December 2013 Wine of the Month Club

[Winenoob66]

when you get that done, ill give u my port recipe made from welches concord concentrate...

I would be very interested in that now as I have no idea what I am going to do for Dec.

My sugar wash is almost finally done still moving so so so slowly at 1.002 now

 

[jamesngalveston]

a good port starts with a good brandy......
rest assured in the end you will have 5 bottles of port, that you could not afford otherwise...
most of my ports i buy are between 50 to 250 per bottle.

 

[Jericurl]

Oh, I can't wait to see how the sweet potato wine and the port turns out!

Sweet potato wine is on my list of things to try.

I"ve never had a port that I liked so I'll be interested in first impressions when you try yours, Rayway.

 

[Stressbaby]

At this point the sweet potato aroma is like peppermint but taste is citrusy. Weird.

 

[vernsgal]

okay , I finally got my wine started yesterday. Changed my mind on what to do several times but then on viewing another members post on their wine I got intrigued and put this together
Spiced Beet Wine
5 ½ lbs Beets (washed and peeled)
2 cups Orange Juice concentrate
2 cups (approx.1 ½ lbs) Honey
4 cups Sugar
1 ½ cup Raisons
2 Cinnamon sticks
2 Allspice berries
2 g Ground Nutmeg
4 tsp. Orange zest
1 tsp Bentonite
2 tsp Acid blend
2 g Tannin
1/8 tsp k-meta
1 ½ tsp Pectic enzyme
1 ½ tsp Yeast nutrient
Day 1
Peeled and washed beets and put them in a large pot. Covered with water, brought to a low boil then simmered until beets were tender.(approx.1 ½ hrs)
Removed the beets and set aside. Added the orange juice concentrate, sugar (4cups), honey and spices to the beet water.
Covered and simmered for 10 minutes. Poured into primary, topped up to 1 ½ Gal. with cool water. Allowed to cool.
SG 1.116
Added tannin,pectic enzyme ½ tsp nutrient, acid blend. Stirred well, then added raisons and orange zest. PH 3.45

Day 2 (today)
Checked SG –too high - 1.116. added 1 L water SG 1.097 PH 3.5
Made a yeast starter - after 3 hours pitched the yeast

 

[the_rayway]

The yeast is happy! Fermentation has started and everything smells good.

I had to make a couple of adjustments: I used 1 Lb of raw sugar, and 2 Lbs of white sugar to get the OG to 1.116. I didn't want the raw sugar to overpower the apricots as they are the star in this one. I also only added 3 litres of water total, as the apricots were nice and juicy which gave me my gallon point.

I'm thinking I'll bottle this in 375mL bottles, which should get me around 12 bottles at the end. That's really reasonable at $7.50 per bottle for a handmade port - James is totally right regarding the cost of actually purchasing the stuff from the store. Plus, you just can't get stuff like this at the store around here! (really looking forward to the welches port recipe too!)

The wines this month are really interesting again! How is it that the more recipes I see you all posting, the more I have to put on my "to-brew list"?? Lol, so many flavour combinations and great ideas.

Winenoob - what's on sale right now? That's usually how I decide on any given month...

 

[vernsgal]

How is it that the more recipes I see you all posting, the more I have to put on my "to-brew list"??

Winenoob - what's on sale right now? That's usually how I decide on any given month...

I agree. My to-do list keeps growing! And I think I'm going to start making a month to month as to what's in season!

 

[the_rayway]

I agree. My to-do list keeps growing! And I think I'm going to start making a month to month as to what's in season!

Good to know I'm not the only one that does this! I find it makes a big difference in what I look for at the store now that I have it written out.

 

[kryptonitewine]

My problem Is my backlog. I picked blueberries in the summer. Just made blue blood but still haven't made the blueberry. Finally making my strawberry. Fred up some carboys so I should be filling them soon.

 

[vernsgal]

today I made a slurry with bentonite and added , as well as another 1/2 tsp of nutrient. Must smells great and is bubbling away! color is almost psychedelic, lol

 

[the_rayway]

Yesterday morning the Apricot was at SG 1.09, and in the evening it was at 1.07. Today might be the day for adding the brandy! I've been sloshing it around in the bucket and squeezing the fruit a couple of times a day to keep everything nice and wet.

