Chokeberry/blackcherry recipe thoughts

[dcteague]

I have a few things sitting around and thought I'd make a quick 1 gallon recipe of chokeberry/blackcherry wine. Would be interested in thoughts on the below. Main question I have is the yeast - wondering what might make the most sense for such a wine. This is a hybrid of Jack Keller's recipes for these 2 wines - the only difference was in the acid amounts, so I took the average. Once I get the concentrates and pure juices mixed, I can adjust volumes to hit the target SG, but I'm hoping to start with around 1.25 gallons of must so that when I transfer I hit 1 gallon+, then would top off with blackcherry juice to fill the gallon jug to eliminate any head space over time.

• 20oz Chokeberry Concentrate
• 64oz Pure Blackcherry Juice
• 56oz Water
• Granulated sugar to 1.08S.G.
• 1/2lb raisins
• 1 vanilla beann
• 4oz oak during aging
• 3/4 tsp acid blend
• 1/8 tsp tannin
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• wine yeast (need help here)

Add juices and water to about 1.25 gallons, then add sugar till you reach 1.08 S.G. – add all acids, yeast nutrient, and campden tablet at the same time, then stir well to dissolve everything, cover and forget about it for 24 hours. Add yeast and re-cover. Stir nightly, checking S.G., and when it drops to around 1.030, rack into a covered/dark secondary. Fit airlock and rack in another three weeks. Rack three more times, once every two months, bottling after third racking. Stabilize and sweeten slightly to taste. Bottle and age 9-12 months.

 

[Julie]

I think I would drop the water down to no more than 32 oz. maybe increase the chokeberry? I am not sure if I would add both vanilla bean and oak, I think one or the other. With the oak, you will get some vanilla flavor. Check the acid level before adding any acid blend, personally I hate just adding acid blend blindly and I am not sure if I would add tannin since you are adding raisins. The yeast I would use is Lavlin 71B 1122.

Let me know how this turns out, it sounds very interesting. I once made a chokecherry & cherry blend that I threw in some elderberries after I finished making an elderberry wine and seconds, seem like there was still a lot of juice left in the berries so put it in with the chokecherry/cherry. Turned out pretty good.

 

[dcteague]

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll use the Lavlin - now that I go back and look at Jacks recipe, that's what he recommended as well. He also suggested only using Tannin in his chokeberry wine if its flat during secondary, so maybe I will follow that advice. Elderberries is a good addition and I happen to have some now that you mention it. So now maybe it'll look like this:

• 24oz Chokeberry Concentrate
• 64oz Pure Blackcherry Juice
• 32oz Water
• Granulated sugar to 1.08S.G.
• 1/2lb raisins
• 1/2 cup elderberries
• 4oz oak during aging
• 3/4 tsp acid blend
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Lavlin 71B 1122

 

[dcteague]

So I made up the must, and at the end of the process, I ended up with the following based on a less than precise process.

20oz chokeberry concentrate
64oz blackcherry juice
48oz water (some boiled with the raisins and elderberries)
1/2lb raisins
3/4cup elderberries
3/4 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp yeast energizer (couldn't find my nutrient)

Initial SG is 1.087. That should put me right at or slightly above 12%, so I think I'm good. I'll be very interested in how this turns out, as I have about 2 gallons of this chokeberry concentrate, and I'd love to replicate an easy recipe that's a quick drink.

 

[Julie]

Oh this is sounding pretty good! Keep letting us know how it goes

 

[dcteague]

The starting must tasted amazing. Can't wait to see how this turns out - I'm hoping its a quick drinker but we'll see.

 

[UBB]

4 oz of oak for 1 gal seems extreme. I'd have to check my notes but I typically don't use that much on 6 gallon batches (admittedly I don;t prefer really OAKED wine though.)