use a starch enzyme, but if you want to then I'm sure it won't do any harm ... I don't know whether pectolase is needed but I keep using it anyway!
Some Thoughts
My last batch of this had an OG of 1086, and ended up being about 12.5% ABV. It's dry, a little zesty and gingery, the parsnip seems to lend a very slight earthy, grassy and maybe even radish notes! Make it well and this will be ready to drink after only 4-5 months, but will seriously improve if you give it 8-12.
Many wine-makers are seriously scornful of parsnip wine, and wine made from other root vegetables. But if you are interested in keeping old traditions going, even with a modern twist, then pay no attention. Go for it. Their suggestions to leave out the parsnips and use grape juice/concentrate instead may make a wine they prefer, but they are not you, and they don't know why you make it. They may say that using parsnips came from a time when good quality sugar was scarce or too expensive, and that now there is no point in making it. But then again brewing is simply an old way of preserving juices and having a safe drink when water quality is suspect. Now we have ways to preserve juice and plentiful safe water .... but we still brew.
Then, just as it is now, people cared about the quality of their brews. It was much harder to get good quality back then so paying attention to detail was important. The combination and concentration of flavours isn't a coincidence, neither is stuff like leaving the skins on. These old time brews are great if made wellI make it cos I like this tradition, and because it makes a cracking wine if done well. Of course my recipe is a little tweaked thanks to many of the advances that passed decades have brought. It's also a great seasonal (winter) wine. You will be able to knock people down with a feather when you tell them what it's made from - even the ponces who are scornful!
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Bottle Shortage
So I wanted to bottle a couple of gallons of wine tonight, but when I checked I only had 11 empty bottles and I didn't fancy drinking a bottle with the tail end of a cold. So I just bottled one gallon of Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé.
Tomorrow I should have another empty so I can bottle a gallon of Green Tea & Ginger. I also hope to start a few gallons of Tanglefoot.
Tomorrow I should have another empty so I can bottle a gallon of Green Tea & Ginger. I also hope to start a few gallons of Tanglefoot.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Busy Times & a Cold
Grrrrrr, got another cold and having felt it coming on for a few days I've been reluctant to get out into the cold and find some bottles. So now I'm short on bottles and have a long list of folks I want to give bottles of wine to for xmas.
Still I managed to get some done last night. The delicious Orange dessert wine was at it's end, only a half sized demi-john, a mere 3 bottles. Blending with Elderflower wine worked well earlier this year, so I repeated that and the result is 6 bottles of very tasty dessert wine @ 12.6% ABV. So two lucky folks are getting a bottle each. That left 3 bottles of Elderflower wine @ 11% ABV. This is the Elderflower version brewed the more traditional way with lots of flowers added at primary stage of fermentation. I think I still prefer the result of this method, rather than a quickie method. 'Tho there really isn't much difference in quality.
If I feel a little better later on I'll bottle some more of the uber Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé for gifts. Then I'll have to find some empties.
Apologies for the gaps in posting this last month, normal activity levels will return next year .... I need to make big batches of Orange wine, Tanglefoot and Green Tea & Ginger ... All of which means lots of good piccies and more as these are very hands on wines to make. Lot's of chopping, squeezing, peeling, zesting, simmering, steeping, muslin bags etc etc.
Still I managed to get some done last night. The delicious Orange dessert wine was at it's end, only a half sized demi-john, a mere 3 bottles. Blending with Elderflower wine worked well earlier this year, so I repeated that and the result is 6 bottles of very tasty dessert wine @ 12.6% ABV. So two lucky folks are getting a bottle each. That left 3 bottles of Elderflower wine @ 11% ABV. This is the Elderflower version brewed the more traditional way with lots of flowers added at primary stage of fermentation. I think I still prefer the result of this method, rather than a quickie method. 'Tho there really isn't much difference in quality.
If I feel a little better later on I'll bottle some more of the uber Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé for gifts. Then I'll have to find some empties.
Apologies for the gaps in posting this last month, normal activity levels will return next year .... I need to make big batches of Orange wine, Tanglefoot and Green Tea & Ginger ... All of which means lots of good piccies and more as these are very hands on wines to make. Lot's of chopping, squeezing, peeling, zesting, simmering, steeping, muslin bags etc etc.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Simply Bottling
Tonight the little flurry of activity continued with bottling a gallon of the mightily impressive Blueberry & Cranberry Quickie Rosé and a gallon of Young's definitive Blackberry Country Wine. The latter is medium and nicely fruity, the former a little drier and crisper. Personally I like the former better but there isn't much in it and probably boils down to a matter of taste. However, consider this .... the kit is 5 months old, the quickie is only 9 weeks old! Pricewise the quickie is way cheaper.
If I compare the kit to the Elderberry and Blackberry wines I made from foraged fruit then this is my conclusion. The foraged ones win out on quality but you have to wait longer for them. The kit will be as good as it gets within 2-3 months. The foraged wines will take longer. The full bodied red will need at least a year, but then you'll get something with a nice pucker, dryness, edge, body and some complexity. The kit in comparison is uncomplicated easy drinking (nothing wrong with that). The foraged wine made from a second run on the fruit is a little lighter all round, will be ready within a year, and if it's not a great big rosé then it'll be a red. Both foraged versions are way more effort, but way more rewarding too.
Got the time, the recipe, the know how and the passion? do it yourself, you won't regret it. Want a quick fix? get the kit, you won't regret that either. You pays your money and makes your choice, you're always a winner with home-brew.
If I compare the kit to the Elderberry and Blackberry wines I made from foraged fruit then this is my conclusion. The foraged ones win out on quality but you have to wait longer for them. The kit will be as good as it gets within 2-3 months. The foraged wines will take longer. The full bodied red will need at least a year, but then you'll get something with a nice pucker, dryness, edge, body and some complexity. The kit in comparison is uncomplicated easy drinking (nothing wrong with that). The foraged wine made from a second run on the fruit is a little lighter all round, will be ready within a year, and if it's not a great big rosé then it'll be a red. Both foraged versions are way more effort, but way more rewarding too.
Got the time, the recipe, the know how and the passion? do it yourself, you won't regret it. Want a quick fix? get the kit, you won't regret that either. You pays your money and makes your choice, you're always a winner with home-brew.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Vieux Chateau Du Roi
Well it's been a long time coming but finally it's happened. Way back in the summer I bought this Beaverdale kit. It's meant to be the nearest thing you can get to a Chateau Neuf Du Pape and many home-brewers rate it highly. I tried my first ever kit wine based on other home-brewers recommendations. That kit was a Beaverdale Shiraz and it did not disappoint. Beaverdale are mid price-range kits, so it's gonna cost you a couple of pounds (sterling) per bottle, but if you follow the instructions then you'll get something worth 3, 4 or more times that price. How long you wait is up to you but from 6 months old they are good!
So here's a piccie of the box it comes in and everything in the kit.
The demi-john and airlock are not included with the kit. And here's a close up of the various sachets.
2 for clearing agents (clear sachets), oak chips, yeast and stabilisers. Those and the grape juice is all you need, no added sugar, just water.
Follow the instructions and you're laughing cos within minutes you'll have something like this
whoaaa, hold on, now that frothy head isn't a super bionic instantly activating yeast getting going. That came about from giving it all a good shake to mix the grape concentrate with the water. If you don't then you'll get poor mixing meaning layers of concentrate and diluted juice in the demi-john. This will make for a problematic ferment. If you look closely at the picture you'll see the oak chips on the head. It all got a good mix again when the yeast went in.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The Usual Processes
Tonight, more degassing and stabilising. The Muscat Grape Wine was very slowly clearing while I was busy with other things. Tonight I had some time so gave it a glance and decided to rack and degas it. Plenty of gas came out, as you can see from the piccie below. I split the 2 gallons and degassed half a gallon at a time. Just quicker and easier that way.
While I was siphoning I stole a taste, wow, it tastes like the grapes that it was made from and is pretty dry! However it's also very sharp. Perhaps not surprising given that it's very young still and all the grapes were not properly ripe. If you remember the wine was not made with pure juice, rather with diluted juice and just as well! - It's easier to make a light wine than a big wine, and if something is likely to be out of balance then this is a good way to make corrections manageable, but also keep the character of your ingredients. Anyway, after degassing it should be a little less acidic, tho maybe not enough to be noticeable. I am very hopeful for this wine tho, it's still very early days, the taste of the grapes is wonderful, and the only fault is that it's not quite balanced because clarity will come.
The plan then is to stabilise it (additions of metabisulphate and sorbate) then leave it to clear, rack again and then leave it for some time to mellow. If it remains sharp I'll try shoving it outside. Hopefully the cold will cause some tartaric acid to drop out of solution and crystallise, then I'll rack it off the crystals and hey presto acid content is reduced and so is sharpness. If that doesn't work then a little sweetening will bring it all into balance.
While I was siphoning I stole a taste, wow, it tastes like the grapes that it was made from and is pretty dry! However it's also very sharp. Perhaps not surprising given that it's very young still and all the grapes were not properly ripe. If you remember the wine was not made with pure juice, rather with diluted juice and just as well! - It's easier to make a light wine than a big wine, and if something is likely to be out of balance then this is a good way to make corrections manageable, but also keep the character of your ingredients. Anyway, after degassing it should be a little less acidic, tho maybe not enough to be noticeable. I am very hopeful for this wine tho, it's still very early days, the taste of the grapes is wonderful, and the only fault is that it's not quite balanced because clarity will come.
The plan then is to stabilise it (additions of metabisulphate and sorbate) then leave it to clear, rack again and then leave it for some time to mellow. If it remains sharp I'll try shoving it outside. Hopefully the cold will cause some tartaric acid to drop out of solution and crystallise, then I'll rack it off the crystals and hey presto acid content is reduced and so is sharpness. If that doesn't work then a little sweetening will bring it all into balance.
Been a Little Busy
Yikes, it's almost 2 weeks since I posted! But I have been doing bits and pieces, such as bottling more Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé because it's going down so well that we keep creating empties. So here is a gratuitous piccie of bottles of said Rosé.
Lots of screw tops because this wine doesn't get a chance to age in bottles. So no point wasting corks, simply re-use those screw tops time and time again. It's a nice colour eh, and we're now down to our last 8 gallons! Thanks also to the folks who took the time to write and tell me they have taken the plunge and have some 3 gallons of this on the go. You know who you are.
