Recipe: Pomegranate Quickie Wine

It's a few days since I got my second brew of the year started. Busy times means I'm not brewing as frequently as I had hoped, but what is lacking there is being made up for in volume. So I'm still on target for brewing 50+ gallons of wine this year. The lastest one is 4 gallons of Pomegranate Quickie Wine, started 23rd Feb, yeast pitched 24th. It was going to be 3 gallons, but I found the grape juice was on it's best before date, so had to use the lot, which meant 5 litres. There was only 3 litres of Pomegranate juice, but I reckon the wine is still worth making. The recipe and method follow.

Recipe: 4 gallons

3 Litres Pomegranate Juice (Pomegreat, OG 1041)
3 Litres White Grape Juice (Tesco, pressed, 1072)
2 Litres Red Grape Juice (Tesco, pressed, 1073)
2.3 Kg Sugar
2 TSpoons Tartaric Acid
2 TSpoons Citric Acid
2 TSpoons Nutrient (Brupak, Nutrivin)
3 TSpoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets
Yeast, Gervin, GV1

OG 1075, FG 994. so 11%ABV

Method

Bring about a gallon of water to the boil with the sugar in it to dissolve.
Meanwhile, pour all the juices into a fermenting bin (measure their gravity first, it's useful info for future brews). Rinse each carton out with a little water and add to the fermenting bin.
Dissolve the acids, nutrient, pectolase and campden in a little water and then add to the fermenting bin.
Add the sugar solution and make the volume up to almost 4 gallons with cold water. Cover tightly and leave overnight.

Next day measure the gravity and make up the volume to 4 gallons with water (and sugar if you have a higher gravity as your target). Measure the gravity again. Mine was 1075, I didn't add any more sugar, just water. Now stir it vigorously and splashily for a few minutes to get some air dissolved. The yeast needs the oxygen to bud (breed) and hence form a healthy colony. When you've done this sprinkle your yeast on top, cover tightly and leave overnight.

Check your brew next day, it should be fermenting, a foamy head will tell you, or fizzing. If it isn't obvious at day one, as was the case with mine, then don't panic. Give it another sloshy stir and then cover it up and check again the next day. Mine was going great on day 2.

From here on you know the routine, stir daily for a few days. After about a week transfer to secondary fermenting vessels, usually demi-johns, and fit airlocks. Leave it undisturbed until it finishes fermenting, most likely 2-3 weeks, evidenced by no more bubbles flowing through your airlocks. You may want to check the gravity at this point. It it's low and stays steady for a few days then it's finished. Then wait for it to clear, should be showing good signs of that within a couple of weeks. If you're impatient then add finings. It should then be clear within a week. Rack off the sediment, degas, add stabiliser and campden. Refit airlock and forget about it for a few weeks. It'll then be ready to bottle and drink. However it will be worth waiting a further month. At that point it probably won't get noticeably better with more time. It's a table wine, light and meant to be drunk young.

Update 23.5.2011

Needed finings to hurry along the clearing, but was ready  to drink in mid-late May, some 3 months from starting.

So it's  a very pale pink. crisp, refreshing, sharpish and clean. The ABV worked out to be 11%. It's fruity, but light and the nearest I can get to nailing a flavour is raspberry which comes quickly. I don't think it would do any harm for this to be 10.5%ABV rather than 11.0%, so that would perhaps be my aim for next time, just a bit less sugar.

Overall verdict, cracker of a wine for something that is so easy to make, so quick to finish, and at around 30p per bottle there is just no complaining. It's table wine quality but if you gave this to your mates (especially the women as men tend to have an irrational aversion to rosé) they wouldn't believe this was your version of plonk. Its perfect for those hot summer days, BBQ's, picnics and sitting in the park etc.

Bottling & Racking

ah, it's satisfying squeezing wine-making into a busy day. Today I managed to do just that and even take some piccies. So let's start with racking ...

