The Rhubarb Wine

[fabrictodyefor]

I do use 10% raspberries to my rhubarb. My first batch mention, 25 lbs rhubarb I made 5 gallons of wine, I thought it was not enough fruit. The second, I added a little too much water and ended up with 8 gallons of wine. This 3rd batch, 75 lbs rhubarb and 7.5 lbs raspberries I'm shooting for 12 gallons of wine. Don't get me wrong the first 2 batches were plenty good!! What I do is take out the rhubarb from the freezer, sprinkle with pectic enzyme and crushed campden tablets as I put it in the bucket, add some sugar (to the 75 lbs I only added 4 lbs of sugar at this point). Then pour hot water over and let thaw, this took about a day and a half. I do stir it up and break apart the still frozen chunks. Then I let it soak in the water for 3 days....then I press the fruit. (I do have a fruit press, but the first time I just squeezed with my hands) I am always a little surprised how much water comes out of the rhubarb. So I am hoping I have no more than 12 gallons of rhubarb water this time. I will then add sugar to sg around 1.080, add the raspberries (that are in a mesh bag) and let set overnight. I then check the sg again and bring it up to 1.085. I prefer my fruit wines to have a lower alcohol content. For the 5 gallon batch, I added 1 1/2 tsp tannin, 2 1/2 tsp yeast enzyme and 1 tsp yeast nutrient, then pitched the yeast. I used Red Star champagne yeast the first time, RBS133 the second time and I think this time I am going to use either D47 or W15. Hope this leads you in the right direction! I read a lot on-line about rhubarb wine and some said they had trouble with it clearing, I've never had that problem. I don't ferment the rhubarb, only the rhubarb juice, maybe this is why I don't have trouble clearing the wine.

 

[GreginND]

I have experimented with many ways to make rhubarb wine over the years and find this general process to be the best . . .

Chop and freeze rhubarb.
Thaw rhubarb and press out the juice.
Add water to the pulp - the same volume as the initial pressed juice.
Press again.

This ratio of rhubarb to water usually provides a must with balanced acidity without need for adjusting.

Add sugar to SG 1.090 (or your desired level).

Ferment with favorite yeast and nutrients. I like 71b.

Pectic enzyme? Rhubarb is pretty low in pectin content. I don't think it's necessary.

If clearing is a problem, gelatin fining is usually the best way to go.

 

[geek]

The question is if this varietal is available at liquor stores....need to give it a try...

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Thanks, 4e, a much more scientific approach than my guessing! Next time....I'll try it your way, and yes I do freeze it before I do anything. The original recipe I used, used pectic enzyme, so that's why I've stuck with it....next time I'll eliminate that! Some day we still hope to make it up that way!

 

[fabrictodyefor]

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/bobbievcncom/1434659899642_IMG_20150618_143802_861.jpg

pictures and downloading them to web sites is not my "thing". This was started last summer and got it bottled today.

 

[Northerngal]

Looks great!!! Thanks

 

[jsiddall]

I made a batch of rhubarb wine late last year and it is... interesting. I followed a recipe from grapestompers but I think it must have been sized for UK gallons and written by someone who really likes high alcohol. Mine ended up at 15.8% ABV after 20% dilution! It was on its way to 18.5% ABV before I added the extra water. Now I know to go by the SG rather than the recipe for sugar!

Aside from the expected heat it is otherwise similar to a white wine albeit with some strange flavors that I don't even know how to describe. Oddly, none of those flavors is at all reminiscent of rhubarb. This despite the fact that I kept about 5% sweet reserve which was used for backsweetening.

Some other details that might be interesting:

My rhubarb is the reddish kind like 4e pictured but the juice extracted after adding the sugar was a pale beige color.

Especially strange is that it turned an orange and then vibrant peachy color at various stages in the ferment. Eventually I cleared it with Sparkolloid and it ended up a pale golden color that looks like any other white wine.

I used K1V-1116 yeast.

This batch had my lowest ever recorded SG: 0.989

I hand squeezed the pulp and ended up with a surprising (for me anyway) 80% mass extraction. I started off with 14.6 lb rhubarb for what was intended to be 3 gal of wine, and ended up with 2.9 lb of pulp.

Per the recipe I added some precipitated chalk but I might have preferred leaving that out as I like a fair amount of acidity. While I wouldn't call this batch flat it won't make you pucker either.

I also left out the K-meta pre-ferment. I found someone who indicated that sulfites pre-ferment stripped the rhubarb flavor. Despite leaving it out I cannot detect any rhubarb taste.

It is now 7 months old and unfortunately still rather unpleasant. I know this is going to need some serious aging time so I will give it a year or two more before passing final judgement (and potentially dumping down the drain!)