Lots of screw tops because this wine doesn't get a chance to age in bottles. So no point wasting corks, simply re-use those screw tops time and time again. It's a nice colour eh, and we're now down to our last 8 gallons! Thanks also to the folks who took the time to write and tell me they have taken the plunge and have some 3 gallons of this on the go. You know who you are.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
More Racking and Degassing
Late last night I squeezed in a little more brewing activity and racked the next 5 gallon batch of Blueberry & Cranberry. Started degassing it too. Busy times!
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Racking and Degassing
A day in the brewery that feels like an immense amount has been achieved. Well moving 30 bottles of wine one step closer to imminent drinking would do eh!
So this is the 5 gallon batch of Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé, today I racked it and started degassing it by swirling and rocking each DJ. It's a funny thing but it gives me a nice connection to my wine, I always want to call it "burping the baby". Place the DJ in your lap and swirl/rock it while you watch the dissolved gasses (mostly CO2) come out of solution and bubble up through the airlock. This is what the end of 4 degassing sessions, on 5 DJ's, looks like. I love the colour and clarity of this wine and it's not even 8 weeks since it was started. Tastes fine too! But will need more degassing yet before stabilising and bottling.
and this is what it looks like the moment you stop the burping
You'll get a "head" on your wine each time you do this for some time. But it is worth it, the wine will be still. If you don't it'll have a slight fizz (I think the poncey term is frizz). Personally I quite like it, but if folk are not expecting it then they'll either be suspicious of your abilities, or if they are wine competition types then they'll tell you it's a fault and "mark you down" for it.
I kinda see what "they" are aiming for. There is nothing bad about wine with this frizz, it's just not fashionable in those circles. But once upon a time new world wine was sneered at too. Fashions change, whether you're in the inner circle or not. But I think I'm a bit of an odd-ball brewer anyway. I choose my yeast to suit my preferences (low foaming and extra esters). And also to suit the conditions; rather than change the conditions (temperature with a heating belt/mat for example) to suit yeast. I avoid all finings if at all possible and prefer to wait. I have never filtered. I haven't failed to clear a bottle of wine for a few hundred bottles but if offered cloudy or hazy homebrew I'll drink it as long as it tastes right. And I won't sneer at it either. Cos I love home-brewing and as long as you keep it a pleasure then you will too.
So if you're starting out, or still pretty new to it all, then take it slow and easy, don't fret about the small stuff, you'll still love drinking what you made. And by the time you know enough to make "improvements" then you will have given your senses something out of the ordinary. So then you can decide whether or not you want to change it. There's nothing wrong with making a generic wine, and it's easy enough to do, there's plenty of step by step recipes for those wines on the web. But making something unique and quality, well that's special.
Was that a rant?
So this is the 5 gallon batch of Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé, today I racked it and started degassing it by swirling and rocking each DJ. It's a funny thing but it gives me a nice connection to my wine, I always want to call it "burping the baby". Place the DJ in your lap and swirl/rock it while you watch the dissolved gasses (mostly CO2) come out of solution and bubble up through the airlock. This is what the end of 4 degassing sessions, on 5 DJ's, looks like. I love the colour and clarity of this wine and it's not even 8 weeks since it was started. Tastes fine too! But will need more degassing yet before stabilising and bottling.
and this is what it looks like the moment you stop the burping
You'll get a "head" on your wine each time you do this for some time. But it is worth it, the wine will be still. If you don't it'll have a slight fizz (I think the poncey term is frizz). Personally I quite like it, but if folk are not expecting it then they'll either be suspicious of your abilities, or if they are wine competition types then they'll tell you it's a fault and "mark you down" for it.
I kinda see what "they" are aiming for. There is nothing bad about wine with this frizz, it's just not fashionable in those circles. But once upon a time new world wine was sneered at too. Fashions change, whether you're in the inner circle or not. But I think I'm a bit of an odd-ball brewer anyway. I choose my yeast to suit my preferences (low foaming and extra esters). And also to suit the conditions; rather than change the conditions (temperature with a heating belt/mat for example) to suit yeast. I avoid all finings if at all possible and prefer to wait. I have never filtered. I haven't failed to clear a bottle of wine for a few hundred bottles but if offered cloudy or hazy homebrew I'll drink it as long as it tastes right. And I won't sneer at it either. Cos I love home-brewing and as long as you keep it a pleasure then you will too.
So if you're starting out, or still pretty new to it all, then take it slow and easy, don't fret about the small stuff, you'll still love drinking what you made. And by the time you know enough to make "improvements" then you will have given your senses something out of the ordinary. So then you can decide whether or not you want to change it. There's nothing wrong with making a generic wine, and it's easy enough to do, there's plenty of step by step recipes for those wines on the web. But making something unique and quality, well that's special.
Was that a rant?
Monday, 15 November 2010
Bottling Again
Tonight I'm emptying demi-johns cos I need 6 empties. Tonight's effort will get the total up to 5. So it was decision time and this is what I went for
1 gallon of Elderberry & Blackberry wine. Started August 2009. My hunch was that this would be best left for around another year due to the elderberry content, but best does not always mean that it isn't just fine a little early, and curiosity got the better of me, especially as I have 3 gallons of it! So the verdict is really quite yummy! It's a bit like the commercial Rioja (2007) that we opened last night. Tho it is a bit lighter coming in at 12.4% ABV compared to 13.5% for the Rioja. It's a little velvety, plenty of body, fruity, a little astringent, medium/dry. If I called it "Rioja light" then I think that would be fair enough. Happy? YEAH! It's a proper red and for a country wine that means you don't have the abundance of options that homebrewers have for whites and rosés. I don't make many reds and I'll make this again!
1 gallon of the 2010 Quickie Elderflower. This is the last of the 5 gallon batch. It's very pleasant table wine. If you get on with Elderflowers then it's the business. Certainly done the job well of be something we can quaff while we wait for the good stuff to age. And the good stuff (3 gallons of it) hasn't been touched as a result.
1 gallon of 2009 Blackberry, from the brambles in the garden. A big rosé that I love. It's one of my favourite homebrews. Great flavour and feel and throw in foraging for free ingredients, top notch fun quality homebrewing. I just noticed while searching for the link, that I haven't written this one up. So I'll get onto that. In my opinion it's a must for the homebrewer who has blackberries around and about. A wild bramble will make sharper wine unless you pick very fussily, but neverthless it's still good stuff. Cultivate a bramble tho and it'll have less fruit to support, which means bigger fruits, more sugar flavour etc.
No piccies today, sorry, hic ;-)
1 gallon of Elderberry & Blackberry wine. Started August 2009. My hunch was that this would be best left for around another year due to the elderberry content, but best does not always mean that it isn't just fine a little early, and curiosity got the better of me, especially as I have 3 gallons of it! So the verdict is really quite yummy! It's a bit like the commercial Rioja (2007) that we opened last night. Tho it is a bit lighter coming in at 12.4% ABV compared to 13.5% for the Rioja. It's a little velvety, plenty of body, fruity, a little astringent, medium/dry. If I called it "Rioja light" then I think that would be fair enough. Happy? YEAH! It's a proper red and for a country wine that means you don't have the abundance of options that homebrewers have for whites and rosés. I don't make many reds and I'll make this again!
1 gallon of the 2010 Quickie Elderflower. This is the last of the 5 gallon batch. It's very pleasant table wine. If you get on with Elderflowers then it's the business. Certainly done the job well of be something we can quaff while we wait for the good stuff to age. And the good stuff (3 gallons of it) hasn't been touched as a result.
1 gallon of 2009 Blackberry, from the brambles in the garden. A big rosé that I love. It's one of my favourite homebrews. Great flavour and feel and throw in foraging for free ingredients, top notch fun quality homebrewing. I just noticed while searching for the link, that I haven't written this one up. So I'll get onto that. In my opinion it's a must for the homebrewer who has blackberries around and about. A wild bramble will make sharper wine unless you pick very fussily, but neverthless it's still good stuff. Cultivate a bramble tho and it'll have less fruit to support, which means bigger fruits, more sugar flavour etc.
No piccies today, sorry, hic ;-)
Monday, 8 November 2010
Fast Ferment
When I moved the Muscat wine from primary to secondary it seemed to have done it's usual and momentarily stopped pushing gases through the airlock. However next morning it was the same, very very slow. I added a pinch of nutrient to each DJ to see if there was any change. Two days later, no change. I was wondering if I had my first ever stuck ferment and the thick layer of sediment also urged me on. So I racked it and in doing so got a sip. That was informative, this taster was NOT sweet! So I measured the gravity, 1001. Wowzer, that was a fast ferment, especially in a cool house. Far too soon to guess at the wine's final qualities, it's pretty sour but there are no off tastes.
Now it's back to the familiar routine of waiting patiently for a sediment and the start of clearing, then racking, degassing and stabilising. I expect it'll drop a few points in gravity in the next few weeks.
The moral of the story: DON'T PANIC
Now it's back to the familiar routine of waiting patiently for a sediment and the start of clearing, then racking, degassing and stabilising. I expect it'll drop a few points in gravity in the next few weeks.
The moral of the story: DON'T PANIC
Friday, 5 November 2010
Primary to Secondary
Piccie time!
Tonight I moved the Muscat (grape) Wine to Demi-johns. Still amazes me that these smelly, dirty dishwater coloured, cloudy liquids turn into delicious wines.
Bottling Woohoo
Last night I kept up the steady progress and bottled 3 gallons of rosés, 2 gallons of Oaked Rosé discussed in the previous entry and 1 gallon of Cheapskate Rosé Light. Tonight myself, Mrs Critter Wines and a friend did the taste test; they taste very similar. Our friend couldn't tell the difference. Us critters thought the cheapskate was a little sharper or more acidic. Neither better nor worse, just a little different. And because you keep reading my blog here's a very boring picture of most of the bottles!
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Would You Believe ... More Racking
Just managing to keep up with my aim of racking and bottling daily for a few days. Late last night I pulled out some DJ's to see which were ripe for racking. Found the oaked rosés and got cracking. I have a bit of a cold/flu thing lingering so the taste buds and nose haven't got back to their usual raggedy best yet but they are not far off. But wow did I get a surprise!
I formulated the recipe myself, which was exciting and a timely challenge having never done so before. Usually I take an existing recipe and tweak it to my tastes. But these were my own, not saying no-one has done anything like it before of course, the recipe is simple enough.
Anyway, the wines have a great feel in the mouth, a level of astringency that compliments the acidity, infact I think it would be fair to say the balance altogether is spot on. I can't discern the oak flavours tho. Possibly it's because I'm not accustomed to it and don't know what to "look" for. Possibly because of the tail end of that cold/flu thing. Both acids work well and the difference between the wines is only marginal. One a little fruitier, the other a little crisper, a good comparative experiment to have done in the long journey of educating myself on wine-making.
