Chocolate Strawberry Port

[SpringRoad]

Airplanedoc, Wade,

Before pitching yeast, 2 Campden Tablets were added to Raspberries. No Potassium Sorbate yet.
After reading and rereading, I see that on the 17th day SG .090, might have been the time when the Potassium Sorbate and Campden should have been added. Yikes!
What should I do??
?If the warmth got it going again, and still at 1.015 for 3 days with a bit of bubble on top, ought I to now add the Potassium Sorbate? Or wait til no bubbles, and around .998?
The wine tastes yummy, yet dry-ish,
?Ought I to add Daquir mix after the Potassium and Campden to sweetin?
and of course ...is it still One tablet per gallon at this stage?
one more question to Wade...did you mean the Brandy may have stopped the yeast, but maybe I did not put in enough to do that?
Whew, feels like a marathon. thanks for your time,
Spring Road~~

 

[LJPelletier]

Airplanedoc, Wade,

Before pitching yeast, 2 Campden Tablets were added to Raspberries. No Potassium Sorbate yet.
After reading and rereading, I see that on the 17th day SG .090, might have been the time when the Potassium Sorbate and Campden should have been added. Yikes!
What should I do??
?If the warmth got it going again, and still at 1.015 for 3 days with a bit of bubble on top, ought I to now add the Potassium Sorbate? Or wait til no bubbles, and around .998?
The wine tastes yummy, yet dry-ish,
?Ought I to add Daquir mix after the Potassium and Campden to sweetin?
and of course ...is it still One tablet per gallon at this stage?
one more question to Wade...did you mean the Brandy may have stopped the yeast, but maybe I did not put in enough to do that?
Whew, feels like a marathon. thanks for your time,
Spring Road~~

How did that end up working out for you, SpringRoad?

Campden and Sorbate should be added just before f-pack and backsweetening. The combination of the 2 are what will prevent re-fermentation or any potential bacterial infection.

 

[Wade E]

Sorry, never saw this post!! Always wait until the wine ferments as far as it will go before adding any sirbate or sulfites or you could end up with refermentation later unless you use enough alc to bring the abv higher then the yeasts threshold.

 

[Sammyk]

do you think Lalvin 71B would work?

 

[Wade E]

Should work well.

 

[Sammyk]

Well, duh? I just checked my yeast in the fridge and it is EC1118, will that work?

I have to roundup all the other supplies so I could get a different yeast if needed?

Do you have any other input on this port? It sure sounds wonderful and am looking forward to making it.

 

[GrandpasFootsteps]

From "the Chart", EC-1118 looks like it will work well also. 71B has ABV tolerance of 14% and 1118 has 18%. So you may end up with more ABV depending on your SG. 1118 has a wider termperature allowance and a faster fermentation.

 

[Wade E]

The place I was lookink said 18% for that yeast, must be mislabeled there!

 

[Sammyk]

I have read most of the tread herehttp://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3349&page=17

Now I am wondering if you think buying the kit is a better idea? I did call a few places and found it will not be available until the fall.

While I did not finish that thread, it seems there are/were a lot of problems for that kit.

And it did not appear you have problems with your version.

Thoughts?

 

[desertwind56]

Been a little over a year since I started mine and got it bottle a couple of weeks ago. It is my favorite wine project to date. It is so good! I'm planning on have a bottle (or 3-4) with some home grown chocolate covered strawberries this summer.

 

[Wade E]

Glad you liked it and was worth the work. It is a bunch of work and the funny thing is was that this was not even close to what it was intended to be, it was a Jack Keller recipe that IMO was terrible and this is what came from it!

 

[weonlycut]

I have done with it by making some alterations myself. But it was a good experience. finally it was delicious!

 

[southlake333]

Can someone please provide a link to an acceptable chocolate extract to be used with this recipe? All I've found online are these:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/chocolate-extract-4-oz.html

http://www.finevinewines.com/XPListSubRe.asp?MM_PartNumber=3530

Would those work?

 

[Wade E]

Dont have a link but I went to one of those highend kitchen places to get mine as most are freakin nasty!

 

[southlake333]

For future reference for others, I was told by others who have made this that they used the following:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/nielsen-massey-chocolate-extract-4-oz

http://www.olivenation.com/Pure-Chocolate-Extract-P88C55.aspx

 

[brewski09]

Could cocoa nibs be used to impart the chocolate flavors (the alcohol extracts the flavors when I use it in stouts)?