 

[michael-s]

Interesting and very useful information, thank you.

I made my first batch of rhubarb wine last November, 2014. I too started with frozen rhubarb (20lbs) and made a big mistake of adding the same amount of sugar at the beginning to the frozen rhubarb. The SG was way too high to start fermentation and ended up removing juice and adding water getting the SG down lower. I did but it was at the high end of SG when fermentation started and like someone stated earlier the finished wine tastes good, but very strong. (alcohol taste)
Going to follow same recipe again but will only goes with half the amount of sugar and adjust SG up if needed. I was hoping someone might of tried adding blueberries along with the rhubarb as I am curious if that would make a good wine. Raspberries or Strawberries seem common ones to add.

 

[GreginND]

My rhubarb is the reddish kind like 4e pictured but the juice extracted after adding the sugar was a pale beige color.

This is typical. There are a few varieties of rhubarb that are red all the way through that leave a pink color in the wine. But usually the red color is bleached out when you add k-meta. The sulfites immediately turn the pink into a white wine color.

 

[kevinlfifer]

do you use kmeta at stabilization or just sorbate?

 

[fabrictodyefor]

I think mine has the blush color due as much to the raspberries as the red rhubarb. 4e....so now I am second guessing myself.... We pressed the rhubarb this morning and I have 11 gallons. I had added 4 gallons of water to the 75 lbs of raspberries. I was shooting for 12 gallons. Going backwards from the way you make the wine am I in the ballpark? Should I just stick with the 11 gallons....I will be adding 7 1/2 lbs of raspberries. Or should I add another gallon of water before I start the ferment? I will definitely be doing it different next time. I like the more measured formula you use, takes the second-guessing out of things!

 

[jsiddall]

do you use kmeta at stabilization or just sorbate?

I used both.

 

[jsiddall]

I think mine has the blush color due as much to the raspberries as the red rhubarb.

Yes, unless your rhubarb is red all the way through the color is entirely from the raspberries.

 

[wyogal]

My goodness, 300 lbs? How much per gallon?

Picking up 300 pounds of rhubarb tomorrow to add to my 400 pounds already frozen. Now looking for more freezer space and bigger tanks!

OM Goodness, I can't even imagine 300 pounds of rhubarb! I have 1 (yes ONE) 3yr old plant and I have been thinning it since late april, with all into the freezer that I haven't used in baked goods.

Have several questions for you. My first experiment w/winemaking was last summer w/chokecherries, 3lbs fruit to the gallon. Is this the right proportion for rhubarb too? Have you mixed it with other fruits such as chokecherries, raspberries, or anything else? How does the rhubarb blend with sweet fruits? Is 50/50 a good start or does it take a higher proportion of sweet fruits to be able to taste both in the finished product? (Not talking about sweetness here but flavor)

All your experience will be greatly appreciated

 

[fabrictodyefor]

hi again, wyogal! I would process the rhubarb the way 4e has done it in this thread. I have done it differently, my latest batch, using 75 lbs of rhubarb, I ended up with 11 gallons of juice and just stuck with that. I only add 10% raspberries to that, just racked it to car boys yesterday, 2 six gallon car boys and 1 two gallon car boy. I think I'll probably end up with 12 gallons after all is said and done and I rack it off lees a couple of times. I think if you added too much "other" fruit it could over-power the rhubarb. But I have only added raspberries, no other fruit.

 

[the_rayway]

I did Rhubarb and Strawberries with a few other berries tossed in and you can definitely taste everything in there.

 

[wineon4]

I make Rhubarb wine every summer. I cut the stalks into one inch size pieces and freeze them for 2 weeks. I then fill a 25 gallon drum with frozen pieces to thaw once they thaw I add peptic enzyme to I and then I have enough to make 6 gallon of wine. Mine is a light pink color and tastes great. I am on my 4th batch for this season. One of the best wines I have tasted. Rhubarb has an excellent flavor.


I have received 3 Gold's, 1 double gold and a double gold best of show for it.

 

[michael-s]

wineon4 in any of the batches of wine you have made have you added any other fruit in the batch as a secondary addition and if you have what did you
add and how much, relative to weight.

 

[montanaWineGuy]

Mine is a light pink color and tastes great.

I have received 3 Gold's, 1 double gold and a double gold best of show for it.

Very encouraging. I second raked my 1st batch yesterday, and added some Bentonite. I expect/hope to be bottling it all in a week or so.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

I did Rhubarb and Strawberries with a few other berries tossed in and you can definitely taste everything in there.

now that sounds interesting, rayway. I may have to experiment. Now that people know I'll come pick their rhubarb I already have 55 more pounds in the freezer and more of mine to pick! The rhubarb is one of my very favorites also!