chic's beach winery

hello all... ive been a member on this site for about a month now and am finally getting around to posting... i am reletively new to the winemaking hobby but am blessed with a hobby wine shop nearby (im in the chic's beach section of va beach)

my first attempt at wine was a cran-grape concotion made from ocean spray cran-grape juice, 2.5 lbs sugar, 1 packet of ec-1118 yeast and some rasins... actually came out great after aging about 4 months... it had a sweet mouth coating start with a hint of sour/bitter in the finish and a clean aftertaste of grape... not bad for a ghetto brew. it was a 1 gallon batch.

my next and not so successful attempt was a gallon of apple juice, 2.5 lbs brown sugar, 4 cinnamon sticks, rasins and ec-1118 yeast. after the ferment stopped i added half cup sugar to backsweeten and the ferment didnt restart. what did happen was a gallon of sickly sweet molasses/ overripe apple rubbing alcohol... it got dumped!

i just finished a gallon of jalapeno wine... this i made with home grown jalaps a dozen of em (half with seeds half without), 2.5 lbs sugar, handful of rasins, and ec-1118 yeast. it was a long steady ferment for about 2 months, but was amazingly clear and lightly golden colored and tasted really good with just enough heat... i cant wait to try it in 6 months!!!

oh yeah... i almost forgot the gallon of mead i made.... i used dark honey and it tastes amazing... has been aging for 4 months and i dont plan to crack it open for at least 12... then i'll enjoy it with a slice of orange!

so anyhow... hello all

Hi bloomd, welcome to winemakingtalk. I make a cran grape but I use concentrates. Do you have a hydrometer? You didn't mention any readings so that has me wondering if you do. It is crucial to have one, without it you really do not have any idea if your wine is done fermenting and you mentioned about backsweetening and end up re-starting a fermentation. Are you aware that you need to stabilize your wine?

Why don't you post up your recipe and your procedure and we can help you see what happen that made your wine bad or what made it so great.

Hey, welcome to the forum. There are lots of fruit wine makers on here, who will enjoy hearing about your wine making exploits and maybe offer some advice, if/when you want it.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!!!

i did get a hydrometer recently... i ised it on my latest start just last night...

i used 2 cans concentrated lemonade (ingrediants was lemon, sugar, and vitamin c)
2 lbs sugar
1/4 cup rasins
enough water to make 1 gallon
and again a packet of ec-1118 yeast...

i boiled the must for 3 minutes therefore i didnt sulfide the must...
allowed to return to room temp (70f) and checked with hydrometer reading was 1.130 (my hydro is cal at 70f) which is right in the middle of the dessert wine scale
so i figure that my yeast is good up to 14% so ill have some residual sweetness after the ferment.
i pitched the yeast and it begal a slow bubble in about 4 hours...
now its a day later and its happily percolating away...
ill let ya know how it goes

Hi bloomd, your recipe sounds good but if you don't mind, here are some tips. Don't start your must off real high and expect it to stop at a certain reading to give you some residual sugar. Start you must off around 1.080 - 1.090, let it ferment to dry, then add sulphites and sorbate to stabilize your wine and then add back some sugar to the sweet level you are looking at. I would use another can of lemonade to backsweeten it with, 2 cans of concentrate is not going to give you much flavor. You have more control of your wine with you let it ferment to dry.

Bloomd, I'm only six months into this hobby and impressed by your newbie choices! I wasn't brave enough to start with recipes - went with kits three times and am now experimenting with recipes. Hats off to you! I still have hot peppers frozen from last summer's garden and might give them a try based on your post.

Julie, two questions for you, if you don't mind...is 1.080-1.090 a good starting point for most wines - is it a general rule of thumb? Also, how many days do you wait between stabalizing and backsweetening? Thanks!