Black choke cherry wine

[NorthernWinos]

JW....what is that brilliantly clear wine on the left????

 

[moose]

That chokecherry looks great. I'll have to do some berry picking next year.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

NW that is Rhubarb to the left, the Wild Port Style, Choke Cherry, Danadylion on far right.If no rain in the A.M. plan on seeing if any cherries left, and getting a batch of wild plum picked...then maybe over to Farmers to raid his pickle jar!

 

[Wade E]

That rhubarb is absolutely glowing!

 

[hannabarn]

I am going to start the choke cherry wine. I have a question. How do you use the vanilla beans? Expensive little devils aren't they? I don't want to ruin them with ignorance!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

I cut them in half and then cut them length wise and throw them in with the oak. I leave them in for the primary fermentation...I have rinsed them off and put them in the secondary for a short time.....Think you could use one and leave it in longer. I did leave 2 in a Crabapple/Apple wine for a tad too long and the vanilla really came through...Jim likes that one.

I buy them at a Food Co-op...2 beans for about $1.25...the price had gone up from $1.10...They have everything in bulk there....and they bag these up 2 per package. I think they are over priced at most places...so shop around a bit.

I wonder if you could add just a dash of pure vanilla extract and get the same effect????

I put almond extract in my Chokecherry pancake syrup and it really is nice.

If you are making your first batch maybe just go au naturale.....and see how you like it.

 

[hannabarn]

Thanks NW> The first store I went to the price was over $10 for 1 bean! I said forget it. Then I found 2 beans in Walmart for $8.44 so I bought them. That's why I didn't want to ruin them. I thought about using vanilla extract also but then found the beans!

 

[grapeman]

If you are making your first batch maybe just go au naturale.....and see how you like it.

I tried that one time when the kids were gone for the day and I kind of liked it, butthe wifetold me to go put some clothes on!

 

[hannabarn]

My wife has a short memory! Maybe I'll try that again!! On second thought, I better not! If she liked it, I'd be in trouble and if she didn't like it I'd be in trouble! NO win situation!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks NW> The first store I went to the price was over $10 for 1 bean! I said forget it. Then I found 2 beans in Walmart for $8.44 so I bought them. That's why I didn't want to ruin them. I thought about using vanilla extract also but then found the beans!

$8.44 for 2 beans???? WOW.....Take them back.

I would look for a food Co-op...Natural Food Store etc....before I saw that some people were buying them OnLine pretty cheap...

Google... vanilla beans
....[don't know about shipping at these places]




http://www.topvanilla.com/index.html?gclid=CLmWv4fY4ZUCFRGHQAodByeWWg

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=vanilla+beans&_sacat=See-All-Categories

http://youngagain.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=151

You can put your vanilla beans in vodka and make your own extract.....
You can put your vanilla beans in white table sugar and have vanilla sugar.

I like the little flavor they give the wine...just a hint of another flavor layer.






http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=vanilla+beans&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[NorthernWinos]

If you are making your first batch maybe just go au naturale.....and see how you like it.

I tried that one time when the kids were gone for the day and I kind of liked it, butthe wifetold me to go put some clothes on!

You guys are a hoot!!!

Thanks for the grins!!!

 

[Orion]

Doesnt the choke cherrys have to be pitted and if so how do you pit them?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Chokecherries are too small to pit....I steam juice them to get my juice.
Some people freeze them and then put them whole in a straining bag and go on from there....

 

[hannabarn]

After freezing them to keep them for awhile, I thawed them and put them in a collandar and, being careful not to break the pits I got quit a bit of juice. Next time I'm going to try simmering them in hot water before using the collandar! I just racked the batch from the primary to the secondary and it sure looks good! Also, the juice from the collandar was put directly into the straining bag and squeezed into the primary. Edited by: hannabarn

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Sure it will be a good one Barney, I follow NW's recipe pretty close, one exception I used red wine grapes instead of the concentrate. Added oak today, smells really incredible!

 

[hannabarn]

My choke cherry wine is almost done fermenting in the secondary. When it stops, do I add bentonite? Or should I degas and add super kleer? Sorbate?

 

[Wade E]

Using a fining agent is your choice, you can just let time do its thing. SuperKleer and Bentonite are both fining agents. You should though use k-meta 1st, then sorbate, then degas before using a fining agent or letting it clear with time so that it will clear properly. Get the temps up to mid to high 70's for degassing as it helps get more gas out which in turn will help your wine clear better.

 

[hannabarn]

Thanks, Wade. I just needed a little confidence that I was doing everything right! It looks like I am right on schedule as my temp is about 76d and it hasn't quite finished fermenting> I looks just like the picture JWM Posted!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Sometimes our Chokecherry wine drops sediment forever....maybe because we steam juice our Chokecherries.

I do use Super-Kleer KC to help the sediment fall....then wait.........and........sometimes it will still drop a bit of sediment in the bottle.

This may not happen if you didn't steam juice.....
Anyone have comments on Chokecherry sediment????

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[hannabarn]

There was a lot of sediment in the primary and I left a lot of it behind when I racked into the secondary. There is still quite a bit on the bottom of the secondary. I hope leaving some in the primary doesn't hurt it! I just tasted some on it tasted pretty yummy!!!