After a bit of a lull here on starting new wines, last night I put together a 6 gallon chokecherry batch. First time I've ventured beyond 1 gallon with that particular fruit, but decided after having done 4 singletons of the chokes previously, I was ready for the big time.
I used NW's tried and true recipe posted here already as a baseline - but where her recipe called for only 5 tsp of Acid Blend, I was shocked (still reeling from the shock!) to find that I had to add 15 tsp acid to get the acid titration and ph anywhere near what they should be! I wonder if her tsp really were tablespoons?? Or else I had some really really low-acid chokecherries there.
Ran out of regular sugar after 25+ cups as well, had to break into the special Baking $ugar package that I bought my daughter for some recipe that she never made. But finally got the SG to 1.080
Here's what I ended up with for the recipe:
7 1/4 quarts steamed chokecherry juice
... actually, 2 3/4 quarts were juice soaked out of the mash remnants from the steaming.
1 liter WineExpert Red Grape Concentrate
13 tsp Acid Blend
2 tsp Tartaric Acid
28 cups Sugar (25+ cups white granulated, 2/3 cup corn sugar, 2 1/3 cups baking superfine granulated sugar)
Water to make syrup with the sugar(s)
water to remainder of 6 gallons
1 vanilla bean scraped and broken, all tossed in
28 coffee beans (yes, I counted them!)
1/3 c. American Light Toast Oak, lightly toasted some more
3 tsp pectic enzyme
2 tsp powdered tannin
3 tsp Yeast Energizer
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient
2tsp Bentonite made with about 1 cup hot water into a slurry in the blender
Yeast: RC-212
No campden in the must because the juice was sterile from the steaming or the boiling water 'soak' and the WE RGC I'm not worried about wild yeast in.
Pitched the yeast last night about midnight, and this morning it was making movement and hissing sounds of living fermentation.
Tonight, came home from work and mmmmmmmmm does that bucket smell good. Last night even the coffee bean aroma was really strong and I thought maybe I ought to fish them out, but today it's all smelling good.
Since it's going to be a little on the low alcohol side with the starting at 1.080, I went a little lightly on the tannin. Lorraine's recipe used liquid tannin, and I don't know what the conversions are from liquid to powdered, so one question is - Do you think I should add more tannin?
Another question is - is that much acid blend way out of line for a 6 gallon batch???
I tested, tested, retested, tested again and tasted along the way with the additions too - and it's none to acidy tasting that's for sure. In fact it tastes likes it could use a bit more really. Just seemed like a heck of a lot - but - that's why you adjust as needed rather than rely strictly on a recipe I guess, right?
I used NW's tried and true recipe posted here already as a baseline - but where her recipe called for only 5 tsp of Acid Blend, I was shocked (still reeling from the shock!) to find that I had to add 15 tsp acid to get the acid titration and ph anywhere near what they should be! I wonder if her tsp really were tablespoons?? Or else I had some really really low-acid chokecherries there.
Ran out of regular sugar after 25+ cups as well, had to break into the special Baking $ugar package that I bought my daughter for some recipe that she never made. But finally got the SG to 1.080
Here's what I ended up with for the recipe:
7 1/4 quarts steamed chokecherry juice
... actually, 2 3/4 quarts were juice soaked out of the mash remnants from the steaming.
1 liter WineExpert Red Grape Concentrate
13 tsp Acid Blend
2 tsp Tartaric Acid
28 cups Sugar (25+ cups white granulated, 2/3 cup corn sugar, 2 1/3 cups baking superfine granulated sugar)
Water to make syrup with the sugar(s)
water to remainder of 6 gallons
1 vanilla bean scraped and broken, all tossed in
28 coffee beans (yes, I counted them!)
1/3 c. American Light Toast Oak, lightly toasted some more
3 tsp pectic enzyme
2 tsp powdered tannin
3 tsp Yeast Energizer
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient
2tsp Bentonite made with about 1 cup hot water into a slurry in the blender
Yeast: RC-212
No campden in the must because the juice was sterile from the steaming or the boiling water 'soak' and the WE RGC I'm not worried about wild yeast in.
Pitched the yeast last night about midnight, and this morning it was making movement and hissing sounds of living fermentation.
Tonight, came home from work and mmmmmmmmm does that bucket smell good. Last night even the coffee bean aroma was really strong and I thought maybe I ought to fish them out, but today it's all smelling good.
Since it's going to be a little on the low alcohol side with the starting at 1.080, I went a little lightly on the tannin. Lorraine's recipe used liquid tannin, and I don't know what the conversions are from liquid to powdered, so one question is - Do you think I should add more tannin?
Another question is - is that much acid blend way out of line for a 6 gallon batch???
I tested, tested, retested, tested again and tasted along the way with the additions too - and it's none to acidy tasting that's for sure. In fact it tastes likes it could use a bit more really. Just seemed like a heck of a lot - but - that's why you adjust as needed rather than rely strictly on a recipe I guess, right?
