First Recipe of my own (of course, based on others)

[Fencepost]

I am preparing to make a grapefruit wine ( tree had a good year and tons of Ruby Red grapefruits). I have looked at a number of recipes (this forum, Jack Keller, etc.) and put this together...

5 Gallon Recipe:
36 Grapefruits - peeled and segmented, no pith,
2 - 96 oz white grape juice - no additives
2 lbs of white (golden) raisins
Zest of 1 Grapefruit
2.5 tsp Pectic enzyme
1 tsp grape tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
8.75 lbs of sugar (or up to about 1.09 SG)
Thinking about oaking it either French or American - 2oz in primary
Yeast either EC-1118 or Red Star Premier Classique
Will back sweeten to taste.

Questions:
Is that too much grapefruit? Most recipes use 30 vs 36, is that to avoid too much acid? I wanted to have more grapefruit flavor but don't want it to be too acidic.
Some use just raisins, some used just juice... thought I would use some of both.
Any recommendations on oak or yeast?
Do I need to add yeast energizer? Skeeter Pee is hard to ferment and uses it, this one may be too.

Any other comments would be welcome. Grapefruit is cleaned and in the freezer.

Thanks.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* I like 100% grapefruit wine. Grapefruit has a TA of 1.5% this means that to get in the normal range you should use one part water to each part of 100% juice (solids). pH around 3.0 which is stressful on yeast, yes the white grape will bring it back into a healthy range for yeast.
* Yes it has bitter grapefruit flavor notes therefore sweetening is expected on the finished wine. Testing in a bland apple pie matrix the bitter grapefruit notes are there at 10% with normal sugar, , , but I like grapefruit so I run high and compensate with sugar on the finished.
* Nutritional content is low DAP and Fermax are worth adding for 100% grapefruit. White grape/ raisins has good nutrient so DAP on above recipe is enough.
* Haven’t Oaked this, so it is a judgement of how much you like grapefruit vs oak.
* I like the long grapefruit flavor notes. Tannin is optional or FT Blanc as an antioxidant.

Yum, , , breakfast wine!

 

[cmason1957]

I have made a grapefruit wine in the past. It reminded me of Sauvignon Blanc wine a lot. I would recommend against oaking due to that taste profile. I would also recommend against raisins to me they only belong in one type of wine Amarone any others and I think they impart a raisiny taste. The recipe I followed is included here:


Makes three gallon.

Ingredients:
For a medium body wine:
18 Grapefruits
18 pints Water (to three gallons plus)
6 -3/4 lbs. Sugar – about 1.090 SG
3 Campden Tablet, crushed
3/4 tsp. Tannin
1 pkg. Champagne Yeast

Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one location to another. The recipe above is a general recipe to use which, you may have to adjust.

Directions:

Grate rind from 6 grapefruits; exclude any of the bitter white part.
Peel fruit and separate segments. Place fruit and grated rind in nylon straining bag.
Using the nylon straining bag (fine mesh) squeeze and strain juice into primary fermenter. Tie straining bag and put into primary fermenter.
Add warm water and all remaining ingredients, except yeast. Stir well.
Cover primary fermenter.
Wait 24 hours, then add yeast and re-cover primary fermenter.
Stir daily, check S.G. and press pulp lightly to aid extraction.
When S.G. reaches 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice from bag. Then siphon juice into glass container and attach airlock.
When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is complete. Siphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Re-attach airlock.
To aid in clearing, siphon again in 2 months and again, if necessary, before bottling.
Allow the wine to age.

To sweeten this wine, at bottling, add 1/2 tsp. stabilizer. Then, add 1/4 to 1/2 lbs. of dissolved sugar per gallon.


Were I to make it again (and I may well have done this last time I made it, my notes aren't nearby), I would replace some of the water with grape juice. Also, the recipe doesn't say to, but I probably would add pectic enzyme, I add it to everything.

 

[Fencepost]

Thanks for the feedback, @cmason1957 and @Rice_Guy. I will eliminate the oak (I just had it and thought all wines benefitted from it... good to know otherwise) and the raisins. I do plan to use the white grape juice.
I will use EC-1118 as it says it is a champagne type yeast.
I have only 5 gallon carboys and will adjust ingredients to match. I have a good fine mesh straining bag.
Your directions are clear and I will follow them... if it comes out close to a Sauvignon Blanc that would be great!

A couple of more questions if you don't mind. I don't have an acid tester or pH meter... does it mellow over time? I don't mind letting it sit... or if the pH or Acid is off to start with, will it always be off? Is there a way to taste test to get close? And how would you adjust it if it was off? What would you add to get acid up (assuming grapefruit would make it lower, i.e. more acidic).
Thanks for your guidance. It takes a lot of time... and a lot more patience, so after all that I want it to turn out as good as possible..

 

[cmason1957]

If you are going to make fruit wines, you almost always need a PH meter. Acid high or low is somewhat to a significant amount different each year, that's why I don't include anything about acid to add, you might need some, you might need to reduce the acid. I have to be honest, I don't remember which I did and I probably didn't record it, since it's never the same and your tongue isn't good enough to get you in the ball park. I'm not sure where @Rice_Guy came up with his number to say that the TA of Grapefruit is 1.5%. To me for winemaking there are a few important numbers the sg (brix, whatever) when you start and when fermentation is complete, the Ph when you start to keep the yeast happy, the ph after fermentation is complete for sulfite additions.