I wouldn't say it's the best wine I've ever made, but there may have been no better. It all comes down to your mood and setting I reckon. So if you have never played with brewers oak chips then i heartily recommend this wine when you feel experimental, especially if you like to keep the whole process simple (wines from cartons of juice).
I formulated the recipe myself, which was exciting and a timely challenge having never done so before. Usually I take an existing recipe and tweak it to my tastes. But these were my own, not saying no-one has done anything like it before of course, the recipe is simple enough.
Anyway, the wines have a great feel in the mouth, a level of astringency that compliments the acidity, infact I think it would be fair to say the balance altogether is spot on. I can't discern the oak flavours tho. Possibly it's because I'm not accustomed to it and don't know what to "look" for. Possibly because of the tail end of that cold/flu thing. Both acids work well and the difference between the wines is only marginal. One a little fruitier, the other a little crisper, a good comparative experiment to have done in the long journey of educating myself on wine-making.
I wouldn't say it's the best wine I've ever made, but there may have been no better. It all comes down to your mood and setting I reckon. So if you have never played with brewers oak chips then i heartily recommend this wine when you feel experimental, especially if you like to keep the whole process simple (wines from cartons of juice).
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Racking Again
I'm hopeful that in between other things I can do some racking and bottling over the next few days. Last night I started with 3 gallons of Elderflower wine. This batch the one made traditionally, that is to say not a quickie brew. Should be ready to drink in the near future. Which is a good thing as I need empty DJs now!
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Grape Wine is .... GO!
Yes, the grape wine has taken off and is fermenting busily now. It's always a bit of a relief with a new brew; that spell of time from pitching the yeast to a vigorous ferment starting is crucial. Such a nutritious broth is heaven for so many things and it's a nervy time waiting for the yeast to dominate.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
White Grape (Muscat) Wine - Recipe
OK, so its 48 hours since I plucked the grapes from their stems and put them in my primary fermenting vessel with campden. Today I got the brew going for real and here comes the recipe, method and some piccies!
7.8 Kg Muscat Grapes (white)
2 Campden Tablets
1 Kg sugar
1 Teaspoon Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
1 Teaspoon Nutrivin (Nutrient)
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
Yeast, GV5
OG 1075
1. See previous post for piccies. Pick the grapes from your friendly neighbour's vine, with their permission of course, and pledge some wine in return. Take them off their stems, wash them, and drop into the fermenting bin. Dissolve 2 crushed campden tablets in water, add to fermenting bin, add water to cover the grapes (took 1 gallon). Snap on the lid and leave for 48 hours.
2. Two days have now passed. Remove about 1 litres worth of grapes, place in a nylon bag and squeeze the juice out, measure the gravity of the juice. Was 1047. This is low, ideally you want something significantly higher, but you can expect to have to add sugar to grapes grown in the UK. This is especially true of a vine that has been left to its own devices. There's way too many grapes on it really. The juice tasted delicious by the way, very fruity, quite sharp, even pineapple like flavours. A shop bought grape juice is usually around 1070 with no added sugar.
3. Continue pressing all the grapes in this way. Keep the pressed skins. Meanwhile dissolve 1kg of sugar in some of the water that the grapes have been soaking in.
4. When you're done with that put the grape skins into a couple of muslin bags, dissolve the nutrient, acids and enzyme in some grape juice, throw all the ingredients (except the yeast) into the fermenting bin. Give it a good sloshy stir, add the bagged skins, pitch the yeast, cover and leave it. Stir daily, sloshily, for the next week. Then treat it as any other wine, probably removing the skins after about a week (easy job cos they're in bags!).
I've used GV5 yeast because it ferments down to 8'C, and is very happy at cool temperatures which is what you want for a good bouquet in white wines. My brewing area is unheated and is currently at 17'C. It's also low foaming.
I've heard it said that the flavour of the wine mainly comes from the skins. Of course also tannins. With those thoughts in mind I'm leaving the skins in for a week, they do taste good! I want this wine to be quite astringent and flavourful.
It's quite amazing how fast those bright green grapes turn brown while you press them. Likewise the juice. Don't be alarmed tho, there is little you can do about it, perhaps try adding an anti-oxidant like vitamin C if you want.
Recipe (2 gallons)
7.8 Kg Muscat Grapes (white)
2 Campden Tablets
1 Kg sugar
1 Teaspoon Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
1 Teaspoon Nutrivin (Nutrient)
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
Yeast, GV5
OG 1075
Method
1. See previous post for piccies. Pick the grapes from your friendly neighbour's vine, with their permission of course, and pledge some wine in return. Take them off their stems, wash them, and drop into the fermenting bin. Dissolve 2 crushed campden tablets in water, add to fermenting bin, add water to cover the grapes (took 1 gallon). Snap on the lid and leave for 48 hours.
2. Two days have now passed. Remove about 1 litres worth of grapes, place in a nylon bag and squeeze the juice out, measure the gravity of the juice. Was 1047. This is low, ideally you want something significantly higher, but you can expect to have to add sugar to grapes grown in the UK. This is especially true of a vine that has been left to its own devices. There's way too many grapes on it really. The juice tasted delicious by the way, very fruity, quite sharp, even pineapple like flavours. A shop bought grape juice is usually around 1070 with no added sugar.
3. Continue pressing all the grapes in this way. Keep the pressed skins. Meanwhile dissolve 1kg of sugar in some of the water that the grapes have been soaking in.
4. When you're done with that put the grape skins into a couple of muslin bags, dissolve the nutrient, acids and enzyme in some grape juice, throw all the ingredients (except the yeast) into the fermenting bin. Give it a good sloshy stir, add the bagged skins, pitch the yeast, cover and leave it. Stir daily, sloshily, for the next week. Then treat it as any other wine, probably removing the skins after about a week (easy job cos they're in bags!).
Other Thoughts
I've used GV5 yeast because it ferments down to 8'C, and is very happy at cool temperatures which is what you want for a good bouquet in white wines. My brewing area is unheated and is currently at 17'C. It's also low foaming.
I've heard it said that the flavour of the wine mainly comes from the skins. Of course also tannins. With those thoughts in mind I'm leaving the skins in for a week, they do taste good! I want this wine to be quite astringent and flavourful.
It's quite amazing how fast those bright green grapes turn brown while you press them. Likewise the juice. Don't be alarmed tho, there is little you can do about it, perhaps try adding an anti-oxidant like vitamin C if you want.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Making Wine from Grapes ... what!
Well its only taken me 20 something years but I've finally done it, started a batch of wine made from grapes! One of our wonderful neighbours has a vine and way too many grapes for their own purposes. So they said we could raid it whenever. This evening we went raiding and picked ourselves 7.8 kg (net weight) of grapes.
Here's some piccies
The first of two carrier bags, round about 4 kg, complete with stems at the mo.
The second carrier bag full after removing stems and washing
The whole lot in the fermenting bin, comes up to around the 3 gallon mark. 1 gallon of water (with 2 campden tablets in it) just covered them. So now the natural yeasts and other things we don't want, are being taken care of. Soon the crushing begins!
not sure how much wine this will make yet, gotta look up some recipes, I guess around 2 gallons tho. Stay tuned for the recipe and method I choose.
Here's some piccies
not sure how much wine this will make yet, gotta look up some recipes, I guess around 2 gallons tho. Stay tuned for the recipe and method I choose.
Friday, 22 October 2010
What's that Noise?
It's all quiet here at Critter Wines. A few days ago we heard the sound of continuously running water, switched off the mains supply, called out a plumber and since then have been without water except for about half an hour a day. Not ideal for brewing.
So you say why not get it sorted .... well it's not like we're not trying. Our major stumbling block is the insurance company who strongly advised us to get specialist insurance. They are called Homeserve and you might want to remember that name. When they were contacted their response was to start trouble shooting .... for a way out of their liability. Never mind their commitment to aim to get a plumber out within 2 hours, oh and the promise of up to £500 for accommodation should they be unable to fix the problem that day. They didn't even call back when they said they would! They have now cancelled the policy and sent a refund, and that's their last word on the matter.
Or so they think 'cos luckily there's a cool bunch of folks called the FSA, and we already have a complaint form from them to fill in so that they can take on our case. Stay tuned, 'cos brewing will resume.
So you say why not get it sorted .... well it's not like we're not trying. Our major stumbling block is the insurance company who strongly advised us to get specialist insurance. They are called Homeserve and you might want to remember that name. When they were contacted their response was to start trouble shooting .... for a way out of their liability. Never mind their commitment to aim to get a plumber out within 2 hours, oh and the promise of up to £500 for accommodation should they be unable to fix the problem that day. They didn't even call back when they said they would! They have now cancelled the policy and sent a refund, and that's their last word on the matter.
Or so they think 'cos luckily there's a cool bunch of folks called the FSA, and we already have a complaint form from them to fill in so that they can take on our case. Stay tuned, 'cos brewing will resume.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Critter Wines Goes Mobile
The picture shows the result of a couple of hours of effort (that's 24 bottles worth of wine)
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Still Shuffling
Yup, just shuffling 5 gallon batches around again. This time the 2nd batch of Cranberry & Blueberry from the primary to the secondary fermentation vessel
Monday, 11 October 2010
More Shuffling About
I'm having great fun trying to operate my little winery at full capacity. Today I moved 5 gallons of Blueberry & Cranberry wine to DJ's (from a 5 gallon fermenting vessel). Well I thought it was 5 gallons but actually turned out to be 4 and a bit. It looked like it was about 2 litres short of a full 5 gallons.
So I have made one gallon into a "special". As its a light wine anyway I decided not to top up with a sugar solution alone as this would risk making the wine too thin. So I used a litre of white grape juice (gravity 1070) and a litre of sugar solution (gravity 1090). The result is that the wine will retain it's OG of 1080 ish. I thought any little adjustment after that could be made with water alone ... but it turned out that exactly 2 litres of liquid was needed!
So next time you see "special" or "limited edition" on a bottle you might wonder a little more than you did before ;-)
I'll be playing with next 5 gallon batch of the same wine tomorrow.
So I have made one gallon into a "special". As its a light wine anyway I decided not to top up with a sugar solution alone as this would risk making the wine too thin. So I used a litre of white grape juice (gravity 1070) and a litre of sugar solution (gravity 1090). The result is that the wine will retain it's OG of 1080 ish. I thought any little adjustment after that could be made with water alone ... but it turned out that exactly 2 litres of liquid was needed!
