January 2014 Wine of the Month Club

[cintipam]

OH Rayway, that looks really really tasty. I can't wait for a taste report.

Somewhat related I was checking out Old Orchard Blueberry Pom juice concentrates at the store yesterday. I've used these before and was very happy with the results. It's obvious there has been a reformulation as its now labeled as a fruit and veggie combo and the first ingredient is sweet potato. Not thrilled about using that to fpak my 6 gall of bluepom, so will have to buy a big bag of blueberries and simmer an fpak on my own.

Lori, I am sooo jealous you are still picking cabbage. I think the crazy cold we just had killed off a lot of my garden.

Jericurl, we have 6 cats, one a Maine Coon. So litterbox humor is scary. I will wait till I can ferment Onion wine in the Florida room. (outdoor room with screened windows). Hubby loves onion, but if thats the smell he'd flip.

Update on my Jan wine Margarita mania. Using newish yeast Lalvin QA23. Lalvin calls it quick acting low foam low food needs. OK, I call it slow, but probably very good. If I hadn't been taking readings I would think it is stuck. Tossed yeast on 1/9, sg 1.125 no real progress till 1/13 when it still read 1.120. 14th read 1.110 so it is moving, tho slowly. This yeast is giving off a wonderful light fruity aroma, so if the fruit taste is improved by the slow ferment I'll be thrilled. I was a bit afraid the original high sg might stun the yeast, but it is slowly chugging along. Also my november batch flavor is smoothing out, need to check PH to see if that has dropped.

Pam in cinti

 

[the_rayway]

Also jealous of the cabbage picking. Mine would be under 5 feet of snow...

I'll be updating the first post in the thread with what people are working on so far - to those who are interested: you can still start your January Wine! I'll re-update closer to the end of the month again

 

[LoneStarLori]

How long did the smell last with your onion wine Lori?

It lasted from day 2 until it finished fermenting. About 5 days. I think it started smelling less like onions on about day 4. Just a strong ferment odor.
Once I put it in the garage, it wasn't a problem. Out of nose, out of mind.

 

[LoneStarLori]

For Feb. I'm going to wait till I get a book I ordered called Winemaking Month by Month by Brian Leverett. It has pretty good reviews and I'm hoping to see something new. The cost is kind of ridiculous at about $60 but I got a used one off amazon for $2 plus $ shipping.

 

[cintipam]

Lori, you did real good. My kind of shopping. Only thing better is getting a friend to buy it, read it, and tell me what I can learn from it. So glad you share your learnings so freely.

Pam in cinti

 

[Jericurl]

Lori,
That sounds like a pretty interesting read. You will have to let us know if it was worth the money.

Also, yeah....I don't normally airlock during primary but this onion wine got a lid and lock on it pretty darn quick.

 

[vernsgal]

Lori, you did real good. My kind of shopping. Only thing better is getting a friend to buy it, read it, and tell me what I can learn from it. So glad you share your learnings so freely.

Pam in cinti

lol is that like hint, hint?

 

[cintipam]

Kim, yeah, maybe so. I have a ton of books already, but if Lori reads and raves about this one, then I'll put it on the find a used copy list. Around here there is a popular bookstore called Half Price Books where people sell their used books and buy others. A favorite date night for hubby and I is to go to a Chinese Buffet then that book store. Otherwise we sit around the firepit with our kitties hanging out with us. I drink my wine, he drinks his beer, we talk till 10 then head inside to maybe watch a movie. As you can tell we are real party animals.

Pam in cinti

 

[LoneStarLori]

Yeah Kim, I got the same impression. I will certainly give it a review. For the price I can afford to skim it and decide if it was work the $6.00. If I find even one good recipe, I'll call it a success.

Jeri that's hillarious! I wish I would have thought of that.

 

[buckhorn]

Chocolate Covered Cherry Wine

I got this recipe from Jack Keller's site, but after reading about it on this and other message boards, I am making some adjustments to the number of cherries used and how I process.

10x 6.6 oz boxes of Chocolate Covered Cherries (cordial style with the creme)
7 pints water
3.6 g acid blend
.32 g K-meta
.125 g Tannin
6 g Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg Champagne Wine Yeast

1. Bring water to a rolling boil
place cordial cherries into primary
pour boiling water over the cordial cherries to melt chocolate and creme
stir well to dissolve as much as possible
cover primary and let cool to room temp
at some point after this, I think I will pull the cherries and slice them in half to let more of the flavor out.

