Elderflower Quickie (Apple & Grape Juices). Recipe etc

A few days after starting my first Elderflower wine of the year I'm sticking with my intentions of doing 20 gallons. Today I started the second of four 5 gallon batches, on the lees of the first batch. My aim is to make the same wine as the first batch, with one major difference. This one will be 50/50 apple juice and white grape juice. I hope that a comparison will reveal some useful stuff. But more on that in the discussion after the recipe etc.

Elderflower Quickie (Apple & Grape Juice)

Recipe (5 Gallons)

5 Litres White Grape Juice (Rio D'Oro)
5 Litres Apple Juice (Simply)
3.5 Kg Sugar
5 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Citric Acid
3 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Tronozymol)
Water to 5 gallons
Yeast (Lees from last brew, GV 5)
Elderflowers

OG 1077

Method

When the previous brew (Elderflower Quickie) was moved from primary to secondary fermentation I was careful to leave the lees behind in the primary fermentation bin. This has a healthy colony of yeast in it which is perfect for brewing with. I had to leave the lees overnight before starting the brew. So I snapped the lid on the fermenting bin at the first opportunity. This delay is not necessary, infact it's a liability, but the sugar solution I had prepared to start the next batch with was not cooling down as fast as I anticipated. If I had added it then it may have killed the yeast in the lees. I just had to wait.

Next day, when the sugar solution was cool, I added all the ingredients to the lees in the fermenting bin. I added them sloshily, and then stirred and whisked the must for all the reasons mentioned in the last post. And then covered the bin.

Another Gratuitous Picture. Ingredients.

From here on the method will be the same as the previous brew.

Discussion

One thing I'm very curious about in this brew is the role of malic acid (the main acid in apples) on the resulting wine flavour. It will probably be a subtle thing to discern. The flavour of apples may be the stronger effect by far. But malic acid is harsh tasting, so even tho it's a quickie wine (hence the ratio of apple juice to total volume is much reduced compared to a traditional brew) I hope I can perceive this. If I can't then I'll know I won't be turning in a wine ponce any time soon. But if I can then I'll have to be on the watch for ponceyness!

The yeast I normally use with apple juice is an acid reducing yeast. This means that it metabolises some malic acid, and produces lactic acid from it which not harsh. However, this time I didn't use such a yeast. So I reckon that I'll stand more chance of noticing the effect of malic acid. As much as I hope to learn something about this I definitely don't want to end up with wine that I don't like. I'm not that desperate to learn.

The other thing I'm curious about is the difference between a grape juice quickie compared to a 50/50 grape and apple juice quickie. I have no idea which I'm likely to enjoy more. Perhaps there will be no favourite, it'll depend on other factors, food, weather etc.

There will be, almost certainly, complicating factors that make a comparison a little uncontrolled. That no campden tablets were used for this brew is one. They don't only stun wild yeast, they also play a part in ester formation. Esters are intensely flavoured molecules, the stuff that flavours pear drops, pineapple chunks, and also gives some glues a distinct fruity smell. Some taste wonderful, some taste gross. I think this difference will be very small, probably imperceptible.

Another factor will be using the lees. I have never had any perceptible faults in my wines when i've fermented on the lees. However it may happen, especially because I had to leave it overnight. Unlikely but possible.

Oh yes, getting the OG the same for both batches, a fluke. I expected to be close when guesstimating the amount of sugar to use, but bang on well what can I say ... "the more I practice the luckier I get".

clicky here for a comparison of this year's elderflower wines, all 4 of them.