So next time you see "special" or "limited edition" on a bottle you might wonder a little more than you did before ;-)
I'll be playing with next 5 gallon batch of the same wine tomorrow.
Monday, 4 October 2010
Juggling 10 gallons
So the Blueberry & Cranberry wine was ready to move to secondary fermentation (under airlock). Which meant that I had a 5 gallon fermenting bin empty. No time like the present eh .... immediately started the next 5 gallon batch of the same wine.
AND I took pictures!
And this is the new 5 gallon batch (not quite topped up to the 5 gallon mark yet), the picture taken seconds after pitching the yeast (that's it floating on the top).
AND I took pictures!
Funny perspective in this piccie. This is siphoning from the primary FV (on the stool) to the secondary FV (on the floor). The latter actually holds more.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Time Lag ....
I did get around to bottling a couple of nights ago. 2 Gallons of Elderflower Wine. Both quickies. And a gallon of the Cranberry & Blueberry Rosé. So now I have 6 empty DJ's, perfect for dealing with the 5 gallons of Blueberry & Cranberry rosé that I started a few days ago ... and having one spare for racking.
I didn't take any piccies tho ... sorry. so here is one I took in our garden last year
I didn't take any piccies tho ... sorry. so here is one I took in our garden last year
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
All Systems Go
I've just added a search gadget to my blog, so I hope it helps you to find what you're looking for.
On the winemaking front ... the Blueberry & Cranberry rosé has got going.
I do like taking the lid off a 5 gallon fermenting bin and seeing it full!
So lots of stirring for a few days and I really should get on with some bottling and racking too. And taking piccies, it's been a few posts and I know piccies brighten up a blog.
On the winemaking front ... the Blueberry & Cranberry rosé has got going.
I do like taking the lid off a 5 gallon fermenting bin and seeing it full!
So lots of stirring for a few days and I really should get on with some bottling and racking too. And taking piccies, it's been a few posts and I know piccies brighten up a blog.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Just Can't Get Enough
Well that Blueberry & Cranberry quickie wine is just delicious and I can't get enough of it, so started another 5 gallons today. What's more I didn't try to improve it 'cos I reckon that's a waste of time. 6-8 weeks time and it'll be getting enjoyed.
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Stabilising and Topping up
After a few days of degassing I've just stabilised and topped up each of the 5 gallons of blackberry wine. Time to forget about them for some time ... maybe time to bottle some of last years
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Drinking Tonight
Tonight's homebrew reflections are mostly about opening a bottle of Tanglefoot '09. It's so good it just makes me want to shout it from the rooftops. But I would still urge novices to give it a wide berth for some time as anything but utter attention on the 'snips will lead to disappointment.
On the more boring stuff ... I've been agitating DJ's of blackberry wine to degas them. It's almost done now, funny old thing sitting yourself down every time you pass the "brewery" - for 10 mins or so - shaking big bottles. The highlight of the day was definately the drinking ;-)
On the more boring stuff ... I've been agitating DJ's of blackberry wine to degas them. It's almost done now, funny old thing sitting yourself down every time you pass the "brewery" - for 10 mins or so - shaking big bottles. The highlight of the day was definately the drinking ;-)
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Racking Blackberry Wines
I've just racked 5 gallons of blackberry wine. These were two batches, one made with Sauternes yeast (my trusted favourite) and the other made with GV1 (a recommendation). I wanted to see what all the fuss is about so made them as identical as I could with the one exception of the yeast strain.
They have both pretty much cleared already, both were low foaming (so not messy), both thrown a similar amount of compact sediment too, and both took about the same time to ferment. Very similar all in all. The proof of the wine will be in the drinking which probably won't happen for some months yet. Tho I may sneak a glass when I bottle in a few months.
Next up will be degassing and stabilising. Shouldn't need any finings for either batch ... so vegan wines, good stuff!
They have both pretty much cleared already, both were low foaming (so not messy), both thrown a similar amount of compact sediment too, and both took about the same time to ferment. Very similar all in all. The proof of the wine will be in the drinking which probably won't happen for some months yet. Tho I may sneak a glass when I bottle in a few months.
Next up will be degassing and stabilising. Shouldn't need any finings for either batch ... so vegan wines, good stuff!
Friday, 17 September 2010
Fining
I've been patient, but some wines I'm keen to try soon haven't cleared yet. So the finings had to come out. Which means I had to find 5 gallons of wine altogether otherwise I would be wasting some finings.
And the lucky wines were Original Elderflower (3 gallons) and Oaked Rosé (2 gallons)
The piccies are (L>R) Oaked Rosé (tartaric acid), Oaked Rosé (citric acid) and Cheapskate Rosé Light. Sorry about the grubby DJ's (the one on the left is very grubby which makes the wine look far more hazy than it actually is, it's only a little worse than the middle one in reality). So far the Cheapskate version is looking nice cos it doesn't need fining, but the most important thing by far is the taste. I'll post again with news of how fast they clear, and maybe even piccies too. No piccies for the Elderflower, believe me it's way cloudier, beyond a haze.
And the lucky wines were Original Elderflower (3 gallons) and Oaked Rosé (2 gallons)
The piccies are (L>R) Oaked Rosé (tartaric acid), Oaked Rosé (citric acid) and Cheapskate Rosé Light. Sorry about the grubby DJ's (the one on the left is very grubby which makes the wine look far more hazy than it actually is, it's only a little worse than the middle one in reality). So far the Cheapskate version is looking nice cos it doesn't need fining, but the most important thing by far is the taste. I'll post again with news of how fast they clear, and maybe even piccies too. No piccies for the Elderflower, believe me it's way cloudier, beyond a haze.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Welcome Aboard
Hi Acmejc and Robyn, thanks for hopping aboard, it's great to have you here.
I hope you find what you're looking for ... and more.
I hope you find what you're looking for ... and more.
Bottling Done
Woohoo, got my bum into gear and bottled 2 gallons of Blueberry & Cranberry Wine. Jolly nice it is too. Best of the quickies I have made so far. Unlike the pineapple it doesn't give me a bad head, and unlike the pomegranate (which is delicious) it was ready quickly.
As you can see there was a bit of a bottle shortage so its a motley collection of glass and plastic in various sizes. Not really much of a problem as this is wine to consumed soon. So we'll start with the part full bottle and then the plastic bottles which leaves about 5 proper, full-sized, corked, wine bottles which will be laid down on the wine rack.
As you can see there was a bit of a bottle shortage so its a motley collection of glass and plastic in various sizes. Not really much of a problem as this is wine to consumed soon. So we'll start with the part full bottle and then the plastic bottles which leaves about 5 proper, full-sized, corked, wine bottles which will be laid down on the wine rack.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Time Flies
.... g' grief time flies, I must bottle that Bleuberry & Cranberry as a week has passed and the weekend is nigh!
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Racking etc
Have you missed me?
Sorry about going all quiet on you ... I've been away at a festival, Shambala, and jolly good it was too. Tho we expected that 'cos we've been before.
Anyway, onto wine-making talk. The Blueberry & Cranberry quickie wine is now about 5 weeks old. It's stopped fermenting, dropped a sediment and is beautifully clear. So it was time to rack, degas, top-up, and stabilise all 3 gallons. It should be ready to drink and bottle in a week, which is exactly what you want from a quickie wine. The sneak taste I got at racking was very pleasant, if a little sharp (but only a little). These wines tend to do their aging quite quickly, so what you may notice in months in another wine, could happen in weeks with these. Tho obviously they won't turn into vintage wine, they are meant to be table wines that are cheap, quick and easy to brew.
The astute amongst you may have noticed that these are not full; the piccie was taken at the degassing stage.... and also that there are 4 DJs in the picture. The furthest away contains a kit wine I bought by mistake. I meant to get Blackcherry, and got Blackberry instead. Bit annoying cos I can pick heaps of blackberries here but blackcherries are another matter! Anyway it's also about 5 weeks old and had stopped fermenting and dropped a sediment. So it got racked, degassed, topped-up, stabilised and had finings added (they come with the kit so no point wasting them). Tastes fine already, so not too annoying as it wasn't very expensive at all, less than £1.00 per bottle.
Sorry about going all quiet on you ... I've been away at a festival, Shambala, and jolly good it was too. Tho we expected that 'cos we've been before.
Anyway, onto wine-making talk. The Blueberry & Cranberry quickie wine is now about 5 weeks old. It's stopped fermenting, dropped a sediment and is beautifully clear. So it was time to rack, degas, top-up, and stabilise all 3 gallons. It should be ready to drink and bottle in a week, which is exactly what you want from a quickie wine. The sneak taste I got at racking was very pleasant, if a little sharp (but only a little). These wines tend to do their aging quite quickly, so what you may notice in months in another wine, could happen in weeks with these. Tho obviously they won't turn into vintage wine, they are meant to be table wines that are cheap, quick and easy to brew.
The astute amongst you may have noticed that these are not full; the piccie was taken at the degassing stage.... and also that there are 4 DJs in the picture. The furthest away contains a kit wine I bought by mistake. I meant to get Blackcherry, and got Blackberry instead. Bit annoying cos I can pick heaps of blackberries here but blackcherries are another matter! Anyway it's also about 5 weeks old and had stopped fermenting and dropped a sediment. So it got racked, degassed, topped-up, stabilised and had finings added (they come with the kit so no point wasting them). Tastes fine already, so not too annoying as it wasn't very expensive at all, less than £1.00 per bottle.
Thursday, 26 August 2010
200 Real Visits
thanks again to all you blog readers, followers and those who comment and tick boxes, ... we have got to 200, showing that 100 was no accident! I think the next milestone will be 500.
Blackberry Wine 2010 (2nd batch) con't ...
Just moved it to secondary fermenters under airlocks. Plenty left over for topping up after racking.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Recipe; Last Year's Blackberry Wine
Last year I made two Blackberry Wines. One from the canes in the garden (wild but cultivated by us). The other from foraged berries. This is the foraged version, tho strictly speaking it's not quite straight Blackberry as you'll see from the recipe 'cos it's got some Elderberries in it too.
3.45 Kg Blackberries
0.25 Kg Elderberries
2 Kg Sugar
2 Teaspoons acid blend*
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
2 Campden Tablets
Yeast Nutrient
Yeast; GV2 (red label)
* ratio of tartaric:citric:malic acids ... 2:2:1
OG 1088, FG 1000, 12% ABV
Day 1: Mash the fruit and put into fermenting bin, add 1/2 gallon of hot boiled water and 2 crushed campden tablets. Stir, cover and leave overnight.
