CHOKECHERRY BOTTLED

[NorthernWinos]

Judging by the members Posts over the last couple days a lot of wines have been bottled this weekend.....

We bottled one of our favorite wines too...Chokecherry...it seems to be a staple here.....Will put a case away to age and rack up the rest....

 

[Wade E]

You go girl! When you find something you like ya stick with it and make some others on the side to experiment. 1 of these days I hope i can keep my labels more generic like yours cause they look awesome and would take less time on top of it. I always go overboard which typically ruins them.

 

[rm-mi]

What is your recipe for the chockcherry wine? As it looks like it is going to be a good year for them in my location. I have not made this before but have had it and it is very good.

 

[NorthernWinos]

rm-mi...
This is a pretty standard recipe that I use.....
I steam extract the juice, but you could use any method of getting out the juice...or use a straining bag.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


8-10 QUARTS JUICE = 22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES
2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
7 1/2# to 9# SUGAR [S.G. 1.085]

6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
3 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
4 tsp ACID BLEND
2 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
2 VANILLA BEANS


S.G. 1.085 water to 6 1/2 gallons


Next day:
3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME

3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
LALVIN RC-212 YEAST

Ferment,rack and clear in usual manner.

 

[Joanie]

Your bottled wine is a purdiful sight!

 

[rgecaprock]

NW,


That recipe sounds so good. Do the vanilla beans give a mellow taste?


Ramona


I had some of PWP's chokecherry and I loved it.

 

[Waldo]

Looking mighty fine NW

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Ithink this year I will try the concentrate and vanilla beans in my batches. Last years turned out to be very good, just starting to consume it, figure that would kick it up a notch! The trees are really loaded around here, hope they all ripen and make it to harvest!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Steady cold rain today......Good day for wine maintenance...

Racked two batches of Chokecherry Wine that got started July 23 and July 30...They are coming along nicely.....will rack a couple more times and then bottle....Want empty carboys to make something else.....

 

[Waldo]

What's next NW

 

[NorthernWinos]

I got some Pinot Noir Juice....[just inexpensive stuff [not cheap]]....I am going to add juice from 10# of Blueberries, plus the pulp from the steamer....And mix to 5 or 6 gallons.

Guess it will be Pinot Noir/Blueberry...a la 'Country Wine'.....

 

[PolishWineP]

Mmmmmm.... That sounds so good! And it sounds warm in your house! It's nasty out there today and I need some cozy.
I can hardly wait for deer hunting to end! We have hardly done any wine stuff in months! First the kitchen, then harvest, now hunting...

I may rack and even bottle some of my little wines this weekend. I have celery and ginger that need to be bottled.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Has Bert been hunting in North Dakota or Minnesota???? When did he start hunting??? Jim just went out for the first time this morning. He had 2 bucks and 3 does go by...He's taking the old camera this PM and going to a different stand. He has 4 stands so he wants to put time in each stand.....Mostly he just watches them, till the end of season, then he hunts...Unless something really nice goes by before next weekend he'll still be putting in his time.....

I had Jim lift the big carboys the other day when it was raining....I racked 8 jugs and have 8 more to do...those I can handle on my own.

Chokecherry could be bottles soon...it tends to drop sediment forever. Blueberry/Red Grape could be ready soon too......

I know it's time to bottle when we get over run with empties....

 

[Aaronh]

I hear ya NW. I made some choke cherry and the sediment is verey verey fine andjust when you think it stopped....
<DIV id=ms__id120> I got mine in two seperate 3 gallon carboys. I thoughtit stopped dropping sedement anda week later, more.I am thinken of putting it back in a six galand some sparkloid. With the advantage of the cold weatherim gonnacold stabalize i thinks.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I do use Super-Kleer KC on Chokecherry....You think it's done dropping and then there is a lot more....then we rack it at least twice or more...

When the bottom of the carboy is clean after a couple rackings...then we bottle. I do put it in the darkest bottles we have, dark brown Claret,[ but we don't haven enough of those this time]....If it does drop even more sediment over time, it doesn't show as much.....

 

[K&GB]

Love the labels on the batch you bottled in July. Neighborhood Choke cherry. Can't imagine a better caption.


You mentioned using jugs, and I'm having trouble racking out of mine. My auto-siphon doesn't fit (there's probably a smaller version) in my 1-gal jugs, and the lees always seem to get sucked up by the racking tube. I either wind up leaving3 inches of wine behind and trying to strain the last 3 inches through coffee filters. Any advice? Thanks.


Ken

 

[Wade E]

<t></t><table style="width: 417px; height: 108px;" id="products" align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><t><tr><td width="2%" align="default"><div align="center">4872 </td>
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3/8 inch Mini Auto-Siphon for One Gallon Jugs
</td>
<td width="2%"><div align="right">$8.99

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Edited by: wade

 

[PolishWineP]

Bert was hunting MN this weekend. And his cheeks were so windburnt when he got home last night. That wind was vicious! Much nicer out there today. Next weekend and the following he will be in ND. His sister and B-I-L live outside of Mountain and they really need a good harvest done. Way too many deer around the entire area! My car is scared to go out in the dark!

 

[NorthernWinos]

No problem racking since Jim made me a short racking cane and copied the idea of the 'orange cap' method of racking...

He drilled two holes in a #6 rubber bung...

Then cut down a racking cane and inserted both pieces...

Blow in the short piece of tubing and the pressure pushes the wine up the racking cane and out the tubing into a receiving carboy...

I think someplace I saw they sell a bung with two holes...that was after we rigged one up....

I do have to hold down on the bung when blowing to insure a tight seal, otherwise....
No fuss...Works great.....

 

[K&GB]

That's the coolest rig, NW!

That looks like the carboy cap George sells, but I'm not sure he sells one small enough for 1-gal jugs.


My problem is when I get near the bottom. I always manage to suck up a bunch of lees. Maybe it's because of the large diameter tubing I use,3/8" I think. If I got a smaller auto-siphon, like Wade suggested, maybe it would come with 1/4" tubing. Maybe then there wouldn't be as much suction. It's going on my wish list. But I may have to make a rig like yours in the meantime. Very nice!