2. Add acid blend, K-meta, tannin and yeast nutrient
Stir well -- cover primary
SG should be 1.090-1.100
I think I will split the yeast nutrient here, adding it in thirds so that it does not risk getting "locked up" in the chocolate as it hardens

3. After 10-12 hrs....
Add the activated yeast

4. After vigorous fermentation builds and subsides....
Transfer liquid to a 1 gal glass jug
Top up if necessary, attach an airlock
Toss out residue from primary

5. Ferment to completion and rack

6. After a month rack again and stabilize

7. sweeten to taste -- should be moderately sweet, don't overdue it.
I plan to age a bit before I attempt to back-sweeten this. I am also considering using juice from maraschino cherries to back-sweeten instead of just sugar to enhance the cherry flavor.

8. Wait another month before bottle

9. Set aside at least 3 months before tasting.


This is my current plan. If anyone has tried this recipe or has any input on it, please let me know...

=====
Monthly DB recipe - after doing a bench test of the original DB recipe, I am planning to try a triple berry DB this month with 2x the amount of fruit.

 

[Jericurl]

It sounds pretty good.

The only thing I might do differently would be to add some pectic enzyme. I'd probably do that rather than fish out all the cherries and cut them in half, the enzyme should make short work of them. Plus from what I understand, there are a ton of additives in candies and the pectic enzyme may help with clearing the wine.

My Werther's wine isn't even THINKING about clearing yet and I sort of wished I had used some clay during fermentation.

 

[mangojack]

Coffee wine Recipe

Don't remember where I got the recipe but here it is:
1/4 cup of instant coffee of your choice,I used Maxwell
2lb sugar
3Tb sp citric acid,
Yeast nutrient 1tsp
wine yeast I used Rc-212
1 gal.Water
put Water,Sugar coffee in a pan on to boil stir until sugar is completely dissolved ,let cool,put in primary vessel,cover,when temp is at 70 degrees
add nutrients,yeast,cover,stir daily for 5 days,rack into a secondary vessel,air lock,rack after 30 days,top up,discard any pulp,air lock,rack in 60 days,discard
any pulp,top up,air lock,rack every 60 days until fermentation stops,stabilize,sweeten if you like,bottle ,let stand 3mo. or longer,drink.

 

[buckhorn]

Jericurl - thank you, I hadn't thought of using pectic enzyme in this. Duly noted and I will be sure to add it.

 

[the_rayway]

I like Jeri's suggestion; also, you don't need to get so fancy as to cut the cherries - you could just smash the heck out of them with a sanitized potato masher

They're not going to look pretty by the end of things anyways - I like using my masher!

 

[buckhorn]

rayway - After Jeri's suggestion I was thinking the same thing - why don't I just mash them. Have to see if the wife has a potato masher or if I will just use my spoon against the side. I plan to put the cordials in a mesh bag, so this would be easy to do.

 

[vernsgal]

hey mangojack welcome to WOTM. I'm glad you followed my link .

buckhorn I don't think you even have to mash them. Mine pretty well turned to mush on their own.lol

 

[jojabri]

In response to the rayway's post, #2 on page 2.
This is silly and slightly off topic, but I've used Franzia bags as ice packs for years. After you empty the box, pull out the bag and rinse. Next fill it with 2 parts water, 1 part rubbing alcohol, and food coloring to your color choice (only if you want it colored.) Lay it flat in the freezer and there ya go!
This fix is for the flexible type ice packs. If you want it solid, omit the alcohol and simply fill the bag with water.
There ya go, another "green reuse" and a reason to drink more wine, even if it is Franzia.

 

[the_rayway]

Thanks jojabri, (I think you meant post #2 on page 1? Regarding keeping it cool?)

I live in Winnipeg, in a house that has some very cold rooms, so all I do is move the bucket! Lol, although, for some like Jeri or Lori who live in constantly warm places your idea would be a great one!

 

[vernsgal]

rayway - After Jeri's suggestion I was thinking the same thing - why don't I just mash them. Have to see if the wife has a potato masher or if I will just use my spoon against the side. I plan to put the cordials in a mesh bag, so this would be easy to do.

What I did with my cherries ( and all fruit in other wines) is place them in mesh bag in pail. Everyday I wash my hands well, spray them with a bit of k-meta and dry with paper towel then I lift the bag out of the must and squeeze it well,stir must and place the bag back in.
I found that squeezing the fruit daily I extract every bit of flavor out of it.

 

[jojabri]

Thanks jojabri, (I think you meant post #2 on page 1? Regarding keeping it cool?)

I live in Winnipeg, in a house that has some very cold rooms, so all I do is move the bucket! Lol, although, for some like Jeri or Lori who live in constantly warm places your idea would be a great one!

You're right. I was a teensy weensy bit tipsy. Oopsie-Daisy. It was Stressbaby's post on Pg 1, post 2