 

[Rice_Guy]

cmaison is correct, There is variation in every crop year and crop variety including grapefruit. For you, pH paper, can get you into the ballpark since grapefruit is a light color juice. (dark juice hides the color change) The more ripe, the higher the pH and lower the TA. A few flavor points.

If I was still living in Texas with citrus in the back yard and I picked the sweetest grapefruit that was good to eat like oranges the TA could be 0.8% and pH 3.6 to 3.8. This will not ship well, most of the country does not have access to this product.
If I was the packer for safe to ship harry & david grapefruit the TA could be 1% and pH 3.4 or 3.6. Many of us would lightly sprinkle with sugar at breakfast time.
Run of the mill grocery store customers will see fruit which is on the green side that ships well. We want to sprinkle a whole teaspoon of sugar on it at breakfast time. TA well above 1.2% and pH below 3.4.

* pH is a preservative since it is involved in which microorganisms grow and chemical reactions like the ionization of metabisulphite to the active form of SO2. I expect pH to drop while CO2 is in the wine (ie effect of flat soda). I expect pH to be slightly above but close to starting must once the wine is degassed (variable metabolism effect maybe?)
* TA is hedonic, , , how long does it take for the acidic flavor to wash off the taste buds. There is quite a range which is acceptable. On the low side we call wine watery or weak. One can increase TA “to taste” after the wine is finished by adding acid or by changing to a sparkling wine/ soda. I look at TA as a variable property, in other words there are a lot of acceptable levels beyond the recommended .5 to .8% in wine, for example a cola soda might be 0.2% TA (pH 2.5) designed so that it washes off the taste buds fast and we can sell more product.
* Sugar balances TA and in grocery store foods will trend to a straight sloped line, more TA more sugar. Most of us fruit wine folks balance sweetness after the wine is finished. Sugar also increases fruity aroma and flavor. , , Sugar is magic that can fix problem products!

 

[Fencepost]

@cmason1957 and @Rice_Guy - thanks guys for the input. I plan on making wine for a while and will need the right tools to get it right. Do you have a suggestion on pH meter? I looked on line and saw a number of inexpensive ones but it appears a number of them had reliability issues (quit working after a time or two). Do you have a recommendation on one that you have used successfully? I do have some pH strips that will get me close as well. Is there an TA tester? is this titration?
I appreciate your feedback, have not started it yet, want to get everything in place so it will be a success.

I know what you mean about sugar... I have made Danger Dave's recipe a few times and it makes a big difference (I started close to recommended value and backed off, and I can tell the lower amounts of sugar does not make it better)

Again, thank you for taking time to point me in the right direction. Have a very Merry Christmas.

 

[cmason1957]

This is one of the ones I have and I generally like it the best, always reliable, always calibrates. Keep the tip covered with storage solution and you are probably good to go. I have had mine for about 3 years and it just seems to work. I believe several of us have this one or one very similar. https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-MW102-PH-Temperature-Meter/dp/B001DTNDME

You can spend less, but as you saw from the reviews, not in the long run. TA is a titration, solutions need to be replaced regularly. Don't bother trying to see the color change that the instructions that come with it talk about, use that PH meter and titrate to ph 8.2, that's when the color change happens.

I'll also add, (and take this as you might), jump in, stop trying to plan to have everything perfect, the grapes you buy will not be perfect, you will make some crappy wine (we all have), learn from it and by the second or third year of making wine, it will start to come around. Oh and have fun, it's just wine, it doesn't take all the fancy stuff to measure, to plan, to try to perfect. Folks been making it for years without that stuff. Now with that fancy stuff, you can generally take lower grade fruit and make acceptable wine. Without it, it might not be so acceptable.

 

[CDrew]

Do you have a suggestion on pH meter? I looked on line and saw a number of inexpensive ones but it appears a number of them had reliability issues (quit working after a time or two).

I have an Extech pH meter:
https://www.amazon.com/Extech-PH220...id=1576894364&sprefix=extech+p,aps,227&sr=8-5

And the reason is, I've have their DVM for years and it is excellent. Good equipment at a good price.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* TA have had a kit for years that consisted of 0.2 N sodium hydroxide, a 10 ml syringe for titrations read at .2ml gradations, phenothalein (which detects pH 8.2 less efficiently than a pH meter), plastic cup (beaker) and a 20ml syringe for measuring 15ml samples. The math of this was the number of ml equals grams per liter as tartaric acid(0.1%).
At this time I have replaced everything. NaOH is at the local wine toys store, syringes are at the drug store for dosing meds, I weigh to .01gram and calculate a density correction and sample size correction (so I don’t waste NaOH on acidic things like vinegar), distilled is used to clean all parts and dilute pasty samples (as baby food), a pH meter is better than phenolthalein and tall narrow glasses hold a probe better than 2oz plastic.
* I use an Extech today. The initial reason was to measure pH with as little as one drop. With titrations it allows me to run a sample without having to dilute to cover a round glass probe. I used pH on a pilot plant floor since 1980. The $100 ones were all reliable for food processing measurements. Gel filled is easier than a refillable probe.