Adding Rasins Question

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MRM

Junior
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Hi,
New here as you can tell. I have read about kits with raisins and adding Raisins as a way to give the wine more body.
I would like to add raisins to a less expensive kit to increase body. I have read that raisins also contain sulfites so my question is how do you prepare the raisins to be added to the must? Wash them? Soak Them? Anything else?
Thanks
Mike
 
Howdy MRM.
I add raisins to all of my fruit wines and have never had any kind of problem. I just chop them up and put them in my strainer bag.
Brad
 
Howdy MRM.
I add raisins to all of my fruit wines and have never had any kind of problem. I just chop them up and put them in my strainer bag.
Brad

could u chop em with a few pulses in the blender?
 
could u chop em with a few pulses in the blender?

You can. I just dropped a cup in and let 'em go. I did however make my s.gravity a hair low as raisins will add sugar to your must.

Some folks boil them a bit. Not entirely necessary. Always check the ingredients before adding them. As they are broken down by the pectic enzyme they will turn gray and puff up. They look like wedding soup meatballs.:db
 
You can. I just dropped a cup in and let 'em go. I did however make my s.gravity a hair low as raisins will add sugar to your must.

Some folks boil them a bit. Not entirely necessary. Always check the ingredients before adding them. As they are broken down by the pectic enzyme they will turn gray and puff up. They look like wedding soup meatballs.:db

sounds gross, lol, but if it helps, i will do it. any comparisons between raisins, bananas, or white grape concentrate?
 
any comparisons between raisins, bananas, or white grape concentrate?
raisins are grapes, bananas are yucky (personal opinion), and will both add body to the wine. I don't think that grape concentrate adds body to the wine. However I've never tested side-by-side versions.

Steve
 
raisins are grapes, bananas are yucky (personal opinion), and will both add body to the wine. I don't think that grape concentrate adds body to the wine. However I've never tested side-by-side versions.

Steve

hmm, this is making me lean towards raisins for my strawberry breeze...
 
i think i've missed this somewhere along the way...what is the standard amount to use for a 5 or 6 gallon batch?
 
I checked ingredients on the raisins till I found a brand with no sulphtes. I have used them on my second Vino Europa kit and it improved it over the first one. I used 2 pounds if I remember right (notebook is downstairs) Do remember that it is not a magic potion to turn a cheap kit into something as good as a higher end kit. It was a side by side improvement. My opinion with my particular ewxperiment only was that no raisins was not worth opening and with raisins would be OK if you were on the 5th or 6th glass !!!!!!! Just my .02 from very limited experience.
 
First: raisins are full of sulphites. Look at the packaging.

Rinse them first with hot water and then rinse them a few times
with cold water.

Second: raisins are a hell to chop up.

Soak them overnight and they will be full of water ands soft so easily chopped up.

Look here for the nfull story:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/11/rozijnen-raisins.html

Luc
 
ok, so now i'm rethinking things, lol. just wanna add a little something to the strawberry breeze recipe to make sure it isn't lacking in body.
 
ok, so now i'm rethinking things, lol. just wanna add a little something to the strawberry breeze recipe to make sure it isn't lacking in body.

I have a friend who used bananas for body in a wine made out of some kind of strawberry concentrate. It is currently in bulk storage with a brilliant color, good body, and good taste. The smell is horrible but I think that has more to do with the artificial flavors in the concentrate than the bananas.
 
I use 2#'s per 6 gallons when I am using the CA, Italian and Chilean juices. I find no problem with sulfites in the Sams Club raisens. Yes they gi in a straining bag in the primary. I dont see any reason to chop them up. Adding 1 cup will not do much
 
... I dont see any reason to chop them up...

I read somewhere recently about a comparison of results with chopped vs whole raisins and the conclusion was that there was little or no real difference or value to chopping them.

Now if I could just remember where that info was...
 
I get Red Flame raisins from Whole Foods. I add one pound per 6 gallon kit without chopping. I let them float loose in primary bucket. They puff up to the size of a Shooter marble. When finished with primary I squeeze the heck out of them with cheesecloth. Bananas are yucky!
 

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