Day 2: Dissolve the pectolase in a little water and add to the fermenting vessel. Stir, cover and leave overnight.
Day 3: Add all the other ingredients. Stir it all about very sloshily and splashy style to get plenty of air into the mix. Check gravity. Came out as 1088 which is fine for what I enjoy. Add the yeast. Cover.
For the next 5 days stir at least once daily, sloshily, then re-cover. After 5 days remove the fruit and move the must to secondary containers fitted with airlocks. A couple of weeks later it was racked and topped up. 2 months later it was racked again, degassed and stabilised. 2-3 months later it was degassed again, stabilised again, and the first gallon was bottled.
GV2 was not as easy to work with as I had hoped, it was quite messy and threw a bigger sediment than I'm used to. Which meant more topping up than usual. In honesty it probably wasn't the best yeast to use for this wine (despite being recommended by a forum). A better choice would have been something that reduces malic acid (blackberries have plenty of this and it can be harsh). Especially as I used some Malic acid in my acid addition. That was the result of trusting the method of choosing an acid based on a truly crappy and misleading table that many homebrewers swear by. Now I know better I have abandoned that table, alerted a forum or two of it's serious fault. What thanks .... well none, I was branded a trouble maker on one forum! I'd love to tell you the forum, but any publicity is good publicity and their response means I don't want to publicise them.
Anyway the wine is quite acidic, but it's a red so it can handle that. Its a little harsh but will probably soften with more time (now almost a year old). It's very fruity tho, and will be good stuff in time. The first mouthful is a bit hard to bear TBH. I have described the taste as a little bilious, but that description has always been challenged by others who have tried it. That's a good thing, but I still don't know how to describe it. Nevertheless after the first mouthful that unpleasant edge goes, and if you like your wines acidic then this is a hit. Based on the FG it should be medium/dry, but the acidity (and I think tannin in the fruit) makes it quite astringent so without paying full attention it's easy to judge it as dry.
Very much as an aside, despite 2 well separated degassing sessions, it wasn't fully degassed. The result is that the wine has a very slight frizz on the tongue. I quite enjoy this, even tho wine experts (and ponces too as they are not always the same thing) wouldn't. Mrs Critter Wines really enjoys a poorly degassed wine, and it's probably only the frizz in this wine that means she'll join me in a glass. So when you brew, if you like it then thats good enough. But if you want to win medals then you may have to make wines that you don't like as much, but will make judges happy (who get it free anyway cos you - the brewer - pay for the priviledge of giving your wine away to them). Me I would rather give it away to mates who will tell me what they think and not set it against some mainstream criteria for what a wine "should" taste, smell and feel like.
hehe ... that was quite a "ranty" post eh!
Recipe (2 Gallons)
3.45 Kg Blackberries
0.25 Kg Elderberries
2 Kg Sugar
2 Teaspoons acid blend*
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
2 Campden Tablets
Yeast Nutrient
Yeast; GV2 (red label)
* ratio of tartaric:citric:malic acids ... 2:2:1
OG 1088, FG 1000, 12% ABV
Method
Day 1: Mash the fruit and put into fermenting bin, add 1/2 gallon of hot boiled water and 2 crushed campden tablets. Stir, cover and leave overnight.
Day 2: Dissolve the pectolase in a little water and add to the fermenting vessel. Stir, cover and leave overnight.
Day 3: Add all the other ingredients. Stir it all about very sloshily and splashy style to get plenty of air into the mix. Check gravity. Came out as 1088 which is fine for what I enjoy. Add the yeast. Cover.
For the next 5 days stir at least once daily, sloshily, then re-cover. After 5 days remove the fruit and move the must to secondary containers fitted with airlocks. A couple of weeks later it was racked and topped up. 2 months later it was racked again, degassed and stabilised. 2-3 months later it was degassed again, stabilised again, and the first gallon was bottled.
Thoughts
GV2 was not as easy to work with as I had hoped, it was quite messy and threw a bigger sediment than I'm used to. Which meant more topping up than usual. In honesty it probably wasn't the best yeast to use for this wine (despite being recommended by a forum). A better choice would have been something that reduces malic acid (blackberries have plenty of this and it can be harsh). Especially as I used some Malic acid in my acid addition. That was the result of trusting the method of choosing an acid based on a truly crappy and misleading table that many homebrewers swear by. Now I know better I have abandoned that table, alerted a forum or two of it's serious fault. What thanks .... well none, I was branded a trouble maker on one forum! I'd love to tell you the forum, but any publicity is good publicity and their response means I don't want to publicise them.
Anyway the wine is quite acidic, but it's a red so it can handle that. Its a little harsh but will probably soften with more time (now almost a year old). It's very fruity tho, and will be good stuff in time. The first mouthful is a bit hard to bear TBH. I have described the taste as a little bilious, but that description has always been challenged by others who have tried it. That's a good thing, but I still don't know how to describe it. Nevertheless after the first mouthful that unpleasant edge goes, and if you like your wines acidic then this is a hit. Based on the FG it should be medium/dry, but the acidity (and I think tannin in the fruit) makes it quite astringent so without paying full attention it's easy to judge it as dry.
Very much as an aside, despite 2 well separated degassing sessions, it wasn't fully degassed. The result is that the wine has a very slight frizz on the tongue. I quite enjoy this, even tho wine experts (and ponces too as they are not always the same thing) wouldn't. Mrs Critter Wines really enjoys a poorly degassed wine, and it's probably only the frizz in this wine that means she'll join me in a glass. So when you brew, if you like it then thats good enough. But if you want to win medals then you may have to make wines that you don't like as much, but will make judges happy (who get it free anyway cos you - the brewer - pay for the priviledge of giving your wine away to them). Me I would rather give it away to mates who will tell me what they think and not set it against some mainstream criteria for what a wine "should" taste, smell and feel like.
hehe ... that was quite a "ranty" post eh!
Update May 2011
If you make this wine (wild fruit - so acidic -, this yeast and acid blend) then be prepared to give it 18 months for a superb result. Clicky here for more details on this update.
Bottling
In the never-ending struggle to free up Demi-Johns tonight I bottled 2 lots of wine. Which means I now have 4 empty DJ's (out of 30). Tomorrow I'll fill 3 of them up with the 2nd batch of this years blackberry wine. That'll leave one for racking purposes.
Anyway tonight I bottled Green Tea & Ginger Wine, and also the last of the blackberry wine that I made with foraged berries last year. The latter was fermented using GV2 yeast, a recommendation from a forum. And here is your piccie of the bottles, tomorrow the shrink necks go on and they get laid down. ('scuse the unpolished bottles).
Some months ago this was very acidic and a bit harsh. Perhaps not surprising as Blackberries are high in malic acid and GV2 isn't an acid reducing yeast (as far as I know anyway). Tonight it's a bit better, but not much. Apart from that its just fine, so its a case of carefully selecting what we drink it with I guess. Here's the recipe
The Green Tea & Ginger is the same great winner that we know and love.
Anyway tonight I bottled Green Tea & Ginger Wine, and also the last of the blackberry wine that I made with foraged berries last year. The latter was fermented using GV2 yeast, a recommendation from a forum. And here is your piccie of the bottles, tomorrow the shrink necks go on and they get laid down. ('scuse the unpolished bottles).
Some months ago this was very acidic and a bit harsh. Perhaps not surprising as Blackberries are high in malic acid and GV2 isn't an acid reducing yeast (as far as I know anyway). Tonight it's a bit better, but not much. Apart from that its just fine, so its a case of carefully selecting what we drink it with I guess. Here's the recipe
The Green Tea & Ginger is the same great winner that we know and love.
A Good Weekend
So it's been a bit quiet here eh! That's cos Critter Wines hit the road to say hi to some friends and meet some more. Of course we went with wine so here's a little summary of how it went down, and what went down. There were 6 of us.
Elderberry & Blackberry (2nd run)
This wine got the popular vote to be opened first. And it went down well, probably the 2nd favourite on the night. The fullest feedback was that it was very smooth and had little tannin or acid compared to a commercial red. That made it quite dangerous as it was very easy to drink, almost like alcoholic fruit juice!
Quickie Elderflower
The preferred choice of 2 friends, and form favourite of one who only tried a couple of others but was otherwise happy to enjoy this one for the whole night.
Orange & Hawthorn Blossom
This is the sweet strong dessert wine. Made from blending the Hawthorn Blossom and the Orange wine. It was the surprise favourite on the night. Raising some eyebrows, and compared to a liquer
Elderberry & Blackberry (2nd run)
This wine got the popular vote to be opened first. And it went down well, probably the 2nd favourite on the night. The fullest feedback was that it was very smooth and had little tannin or acid compared to a commercial red. That made it quite dangerous as it was very easy to drink, almost like alcoholic fruit juice!
Quickie Elderflower
The preferred choice of 2 friends, and form favourite of one who only tried a couple of others but was otherwise happy to enjoy this one for the whole night.
Orange & Hawthorn Blossom
This is the sweet strong dessert wine. Made from blending the Hawthorn Blossom and the Orange wine. It was the surprise favourite on the night. Raising some eyebrows, and compared to a liquer
Thursday, 19 August 2010
New Toy
Mrs Critter Wines bought me a gift. A cool bottle stopper, which is in use only a few hours since being passed to me. It's very dense and makes a seal, with the rubber 'O' ring due to its weight, simply by dropping it into an open bottle neck. Very elegant. Check it out ...
by the way the top is a carving of a gum nut. When I first saw it I wondered what the heck it was for cos it looked kind of useful ... pointed on one side, hollow at the other. But it's "just" a pretty thing from Australia, hence it has an Aussie connection. Gum nut wine anyone?
Recipe; Blackberry Wine 2010 (2nd batch)
Just finished making all the final additions to this 3 gallon batch ... and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards! So here's the info, like I said, very similar to the previous brew, mainly just a scale up and a yeast change. My favourite, Sauternes, so I'll be very interested to compare these 2 wines.
Recipe (3 Gallons)
4.9 Kg Blackberries
3 Kg Sugar
1.5 Teaspoon Citric Acid
2 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets (crushed)
Yeast Nutrient (Brupak)
Water to 3.8 Gallons (approx)
Yeast: Sauternes
OG came out as 1079
Wash then crush berries. Put into primary fermenting vessel. Add a couple of gallons of boiling water and 3 crushed Campden tablets and the pectolase. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for around 24 hours.