The 2 gallons of Muscat wine cleared some time ago (compare to the pea souper in the last pic of them 2nd image there), the finings doing their job in days, but then me taking a little longer than usual to rack the wine off the sediment. The taste is quite stunning, very grapey and in character with the fruit variety that was pressed, especially the skins. However it's very acidic and I think that a glass or two would be a challenge for any stomach. This means I'll be venturing into new territory and looking into reducing acidity. I believe this is essentially adding chalk, but research is needed. Alternatively it may be a case of balancing the acidity by adding sugar, back-sweetening is the vintner's term for this. There is also a 3rd option, blending with a wine that has low acidity. The 3rd option is not so appealing even tho I've done it before, because I like the character of the wine and feel blending will cause this to be lost.

The picture shows the 2 gallons of Muscat, white wine. The dark DJ is the other wine I racked tonight. The Vieux Chateau Du Roi. It threw a pretty huge sediment. The sneak taste i got when racking was delicious, but that is the last time I'll taste it until the back end of the year.

Onwards then, for there was more activity. I bottled 3 gallons of wine too. 1 gallon each of Blueberry & Cranberry, Tanglefoot (note it's not the latest one), and Elderflower. I know what to expect of each and I'm happy with each. Tho the Tanglefoot is something of a rarity as it's a favourite. It's delicious, again.

 
So here is a piccie of the assorted bottles, soon to have neck sleeves fitted and laid down (if corked), or drunk if fitted with screw caps. At the front Blueberry & Cranberry, back Tanglefoot, in the middle Elderflower.

Update and Stuff

So the Green Tea & Ginger wine is coming along just fine. On the 1st, yikes that's a whole week ago - sorry -, I moved the wine to secondary. Normally I would have taken out all the solids at this stage, but I only took the tea out. Can't explain it, just felt like leaving the sultanas and ginger and zest in. Sunday, some 5 days later, I took out the rest of the solids.

In between making it up as i went along we had dinner with mates. 3 bottles of wine came to the table. Orange & Elderflower, Blackberry & Elderberry and also Blueberry & Cranberry. They were drunk in that order and then having drunk 3 wines it was easy to get some cool feedback by asking which one worked.
Orange & Elderflower was a hit with one mate, and a close second best with the other
The Blackberry & Elderberry was a slight favourite with one and a clear 2nd best with the other.
As for me I liked the Blackberry & Elderberry best.

I got a bit lucky serving up the least favourite wine first then! Because it went down fine, and truth be told it is a perfectly good table wine. It was very pleasing that the "good stuff" was appreciated most tho.

Recipe; Green Tea & Ginger 2011

Haha! feeling good cos I said I'd be back soon with this ... and I am! I first found a recipe for this wine on Jack Keller's website. Since then I've tweaked it a little, tho not much, it was an excellent starting point.

Ingredients for 5 gallons

200g Sencha (Japanese green tea, loose leaf, brand yamamotoyama)
5 Kg Sugar
6 Lemons, unwaxed (zest and juice)
3 Limes (zest and juice)
500g Sultanas (sundried) washed and chopped.
200g Root Ginger; peeled, bruised & chopped.
5 Campden tablets; crushed
5 Teaspoons Pectolase
4 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Citric Acid
Yeast Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast

OG; 1091

Method

Ok, this is a fun brew to make, there's lots to do ...
Get a gallon of water on the stove and get the heat on. While it's there put the green tea into a muslin bag. Tie it up but leave as much space in the bag as possible so the leaves can swell. If you're in doubt use 2 muslin bags, they only cost pennies and you can reuse them. Chuck the "tea-bag(s)" into the pan of water, put the lid on and bring to the boil.

 The Green tea, bagged and ready for the pan.

Meanwhile, weigh out or measure all your other ingredients. Wash the sultanas well, then drain them and then chop them. Put them into a muslin bag too, and as with the tea tie it up with plenty of space for swelling. It's best to chop, rather than use a food processor. It's a bit of a chore but broken up seeds, releasing lots of bitter flavours, is worse.

