Anyone have suggestions for a base for Rose Hip Flower wine?

I have 5 gallons of loose petals. They are in the freezer. Keep in mind, these flowers smell like roses, but a lot more subtle than you know as compared to conventional" roses.

I was going to start it tonight.

Leanne convinced me to use White Grape Juice a a base, and use the flowers as a "flavoring"

I am shooting for 4 1/2-5 gallons.

I just came from the store and the Welch's 100% White Grape concentrate is $2.60 a can, thats pushing $8.00/gallon. I'm just not going to do that.

However, they have some pre mixed juices on sale that total $5,oo/gallon. That I will go with.

I do not want to use apple!

Some of the choices I seen were:

Blueberry/Raspberry

Cranberry

Cranberry/Pomegranate

Pomegranate

Mixed Berry

These are all 100% Juice and sulfite/sorbate free.

I want to have some of the rose flavor in there. Do any of you think any of these would work as a base without overpowering the flwers?

Furthermore, no matter what I decide on, I was going to place all the petals in the primary, cover with a gallon of boiling water, (or juice) put the cover on tight and allow to "seep" overnight.

I am going to then pour the petals into a ferment bag, squeeze like crazy, and addthe rmaining liquid, and sugar to make 4 1/2-5 gallons, dependin on the taste. Gonna shoot for a begining SG of 1.090 or so.

Kmeta, 24 hrs, etc.

This is only my second time using these. I haven't made any other flower wines. What do you think about using any of the above juices as my base?

Should I just hold out and wait for the White Grape to come on sale or try one of the above ?

I mostly want someone to blame if it doesn't turn out as good as I hope. LOL

MODS, I cant edit the Title, would you be so kind as to straighten it out for me? LOL

Still pretty sure I like the label UBG designed for me. Obviously its a ways off.

Leanne is tellng you to go with something very light as any of those mentioned will almost surely mask the light flavor of the petals. Maybe you can just do a sugar wash as a base which is just sugar, water, nutrient, energizer and yeast along with the petals. Maybe yoiu vcan up with with a few cas of the white grape. I dont think she was meaning to add the full amounts of grape juice that you would typically use for a white wine. Maybe just use 2 cans per gallon.

I'd be willing to go with 2 cans per gallon, I really dont want to overpower the special flavor of the roses. I think I might just do that Wade. I am still going to add 1 can of red grape or cranberry or something, just to add to the finished color tint.

Looking at my notes from last year I used 4 gallons ofpetals, 3 1/2 gallons of water. 1 can w grape and 2 cans of apple/kiwi/strawberry, so You are right on as far as overpowering goes.


As far as the juices on sale go, noone said I cant make 2 batches at one time!! LOL

I really like the idea of the cranberry/pom, I prefer my wine dry anyway and the combo of those two should work well.

I've read a few different times, that bananas give no real strong flavors to wines but add to the body the same as raisins and such....

With no real proof (meaning i haven't made a banana wine and given it a taste... yet), feel free to point the finger at me if A ) the price isnt too horrible in alaska for some bananas, B ) you're comfortable working with fresh fruit, C ) things actually took a turn for the worse... somehow..

Maybe i just feel the same way about concentrates as some do about fresh fruits.... Friggin scary!

I have made many batches of wine using frozen concentrates. Good quality juice, as long as it is 100% juice, will make a great wine. I have had good luck with the Dole, Hawaiis Own, and Old Orchard Brands.

I am not afraid of fresh fruits, it is that it is often just too damn expensive here.

s far as the rose hip flowers, not much body there, granted, but not necessarily looking for body as much as I am a "base". I made a batch last year just using "sugar wash" and about 25% juice and it turned out pretty darn good.

I really think I am sold on Wades idea of just using 2 cans per gallon. Sounds like that will be my plan.

I was hoping to improve on that with this batch. I only regretr, like I did last year, I only picked enough for 5 gallons. There is always next year!!LOL

We still have Fireweed coming up. Rose Hips will be around shortly, and it looks like the raspberries and blueberies are going to be great this year.

Arcticsid....what recipe did you use for your rose petal wine in 2010 and how did it turn out? What did you like/dislike (if any) about your wine? What would you change, if anything, and why?

Did you make a batch in 2011 and will make a batch in 2012? If you did make rose petal wines in 11 and 12, how did they turn out? And again, what did you like/dislike (if any) about your wine? What would you change, if anything, and why?

From this season, I have 16 oz of dried fragrant pink rose petals (Belinda's Dream) and 16 oz of dried fragrant red rose petals (Mr. Lincoln) petals just calling out to me. Not to mention a lot of dried edible lavender. I fell in love with my Hibiscus-Elderflower-Rosehip wine, so I cannot wait to get a rose petal wine started.