Next day stir again, to mix it, cover and leave 24 hours or so. Next day add all the other ingredients, give it a really good sloshy, splashy stir. Measure the gravity and then adjust with more sugar and or water to your OG range. Make the total volume considerably more than 3 gallons because when you remove the pulp you'll lose a lot, and then racking etc likewise. Then add the yeast and cover. If you have excess this is good for topping up at the racking stage, keep it in a bottle with an airlock (or something improvised like filter paper secired with a rubber band). Every day stir sloshily once or twice for the next few days. After 6 days of fermenting and stirring remove the fruit pulp (with a sieve), transfer the must to secondary fermenters and fit airlocks.
I won't be able to stir this for the 3rd and 4th days of primary fermentation. So hopefully all will be well. If I get plenty of air into the must over the next 36 hours then I reckon that will be enough to keep the yeast happy. So it will bud (reproduce) and make a big healthy colony. On the 5th day it'll get a stir. I expect the ferment to be a little slower than usual, but other than that I'm hopeful no harm will be done ... that's the theory anyway! Will move to secondary on the 6th (or 7th) day.
Progress report here
Recipe (3 Gallons)
4.9 Kg Blackberries
3 Kg Sugar
1.5 Teaspoon Citric Acid
2 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets (crushed)
Yeast Nutrient (Brupak)
Water to 3.8 Gallons (approx)
Yeast: Sauternes
OG came out as 1079
Method
Wash then crush berries. Put into primary fermenting vessel. Add a couple of gallons of boiling water and 3 crushed Campden tablets and the pectolase. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for around 24 hours.
Next day stir again, to mix it, cover and leave 24 hours or so. Next day add all the other ingredients, give it a really good sloshy, splashy stir. Measure the gravity and then adjust with more sugar and or water to your OG range. Make the total volume considerably more than 3 gallons because when you remove the pulp you'll lose a lot, and then racking etc likewise. Then add the yeast and cover. If you have excess this is good for topping up at the racking stage, keep it in a bottle with an airlock (or something improvised like filter paper secired with a rubber band). Every day stir sloshily once or twice for the next few days. After 6 days of fermenting and stirring remove the fruit pulp (with a sieve), transfer the must to secondary fermenters and fit airlocks.
Thoughts
I won't be able to stir this for the 3rd and 4th days of primary fermentation. So hopefully all will be well. If I get plenty of air into the must over the next 36 hours then I reckon that will be enough to keep the yeast happy. So it will bud (reproduce) and make a big healthy colony. On the 5th day it'll get a stir. I expect the ferment to be a little slower than usual, but other than that I'm hopeful no harm will be done ... that's the theory anyway! Will move to secondary on the 6th (or 7th) day.
Progress report here
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
More Tales of Blackberries
Tuesday afternoon I clambered onto the shed roof in the garden... for this is where the lovingly tended blackberry hangs out. And I took a picture for you all.
Nice thorns too eh! After a little time I picked about 500g of these yummy, juicy, big berries (lots of rain recently has plumped them right up). So my total haul for this year's second batch of blackberry wine is 4.9 kg. Should be enough for 3 gallons of wine. Together with the 2 gallons started last week thats not bad. Haven't frozen any blackberries this year, so I'm not sure if I'll be making a repeat of last years Blackberry & Elderberry. But if the weather and the available time works out then who knows, it may still happen.
Nice thorns too eh! After a little time I picked about 500g of these yummy, juicy, big berries (lots of rain recently has plumped them right up). So my total haul for this year's second batch of blackberry wine is 4.9 kg. Should be enough for 3 gallons of wine. Together with the 2 gallons started last week thats not bad. Haven't frozen any blackberries this year, so I'm not sure if I'll be making a repeat of last years Blackberry & Elderberry. But if the weather and the available time works out then who knows, it may still happen.
Bottling
So I bottled 2 gallons of Quickie Elderflower Wine tonight. Meaning I get to drink a glass or 2 aswell. It's really pretty good, light, delicate, bit fruity, bit of flower, medium/dry. It's 11.5% ABV, FG is 995. Nice colour too, and clear as you would expect.
And here's a gratuitous piccie of a row of bottles. Tomorrow they get heat shrink necks and laid down.
And here's a gratuitous piccie of a row of bottles. Tomorrow they get heat shrink necks and laid down.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
More Blackberries
I revisited the favourite blackberry picking spot yesterday. Prior to setting off I made the decision not to get carried away and take ages. But when I got there I was not alone and in a flash the decision was scrapped because I thought the pickings may be limited.
After about an hour me and the other pickers met. It looked like they had a few kilos, but it was very cute, a Mum (I guess) and children. The children all with a mass of purple staining from their noses to their chins and from one cheek to the other. Very cute. They told me they were going to make pies, and my plans to make wine got some interest, tho I don't think they are converts!
Anyway, eventually bad light stopped play, so home it was. 4.5 kg of berries came from my efforts. I'll rummage about in the garden later and see what else I can find there, it'll make 3 gallons of wine. The recipe will be the same as the one below, scaled up of course, with the exception of using Sauternes yeast rather than GV1. Tho I will write it up soon enough so that it's easily found from the recipe links page.
After about an hour me and the other pickers met. It looked like they had a few kilos, but it was very cute, a Mum (I guess) and children. The children all with a mass of purple staining from their noses to their chins and from one cheek to the other. Very cute. They told me they were going to make pies, and my plans to make wine got some interest, tho I don't think they are converts!
Anyway, eventually bad light stopped play, so home it was. 4.5 kg of berries came from my efforts. I'll rummage about in the garden later and see what else I can find there, it'll make 3 gallons of wine. The recipe will be the same as the one below, scaled up of course, with the exception of using Sauternes yeast rather than GV1. Tho I will write it up soon enough so that it's easily found from the recipe links page.
Monday, 16 August 2010
Recipe; Blackberry Wine 2010 (1st Batch)
So from the Berries I foraged about a week ago, I started the first batch of this years Blackberry wine .... and here is the method and recipe
3.6 Kg Blackberries
2 Kg Sugar
1 Teaspoon Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
2 Campden Tablets (crushed)
Yeast Nutrient (Brupak)
Water to 2 Gallons
Yeast: GV1
OG came out as 1077
Wash then crush berries. Put into primary fermenting vessel. Add a couple or three gallons of boiling water and 2 crushed Campden tablets. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for around 24 hours.
Next day dissolve 2 teaspoons of pectolase in a little water and add to the must. Stir to mix it, cover and leave 24 hours or so. Next day add all the other ingredients, give it a really good sloshy, splashy stir. Then add the yeast, cover. Every day stir sloshily once or twice for the next few days. After 6 days of fermenting and stirring I removed the fruit pulp (with a sieve) and transferred the must to secondary fermenters and fitted airlocks.
Yeast: I have used GV1 yeast cos I'm trying to find others to add to my list of preferred yeasts. So this is an experiment. So far its gone ok, the ferment got going quick enough, wasn't very vigourous, and didn't foam loads. So I like it so far. If it makes a sediment that is easy to deal with (compact and not too much of it) then I'll be very pleased. If the wine pleases us then I'll have a new preferred yeast to add to my favourites. I have been using Sauternes yeast for most of my wines.
Steeping: I only added the pectolase at day 2 cos I forgot to add it at day 1. It's not a big deal, 2 days are needed to steep anyway.
Primary Fermenting: I kept my wine going on the pulp for about 6 days. before that it was steeping for a couple of days. You may not want to keep the pulp in that long. Perhaps 4 days of fermenting on the pulp would be enough. The result is likely to be a more astringent wine with longer pulp contact, due to tannin in the skins. Not entirely sure tho. I would also hope to be extracting a little more flavour from the berries. We'll have to wait and see.
Gravity: 1077 means I'll likely end up with a wine around 11-12% ABV. Should make this an easy drinking big rosé.
Progress report here
Recipe (2 gallons)
3.6 Kg Blackberries
2 Kg Sugar
1 Teaspoon Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Pectolase
2 Campden Tablets (crushed)
Yeast Nutrient (Brupak)
Water to 2 Gallons
Yeast: GV1
OG came out as 1077
Method
Wash then crush berries. Put into primary fermenting vessel. Add a couple or three gallons of boiling water and 2 crushed Campden tablets. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for around 24 hours.
Next day dissolve 2 teaspoons of pectolase in a little water and add to the must. Stir to mix it, cover and leave 24 hours or so. Next day add all the other ingredients, give it a really good sloshy, splashy stir. Then add the yeast, cover. Every day stir sloshily once or twice for the next few days. After 6 days of fermenting and stirring I removed the fruit pulp (with a sieve) and transferred the must to secondary fermenters and fitted airlocks.
Thoughts
Yeast: I have used GV1 yeast cos I'm trying to find others to add to my list of preferred yeasts. So this is an experiment. So far its gone ok, the ferment got going quick enough, wasn't very vigourous, and didn't foam loads. So I like it so far. If it makes a sediment that is easy to deal with (compact and not too much of it) then I'll be very pleased. If the wine pleases us then I'll have a new preferred yeast to add to my favourites. I have been using Sauternes yeast for most of my wines.
Steeping: I only added the pectolase at day 2 cos I forgot to add it at day 1. It's not a big deal, 2 days are needed to steep anyway.
Primary Fermenting: I kept my wine going on the pulp for about 6 days. before that it was steeping for a couple of days. You may not want to keep the pulp in that long. Perhaps 4 days of fermenting on the pulp would be enough. The result is likely to be a more astringent wine with longer pulp contact, due to tannin in the skins. Not entirely sure tho. I would also hope to be extracting a little more flavour from the berries. We'll have to wait and see.
Gravity: 1077 means I'll likely end up with a wine around 11-12% ABV. Should make this an easy drinking big rosé.
Progress report here
Capacity Alert!
Just moved the blackberry wine to secondary fermentation, DJ's. Reminds me, I need to post a recipe for this brew.
Lo and behold every one of the 30-ish DJ's is full. Sounds good eh, yup it's good. But i want to brew another batch or even 2 of blackberry wine, and maybe even mix some elderberries in. and then maybe do a second run brew on one of them as it turned out so good last year.
So I'd better do some bottling soon. There is Green Tea & Ginger ready to bottle, also maybe some Quickie Elderflower. Stay tuned for updates!
Lo and behold every one of the 30-ish DJ's is full. Sounds good eh, yup it's good. But i want to brew another batch or even 2 of blackberry wine, and maybe even mix some elderberries in. and then maybe do a second run brew on one of them as it turned out so good last year.