By this stage the tea will likely have come to the boil. Tip the "tea" into your fermenting vessel. Put the "tea-bag(s)" back into the pan, add another gallon of water, bring it to the boil with the lid on.

Now zest the lemons and limes. Take the extra care to remove as much of the pith (the white spongey bit) as possible. This will also release unpleasant bitter flavours, so don't put it in your wine (I use a potato peeler, then a very sharp knife to "fillet" the little pith left from the zest). Next finely chop up your zest and put it in a muslin bad. Don't tie it up yet tho. Then peel the ginger, bruise it (I whack it with the end of a rolling pin). Then chop it finely and add to the muslin bag containing the zest. Tie it up now.

Lemon, lime, ginger and sultana processing ... in progress.

Chances are the second brewing of the tea will be done around now. So pour it into the fermenting vessel, with the "tea-bag". Put another gallon of water onto the stove, add the muslin bag of sultanas and the bag of zest and root ginger. Bring to the boil with the lid on, then simmer for around an hour. If you have want you can also get 4kg of sugar dissolved in another pan of hot water now.

Meanwhile juice the lemons and limes, I use a cool tool, and get about 300ml of juice with minimal effort. A juicer will break up the pips and likely result in pith tainting the wine too. Pour it into your fermenting vessel. Then add the other acids (tartaric and citric). Add the 4kg of dissolved sugar now too.

When the zest/ginger and sultanas have simmered for about an hour tip the lot into your fermenting vessel too. You've got about 4 gallons of liquid in there now, and 4 kg of sugar added. You still have a gallon of liquid to add and some more sugar. But that is for later. Put the lid on it and leave it to cool down (probably the next day).

Next day then ...crush your 5 campden tablets, add the pectolase and the nutrient (follow the instructions on the tub for the amount, there are plenty of brands and amounts vary). Dissolve them in a little water and add to the fermenting vessel. Give it a stir to mix it all properly. If you want to aim for a precise original gravity then this is a good time to measure it. I usually aim for 1090-1095 for this wine. Usually at this stage it's a little above that range, so it's a pretty safe bet that adding 1kg of sugar and 1 gallon of water will bring down it into the range we want. Don't add that sugar and water yet tho. Put the lid on it and come back tomorrow.

Today is the day we really get it going. Add the remaining gallon of sugar solution to reach your desired gravity. Dissolved in warm or hot water is good. Give it a very good stir, get as much air it as possible, I use a whisk and go for it for a few minutes. Measure the gravity, mine was 1091.

Slightly gratuitous piccie. I just love seeing a full 5 gallon fermenting bin. It's not a beautiful colour, but don't worry, it turns out good. Having the hydrometer floating about makes it look like I know what I'm doing.

Now add your yeast and put the lid on. Next day you should be a happy person with evidence of your brew having started. Stir it sloshily, every day, for the next few days. After a week or so remove all the muslin bags and move the fermenting good stuff to secondary fermentation under airlock(s). Then, you know the routine, rack, stabilise, degas etc as usual.

Green Tea & Ginger 2011

I've got my first brew of 2011 started, 5 gallons of Green Tea & Ginger. I'll post the recipe and method and a few piccies soon, very likely tomorrow so don't go far! It's basically the same recipe as for last year's brew. This time the gravity is a little lower 1091 vs 1095. I didn't note which green tea I used last time but this time I did. It's probably not the same tea as last year, but it is Sencha. Also bought smoked green tea for the next brew, probably 3 gallons.

Come back soon for all the details

Piccies, 'Cos I Said I Would Post Some

Some time ago I said I'd post a piccie of the Tanglefoot, or was it the Muscat? Bleh forgot so here's both

So this is the Tanglefoot. As you can see there's a nice layer of bottom fermenting yeast, I do love sauternes for a trouble-free, clean ferment.

And this is the Muscat. Today I added some chitin based finings to it, it's showing no signs of clearing unaided, wonder how it would have done with Sauternes yeast instead of GV5. I also stabilised and started degassing the Vieux Chateau Du Roi.