Port style wine

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andy123

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I decided to try a making a port wine. Not finding much info on it. Sure could use some advise. I took a Vino Vida Cab Sauv kit saving 1 gallon of concentrate as an F pack. The other 5 + quarts I mixed with a small 3 gallons of water and got a 1.084 SG. Then I added 1 pound of sugar. The master plan being to feed sugar until the yeast fails followed by as chill, rack, sorbate, and clearing.. ending with adding the F pack doing some math and fortifying with a young strong brandy and getting a finished 5 gallons of a sweet 20% Thick red port.:dgAny advise or observation is appreciated.
 
OK, Port...

I can give you my method, but I do not know if it will help you..

You need the pearson's square formula. This is simply a grid that can tell you how much fortifier to add to get so much apv and sugar %. There should be a couple of threads on this site dealing with the pearson's square.

What I do is simply monitor my fermentation until the birx is at an appropriate level. I then add the fortifier to raise the APV to 22%. This kills off the active yeast and retains the residual sugar. Age on oak and rack as needed. Makes a good port.
 
What I did for my "port" was ferment my juice down until I hit a certain desired sweetness and then I fortified from there..
 
Traditionally, port is made by spiking the fermentation with a high proof brandy or 'eau de vie' when the fermentation is almost finished and theres enough sugars left in the must to keep the finished product at an ideal sweetness without adding further sugar. This method uses the nature sugars found in the fruit itself to sweeten the wine, with some believing it leads to superior flavor over other fortified wine styles.

The more-common home winemaker's method is to ferment out a wine completely to dry and fairly high alcohol. This is followed by an addition of brandy all the same, but then finished off with the additions of sugar or juice to backsweeten. This process leads to a slightly different final taste than the 'traditional' method.

In either case, John is right and you'll want to use a Pearson's Square to figure out how much brandy you'll need to spike your wine to the appropriate ABV.
 
Hi
if you would like to know how I make port - I do it the old fashioned way . It typically means that you stop fermentation by adding 195 proof to your wine that is still fermenting and cutting it off when you feel it is appropriate - I like approx 4% residual sugar and the alcohol to be around 18-20%
Very similar to all the above posts.
 
Funny, I just read a thread here this am about port, by (not sure )
dessertmaker are something linked to a post about port.
Port requires a different yeast..
I have been searching for this one. Red star Flor sherry Yeast
 
jamesngalveston said:
Funny, I just read a thread here this am about port, by (not sure )
dessertmaker are something linked to a post about port.
Port requires a different yeast..
I have been searching for this one. Red star Flor sherry Yeast

I've used Lalvin EC-1118. Red Star Champagne yeast will also work well.
 
Thanks for the link jamesngalveston. To date I havent been able to grasp the Pearson's square equation. When I researched it took me to soybean meal and corn. Simple math told me 4 gallons of 18% + a 1 gal F pack should yield 5 gals @ 14.4 ABV. I am fortunate to have some 75%abv brandy. So it appears 14.4 times 20 + 75 times 2 = 438 divided by 22 For about 20% ABV. Residual sugar and taste are still unknowns. Probable should call this one Port Hope.:rdo
 
Funny, I just read a thread here this am about port, by (not sure )
dessertmaker are something linked to a post about port.
Port requires a different yeast..
I have been searching for this one. Red star Flor sherry Yeast

Flor sherry is the culture you typically add later in the ferment to produce sherry. But port-style wines are made with a wide variety of yeast, and there are a few methods, as previously mentioned, that one can use. Just depends on where you are in you comfort zone and how you want to go about it.
 
Well this worked out nice. I added sugar in stages with the premier cuvee exhausting at 17.5 or 18% ABV to 1 bubble every 10 seconds. I added the brandy to +or-20.5% and the yeast precipitated down immediately. I racked and added Flavor pack of original must. Tasted pretty sweet SG1.040. After a few days I added a few bottles of old reds to give it a little age and tone down the sweet. I drank 2 glasses and was able to confirm suspected ABV. Now I'm doing a Vieux Chateau du Roi with a similar recipe.
 
Sounds good thanks for the update. Were you able to type after the 2 glasses of port? Bakervinyard
 

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