So I'd better do some bottling soon. There is Green Tea & Ginger ready to bottle, also maybe some Quickie Elderflower. Stay tuned for updates!
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
A "How to" Video by Critter Wines
I mentioned a few days ago that I had made a vid and posted it and would get it linked or embedded here. Well here it is. This one is making wine using fruit juice, it's really easy to make and the vid is aimed at novices with lots of extra info that you don't need but may find interesting anyway.
If the vid doesn't work then here's the link to You-Tube (exactly the same vid)
If the vid doesn't work then here's the link to You-Tube (exactly the same vid)
More Than Taking Piccies
Today I spent a fair amount of time getting the kitchen organised for doing some brewing stuff with the Blackberry Wine. Then I went and checked my notes and saw that I needed to leave it another 24 hours steeping. So I just threw in some Pectolase, stirred it in and covered the wine up again. Which meant I had an evening "off". So I recorded some clips for vid I'm making for this type of wine (pulp fermentation).
Prior to that I picked some blackberries from the bramble we're cultivating in the garden.
Prior to that I picked some blackberries from the bramble we're cultivating in the garden.
A Cool Tool
Here's a cool thing, thank you muchly Mrs Critter Wines! Its a lemon squeezer. Doesn't work too well for the huge lemons you see sometimes, but anything normal size and it's the business. Just the ticket for making a citrus wine with.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Blackberry Wine
Today I went blackberry picking. In our favourite spot by the river, cul-de-sac so very little traffic. Forgot to take any piccies (sorry). Anyway I got 3.5 kg of berries in 2.5 hours, and despite being careful also got a number of nettle stings. So that's enough berries for 2 gallons of wine.
There were still heaps of berries left that hadn't ripened yet, so I'll be back there soon. Not sure whether to do a mixed blackberry & elderberry with them, or do another straight blackberry but vary the yeast only to learn a little something.
While picking I found this bush with berries/currants on it. Anyone know what it is?
I'm pretty sure it's not blueberry, the leaves come off the branches opposite each other (not staggered). Didn't check for sap or the smell of crushed leaves. The berries themselves were full of juice/pulp - green/yellow - and seeds.
There were still heaps of berries left that hadn't ripened yet, so I'll be back there soon. Not sure whether to do a mixed blackberry & elderberry with them, or do another straight blackberry but vary the yeast only to learn a little something.
While picking I found this bush with berries/currants on it. Anyone know what it is?
I'm pretty sure it's not blueberry, the leaves come off the branches opposite each other (not staggered). Didn't check for sap or the smell of crushed leaves. The berries themselves were full of juice/pulp - green/yellow - and seeds.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Just Drinking
Are you ready for a piccie free ramble .... hmm, since I last wrote the only brewing I have done has been drinking. Well ok, let's call it quality control or product assessment or something fancy like that!
A couple of nights ago I had Green Tea & Ginger wine. Delicious wine, and it's always a pleasure to say "thank you" to Mrs Critter Wines for inspiring me to make it. It's one of our favourites. I really should save it for eating with spicy food, but as I made 5 gallons this time I reckon I can indulge myself from time to time (as the brewer: for a surprise inspection - ensuring quality - at any time I want to). And I've also taken to making quickie wines (for example this, and this, and this) which have enabled us ... hmmm me I confess, to keep the good stuff longer.
Tonight I popped open a bottle of almost 2 year old rice 'n' raisin wine. This is a CJJ Berry recipe. Look him up on amazon for books. He's great for novice brewers and ideas, not perfect tho mainly 'cos of being a pioneer so his recipes are a bit outdated. His wines tend to be strong and sweet, so simply cut back on his sugar additions if this is not your style. Anyway, this wine is not sweet, but it is strong. And WHOOOAAA has a few months made a difference. It now has a wonderful texture, almost oily, very smooth, kinda silky. And there is no harshness left. But it is still obviously strong. Luckily there's plenty to the wine, bodywise, so it can carry this strength and be a very warming wine. I think there is only one bottle left now. Dunno when that will get opened but chances are it'll me who drinks it cos I don't think it's Mrs Critter Wines cup o' tea at all.
A couple of nights ago I had Green Tea & Ginger wine. Delicious wine, and it's always a pleasure to say "thank you" to Mrs Critter Wines for inspiring me to make it. It's one of our favourites. I really should save it for eating with spicy food, but as I made 5 gallons this time I reckon I can indulge myself from time to time (as the brewer: for a surprise inspection - ensuring quality - at any time I want to). And I've also taken to making quickie wines (for example this, and this, and this) which have enabled us ... hmmm me I confess, to keep the good stuff longer.
Tonight I popped open a bottle of almost 2 year old rice 'n' raisin wine. This is a CJJ Berry recipe. Look him up on amazon for books. He's great for novice brewers and ideas, not perfect tho mainly 'cos of being a pioneer so his recipes are a bit outdated. His wines tend to be strong and sweet, so simply cut back on his sugar additions if this is not your style. Anyway, this wine is not sweet, but it is strong. And WHOOOAAA has a few months made a difference. It now has a wonderful texture, almost oily, very smooth, kinda silky. And there is no harshness left. But it is still obviously strong. Luckily there's plenty to the wine, bodywise, so it can carry this strength and be a very warming wine. I think there is only one bottle left now. Dunno when that will get opened but chances are it'll me who drinks it cos I don't think it's Mrs Critter Wines cup o' tea at all.
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
I'm a Video Producer
Wow, I just uploaded the finished vid on making Blueberry & Cranberry Wine (and other similar wines). Took a whole heap of editing, compressing, uploading etc. But it's now on youtube. I'm just waiting for some critical feedback and then I'll post the link, It's also uploaded here. So stay tuned.
Blueberry & Cranberry Progress
The Blueberry & Cranberry quickie rosé is coming along nicely. Transferred it to secondary fermentation stage yesterday. I'm quite impressed with the Gervin D yeast; it was indeed quick starting and low foaming. The final test will be the taste test, oh and it would also be nice if the sediment was nice and compact at racking. All being well this will add a yeast to my favourite Sauternes, which means I'll be better able to match the yeast to the desired product.
and a piccie of the 3 happy yeast biospheres ... the one in the background is the blackberry kit.
and a piccie of the 3 happy yeast biospheres ... the one in the background is the blackberry kit.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Recipe; Orange & Hawthorn Blossom
If you make a wine that you're not happy with then don't chuck it out. You may just need to give it time, sometimes years. Alternatively you may find it's great for making blends with. This is what I ended up doing with my Hawthorn Blossom Wine. It tasted of nothing, but was dry and strong (15%). I didn't want to chuck it cos it didn't taste bad. So I rummaged about my wines and reckoned that it would blend well with a sweet, strong, full flavoured wine. Orange (aka citrus wine) was the obvious choice.
The first thing to do is mix a bit of each wine together and taste it. Jeez wine making is such a chore sometimes! Starting around 50/50 is as good a choice as any. For me when I did a 50/50 blend I was instantly happy with the result. The sweet strong orange wine seemed to lose nothing at all. While the Hawthorn Blossom was completely absorbed. The result as I saw it was that I now got to make my Orange wine go twice as far! So that was enough for me, I got the measuring jug and funnel out and got blending. So here is a gratuitous piccie, Hawthorn on the left, Orange on the right.
And tonight I made another 6 bottles of this blend, and I'm drinking some, and it's great!
If I lived in a country that permitted distillation of alcohol then I probably would have distilled the Hawthorn Blossom Wine. However that is illegal here, so it wasn't an option. An option that has just occurred to me as I write this is to make Jelly with it. Alcoholic jelly is great adult fun, and those strong jelly flavours would work well with the high alcohol content. I still have a gallon of Hawthorn Blossom wine left and 1/2 gallon of Orange wine. I reckon that some of the Hawthorn blossom will end up being Jelly now, and hey maybe some in a trifle too.
The first thing to do is mix a bit of each wine together and taste it. Jeez wine making is such a chore sometimes! Starting around 50/50 is as good a choice as any. For me when I did a 50/50 blend I was instantly happy with the result. The sweet strong orange wine seemed to lose nothing at all. While the Hawthorn Blossom was completely absorbed. The result as I saw it was that I now got to make my Orange wine go twice as far! So that was enough for me, I got the measuring jug and funnel out and got blending. So here is a gratuitous piccie, Hawthorn on the left, Orange on the right.
And tonight I made another 6 bottles of this blend, and I'm drinking some, and it's great!
If I lived in a country that permitted distillation of alcohol then I probably would have distilled the Hawthorn Blossom Wine. However that is illegal here, so it wasn't an option. An option that has just occurred to me as I write this is to make Jelly with it. Alcoholic jelly is great adult fun, and those strong jelly flavours would work well with the high alcohol content. I still have a gallon of Hawthorn Blossom wine left and 1/2 gallon of Orange wine. I reckon that some of the Hawthorn blossom will end up being Jelly now, and hey maybe some in a trifle too.
Recipe; Hawthorn Blossom Wine
I've only made this wine once, and I didn't really know what to expect from the flowers when we went picking. I didn't pick bad smelling flowers, but I think I could have picked flowers with a much better smell. The result was disappointing dry, strong, rocket fuel with a neutral taste that I use for blending with sweet, strong, flavourful wines.
4.5 Litres Hawthorn Blossoms (no twigs, leaves, stems etc)
3kg Sugar
4 Lemons - Zest and Juice
2 Teaspoons Wine Tannin
Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast
2 Campden Tablets
and here's the piccies
Put the flowers in a muslin bag or two. You don't want the bags stuffed, and bags make it really easy to remove the flowers when the time comes. You could use nylon bags instead. Dissolve the sugar in about a gallon of hot boiled water and pour onto the flowers. Add the juice and zest (no pith!) of the lemons and the tannin. Make up to two gallons with water. Add 2 crushed campden tablets, stir well and cover. Leave overnight and the campden will take care of any wild yeasts etc. Next day measure the OG (mine was 1100), stir sloshily to get some gasses dissolved in the must then add your yeast and nutrient and cover. Stir once daily for a few days
About a week later remove the flowers and transfer the wine to secondary fermenter(s). Rack, degas, stabilise etc as and when needed. This one needed finings to clear.
If I do this one again then I'll make sure to pick flowers with a pleasant strong smell. I'll also keep my OG down, about 1080 should be ok. This wine fermented down to a final gravity of 990, which gives a hefty 15% ABV. Dry as a bone, and no flavour to speak of. Hence I've used it for blending.