That D254 yeast is going crazy in the bucket: foaming like a mad thing, the pantyhose I have the fruit in has expanded so it looks like someone is wearing them, and you can hear it snapping from the kitchen! (It's at the front door to keep cool). I'll try and remember to snap a picture this morning.

 

[wineforfun]

Just started a Welch's concord 2 gal. batch last night. I will pitch yeast tonight.
This is an offshoot of jswordy's Super Sugar method. Going to add some "extras" when it has run dry and is in ageing state.


On a side note, I just bottled up my apple/jalapeno. I am curious to see how some time in the bottle affects it as it is pretty decent right now. I backsweetened with sugar so it has a semi-sweet start and then BAM, you get the heat.

 

[wineforfun]

I"ve never had a port that I liked so I'll be interested in first impressions when you try yours, Rayway.

Same here, and I have tried a fair amount of them. I think it may be due to the fact that I don't like brandy. I will be interested also to hear what Ray thinks of hers. I may have to give one a shot, just to try to make it.

 

[jamesngalveston]

rayway, if your wine is that low on the hydrometer, you should let it go dry.
you missed the place to add the brandy.
not sure where you started out, but i doubt there is much sugar left, meaning its almost dry.
port is normally a sweet table wine....
normally brandy is added to a wine at 1.050 to 1.030 to retain the sugar so you dont have to backsweeten..

 

[the_rayway]

Oops! Sorry James - the S.G. was 1.070 (I forgot to add the "0" at the end). This morning it's at 1.060, so I'm still good! I swear - I'm not going to miss the mark! It's a good thing I'm still at home for the next while...makes it easier to keep an eye on it.

This morning things have calmed down considerably. The temps outside were down to like -45c, so it was quite chilly at the front door. Must temp had dropped to 16c (I adjusted my SG readings accordingly). There was barely any activity, so I gave it a good stir, and popped it into the warm library to get it going again.

Wineforfun & Jeri: My Hubby and I were 'taste testing' the brandy I picked up, and it's not bad. I'm not one to drink 40% straight up and warm, but I think mixed with the very strong apricot flavours I've got it should be quite tasty.

If I don't miss my mark of 1.050, I should need 2 parts apricot must to 1 part brandy. That's not too shabby a mix - I'm practicing my Pearson Square daily so I don't screw it up...

Also, as you can see, the apricots are completely broken down into mush.

 

[Winenoob66]

OK I had a friend give me a gallon of pink grapefruit juice they had bought and didn't like. lol now that's cheap wine in the making, only thing is, is there is no recipes on just using plain juice just the whole grapefruits so I will have to kinda figure it out on my own soon as I have time to sit and plan it out I will be on the way with something pink grapefruit wine.

 

[jamesngalveston]

use the gallon, add sugar to 1.095, and pectin enzme,yeast nutrient,about 8 oz of strong black tea, and about 8 oz of water....youll have about 1 1/2 gallons when you go to second vessel, with some left over for topping off a few times......

 

[jamesngalveston]

ray if its too sweet, let it go down another 5 points, test again..if its still to sweet drop another 5...get it to where it taste like you want, the use the pearson square, 1.050 is a starting point.

 

[the_rayway]

Phew! Almost missed it! Between 11:30 am and 2:30, it dropped from 1.060 to 1.048.

Popped the fruit bag up on to the spoon to drip while I got everything prepped. Here's the math:

Pearson Square:
a = 40% (ABV of brandy)
b = 8.9% (ABV of must)
c = 20% (Target ABV)
d = 11.1 (c-b = Proportion of spirit to be added)
e = 31.1 (a-b = Proportion of must to be added)
Therefore: 3 parts must to 1 part brandy.

Funneled the mix into 2x1 gallon jugs, and as you can see, nearly filled them both.
Once the particles fall out, and it has some age on it, I think it will be VERY nice. OMG, the apricot is soooo nice with the brandy/vanilla taste.

I will wait on the oak decision until it has cleared some.

 

[wineforfun]

2 questions.
1. Is that flavored brandy or what is it exactly?
2. Do you always leave that much headspace in your carboys?