 

[keena]

Can someone post an Amazon link to the cocoa for this recipe. I typed in Ghirardelli Cocoa powder and it popped up:
Cocoa powder unsweetened
Baking cocoa powder
Cocoa drink mix powder
Ect....

Also what yeast did you guys use? And what abv are you finishing with (before adding brandy)? I would like to use a yeast that maxes out where im aiming for so when I add the brandy it guarantees no refermentation. I've been having trouble with that lately, lol. I really want to try this but I want to know what I'm doin before I put this much effort into it. Also I will probly convert it to 5 or 6 gal recipe, anyone try that? (lacking 3 gal carboys)

 

[saramc]

• Can someone post an Amazon link to the cocoa for this recipe. I have started using the dutch cocoa powder from Nuts.com http://nuts.com/cookingbaking/powders/dutch-cocoa.html, and I also buy my cocoa nibs from them. Prior to that I used Hershey's Special Dark--no complaints. Here is a link to Amazon and a good selection of DUTCH COCOA, http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_scat_16310101_ln?rh=n%3A16310101%2Ck%3Adutch+cocoa&keywords=dutch+cocoa&ie=UTF8&qid=1345646168&scn=16310101&h=28f14dca63afa90878331f2c38420083f6c3a4d3. I would recommend first reading up on using Dutch processed cocoa powder in winemaking at http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020512B . . . because you then have a better understanding, especially if you plan to make chocolate wines.
• Also what yeast did you guys use? I used Cotes de Blanc
• And what abv are you finishing with (before adding brandy)? My recipe notes indicate to allow the ferment to go as dry as it is going to before adding the liquid chocolate extract, frozen strawberry daiquiri mix, sugar syrup, strawberry syrup and brandy. My ferment is still active (just started 2 weeks ago)
• I would like to use a yeast that maxes out where im aiming for so when I add the brandy it guarantees no refermentation. I've been having trouble with that lately, lol. I really want to try this but I want to know what I'm doin before I put this much effort into it. A specific yeast will give you a RANGE of its alcohol potential, but even then just about every yeast out there has been known to exceed its documented potential by several percent. This is why controlling the starting specific gravity is so important--you can calculate the anticipated final ACV assuming the wine ferments to dry (several online calculators available). Many will attempt to stop an active ferment, and there are various methods: cold crash it, rack, sterile filter (several times), stabilize with k-meta/sorbate and HOPE that will do it..then of course you consider fortifying with a high proof alcohol...or some opt to pasteurize. But in all reality, if you know the ACV you want to target you use a very specific O.G. and you allow the wine to ferment as low as the yeast will go with the available sugars and then stabilize with k-meta/sorbate, & then backsweeten if desired--you will have a better outcome.
• Also I will probly convert it to 5 or 6 gal recipe, anyone try that? (lacking 3 gal carboys) Quite easy to do, just divide the provided recipe by three to obtain your "per gallon" increments, remember that a typical packet of yeast will start five gallons (though many people use a really good starter and will use one packet on six gallons). Don't forget, that whenever working with cocoa powder measure it based on WEIGHT, it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE (Jack talks about it in his blog that I referenced a few bullet points earlier)

If you follow the instructions in the recipe, and you have your winemaking basics down pat, then you should be fine.

 

[saramc]

using nibs

Could cocoa nibs be used to impart the chocolate flavors (the alcohol extracts the flavors when I use it in stouts)?

I have used nibs (if you shop at nuts.com they usually have a nice sample bag you can order for minimal price--if you are unsure) to make an extract, but have never added them directly to the ferment. I simply place the nibs in a glass canning jar and cover them with twice the amount of high proof neutral grain alcohol. Seal with airtight lid and try to remember to agitate the jar weekly. It helps if I place the jar next to my bottles of vanilla--that way I remember to give them all a shake.
With time you will notice layering of color, from the bottom up you will have nibs, then a bronze clear liquid, then a clear liquid. I leave the extract on the nibs as I use it, but you can strain it off into a separate bottle, but I wait until the layer of clear liquid is smaller than the bronze layer--just a sign of greater extraction. I have an extraction going now, and I roasted the nibs at 450F for six minutes, stirring/turning then half way thru, allowed them to cool and then placed them in the jar and added the alcohol.

I would love to hear about anyone's experience if adding just the nibs to ferment.

 

[saramc]

chocolate extracts

For future reference for others, I was told by others who have made this that they used the following:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/nielsen-massey-chocolate-extract-4-oz

http://www.olivenation.com/Pure-Chocolate-Extract-P88C55.aspx

I love the Star Kay White chocolate extract that OliveNation sells.