Recipe (2 Gallons)
4.5 Litres Hawthorn Blossoms (no twigs, leaves, stems etc)
3kg Sugar
4 Lemons - Zest and Juice
2 Teaspoons Wine Tannin
Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast
2 Campden Tablets
and here's the piccies
Method
Put the flowers in a muslin bag or two. You don't want the bags stuffed, and bags make it really easy to remove the flowers when the time comes. You could use nylon bags instead. Dissolve the sugar in about a gallon of hot boiled water and pour onto the flowers. Add the juice and zest (no pith!) of the lemons and the tannin. Make up to two gallons with water. Add 2 crushed campden tablets, stir well and cover. Leave overnight and the campden will take care of any wild yeasts etc. Next day measure the OG (mine was 1100), stir sloshily to get some gasses dissolved in the must then add your yeast and nutrient and cover. Stir once daily for a few days
About a week later remove the flowers and transfer the wine to secondary fermenter(s). Rack, degas, stabilise etc as and when needed. This one needed finings to clear.
Thoughts
If I do this one again then I'll make sure to pick flowers with a pleasant strong smell. I'll also keep my OG down, about 1080 should be ok. This wine fermented down to a final gravity of 990, which gives a hefty 15% ABV. Dry as a bone, and no flavour to speak of. Hence I've used it for blending.
Orange Wine Recipe
So I've just blended two wines and I want to write about the result, which means that I have to write up the wines that I blended. It's about time I got around to these recipes. The first is Orange Wine, well that's what I have called it for years, but really it's a mixed citrus wine and that's how I refer to it in the list on the page of my brews.
30 Oranges - Maroc or Helios
16 Clemantines
6 Lemons
2.5 Pink Grapefruit
2 Teaspoons Citric Acid
2 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
6 Kg Sugar
Nutrient
4 Teaspoons Pectolase
Sauternes Yeast
Here's your piccie
Zest 24 Oranges and 4 lemons. Take great care to avoid collecting the pith with the zest. Squeeze all the rest of the fruit for juice. Dissolve the sugar in hot boiled water. Put all the ingredients into your fermenting vessel apart from the yeast. Make up to 3 gallons with water, cover and allow to cool to less than 30'C. Then measure the OG. This one came in at a hefty 1129! No problem for Sauternes yeast tho. So pitch your yeast, stir sloshily and cover. After a few days transfer to secondary fermenter(s) and fit airlocks. Rack, degas, stabilise etc as and when needed as usual. This wine always clears unaided for me, in a couple or 3 months.
This is a dessert wine. It's very sweet, FG was 1021 and that gave an ABV of around 14.7%. It's good served chilled. If you don't like sweet wines then you'll want to use considerably less sugar.
The list of fruits is not set in stone. You could use jaffas, navels, tangerines, satsumas, mandarins, mineolas, ugly fruit etc. The oranges I chose are good for juicing and thin skinned. The rest I choose based on what is cheap, tastey, juicy and available on the day I go shopping.
Citrus Wine
Recipe (3 Gallons)
30 Oranges - Maroc or Helios
16 Clemantines
6 Lemons
2.5 Pink Grapefruit
2 Teaspoons Citric Acid
2 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
6 Kg Sugar
Nutrient
4 Teaspoons Pectolase
Sauternes Yeast
Here's your piccie
Method
Zest 24 Oranges and 4 lemons. Take great care to avoid collecting the pith with the zest. Squeeze all the rest of the fruit for juice. Dissolve the sugar in hot boiled water. Put all the ingredients into your fermenting vessel apart from the yeast. Make up to 3 gallons with water, cover and allow to cool to less than 30'C. Then measure the OG. This one came in at a hefty 1129! No problem for Sauternes yeast tho. So pitch your yeast, stir sloshily and cover. After a few days transfer to secondary fermenter(s) and fit airlocks. Rack, degas, stabilise etc as and when needed as usual. This wine always clears unaided for me, in a couple or 3 months.
Thoughts
This is a dessert wine. It's very sweet, FG was 1021 and that gave an ABV of around 14.7%. It's good served chilled. If you don't like sweet wines then you'll want to use considerably less sugar.
The list of fruits is not set in stone. You could use jaffas, navels, tangerines, satsumas, mandarins, mineolas, ugly fruit etc. The oranges I chose are good for juicing and thin skinned. The rest I choose based on what is cheap, tastey, juicy and available on the day I go shopping.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Blackberry Kit Grrrrr
Grrrrr because I really thought it was Black Cherry. When I was checking the instructions I kept seeing blackberry and thinking they had printed the berry instructions on the cherry kit. That wouldn't have been a problem 'cos I still have the cherry instructions from the last kit. However when I turned the label over, there it was, plain as day "Blackberry", and here's the gratuitous piccie
So then I was left wondering do I start this kit up, or the Beaverdale Vieux Chateau Du Roi. Which is something like a Chateau Neuf Du Pape clone. Might seem like a no brainer, but it was a tricky decision because out of around 30 DJ's I only have 5 empties, 3 will be needed for the Blueberry & Cranberry Quickie Wine and 1 spare is always good for racking. I want to use the lees from the Beaverdale Kit straight after it finishes fermenting to start another brew. So that would leave me 1 DJ short. So, despite my impatience to try this Beaverdale Kit, I have to hold off.
Anyway, looking on the bright side the blackberry kit holds some excitement. When I read the ingredients label it says, for the juice:
"Hmm" I thought "that's very similar to the Blackberry & Elderberry Wines (red and rosé) that I made last year". With some obvious exceptions of course like mine were done on the pulp etc. So a comparison will be kind of cute, and how timely is it that I only just described those brews too.
So then I was left wondering do I start this kit up, or the Beaverdale Vieux Chateau Du Roi. Which is something like a Chateau Neuf Du Pape clone. Might seem like a no brainer, but it was a tricky decision because out of around 30 DJ's I only have 5 empties, 3 will be needed for the Blueberry & Cranberry Quickie Wine and 1 spare is always good for racking. I want to use the lees from the Beaverdale Kit straight after it finishes fermenting to start another brew. So that would leave me 1 DJ short. So, despite my impatience to try this Beaverdale Kit, I have to hold off.
Anyway, looking on the bright side the blackberry kit holds some excitement. When I read the ingredients label it says, for the juice:
- Concentrated Grape Juice
- Glucose Syrup
- Concentrated Blackberry Juice
- Concentrated Elderberry Juice
- Citric Acid
- Sulphur Dioxide
"Hmm" I thought "that's very similar to the Blackberry & Elderberry Wines (red and rosé) that I made last year". With some obvious exceptions of course like mine were done on the pulp etc. So a comparison will be kind of cute, and how timely is it that I only just described those brews too.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Bottling Again
I've just bottled a gallon of Green Tea & Ginger Wine. So it's standing for a day or so, then the heat shrink sleeves go on and it gets laid down. Not much more to say, I was going to bottle a gallon of the Cheapskate Rosé too, but it's only 3.5 months old so no hurry, tho it should be ready to drink soon enough as it used 3.5 litres of juice per gallon, rather than 4.5 litres.
The Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé is now busily fermenting
The Blueberry & Cranberry Rosé is now busily fermenting
Recipe; Elderberry & Blackberry "Rosé" (2nd run)
Finally I've got around to posting the recipe and method for a second run wine. These are fun wines to make, they almost seem like you get something for nothing cos you don't need to buy anymore yeast for them. Tho you will need to buy some juices or concentrates. Still, they are quick and easy to do.
Lees and Fruit from Previous Wine
245g Can of (Youngs) White Grape Concentrate
245g Can of (Ritchies Spanish) Red Grape Concentrate
Yeast Nutrient
Water to 3 Gallons
Sugar to desired OG
Ok, you're making the Elderberry & Blackberry Wine at the moment and its got to the stage when you're going to remove the fruit (around a week in). Something I love about this way of making wine is that you can be carefree at this stage. So you can decant or siphon the must from the fruit and lees. No need to be careful about the process so you want plenty of yeast in your secondary fermenter for the red wine, but you also want plenty left in the primary fermenter for the 2nd run wine.
So you have left a yucky looking gloop of fruit and yeast (both alive and dead). Bagged all my fruit up in muslin at this stage. It just makes removal later easier. I added enough sugar solution to get me into the 1080 - 1090 range. Then water, nutrient, grape concentrates, gave it a very good stir. Then measured the gravity. 1085. so left it like that and covered it up. 4 days later I removed the fruit then followed all the usual steps of moving to secondary, racking, degassing, stabilising etc.
Making second run wines is great fun. There are basically two types, one uses the lees only (like saves buying yeast or oak chips). I do this with all my quality grape wine kits and make a light version of it with grape juice. The second type is using the fruit again. Tho in reality you probably won't have to ass yeast either. Which is what this wine is all about! The wine that resulted from this was far from a rosé, surprisingly. It's actually a red in it's own right. So this year I may make it again, or I may try to get the rosé I was aiming for. Heck I may do both cos this is good stuff!
Recipe (2 Gallons)
Lees and Fruit from Previous Wine
245g Can of (Youngs) White Grape Concentrate
245g Can of (Ritchies Spanish) Red Grape Concentrate
Yeast Nutrient
Water to 3 Gallons
Sugar to desired OG
Method
Ok, you're making the Elderberry & Blackberry Wine at the moment and its got to the stage when you're going to remove the fruit (around a week in). Something I love about this way of making wine is that you can be carefree at this stage. So you can decant or siphon the must from the fruit and lees. No need to be careful about the process so you want plenty of yeast in your secondary fermenter for the red wine, but you also want plenty left in the primary fermenter for the 2nd run wine.
So you have left a yucky looking gloop of fruit and yeast (both alive and dead). Bagged all my fruit up in muslin at this stage. It just makes removal later easier. I added enough sugar solution to get me into the 1080 - 1090 range. Then water, nutrient, grape concentrates, gave it a very good stir. Then measured the gravity. 1085. so left it like that and covered it up. 4 days later I removed the fruit then followed all the usual steps of moving to secondary, racking, degassing, stabilising etc.
Thoughts
Making second run wines is great fun. There are basically two types, one uses the lees only (like saves buying yeast or oak chips). I do this with all my quality grape wine kits and make a light version of it with grape juice. The second type is using the fruit again. Tho in reality you probably won't have to ass yeast either. Which is what this wine is all about! The wine that resulted from this was far from a rosé, surprisingly. It's actually a red in it's own right. So this year I may make it again, or I may try to get the rosé I was aiming for. Heck I may do both cos this is good stuff!
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