May 2015 Wine of the Month Club

[OhCrap]

if you thief a sip or two at this point it will taste like rhubarb champagne...don't as me how I know that...



And yes, I meant a little light on flavor. Last years batch I believe I had 45 lbs of rhubarb, 4 1/2 lbs of raspberries and ended up with about 5 gallons of wine. The first rhubarb I made was 25lbs of rhubarb and 2 1/2 lbs of raspberries, ending in 5 gallons of wine and had to add a flavor pak. The second batch is a stronger rhubarb flavor with that lingering raspberries at the end. I haven't bottled it yet, but it is probably ready to go!

Hehehe, I took a gravity reading, for purely research, and obviously couldn't throw it back in so I HAD to drink it...tasted bloody nice still very sweet but a real rhubarb pie taste. Dropped from 1.093 to 1.060 in 2 days ) I estimate I'll be racking late Monday evening

 

[JDesCotes]

Wow. Pineapple wine went from 1.095 to <1.0 in less than 3 days!

Went downstairs today and there were practically no bubbles on the surface. Very odd behaviour from my monster.

It is now racked to a carboy and I hope it doesn't explode again, I figure I'll leave it a couple days to be sure it's done fermenting then start the clearing process.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to clear this? Can I kmeta+sorbate and add more pineapple juice, or would that hinder the clearing process?

 

[the_rayway]

Hey @jdescotes - I would add the meta/sorbate/juice first, then go on to clearing. It's always sad when you've got this perfectly clear wine and then it clouds up when you add something

I still haven't racked my grapefruit, but the peels are getting more white, so it's infusing!

 

[OhCrap]

Well there it is, racked to secondary. It dropped to 1.011 this morning so I racked it. Am I right to rack every 2 weeks or so? And if so do I need to add anything while I'm racking, campden tablet etc I also kept some extra in a sanitised bottle for topping up after racking
Oh the sample has a lovely taste to it, it's definately wine, a bit sweet but when it finishes yummmmmm I hope

 

[Jericurl]

After I rack to secondary, I only rack again when sediment is over 1/2 inch or 3 months, whichever happens first. Unless they start falling out really fast. I'm always paranoid I'll rack too soon and take some of the flavor out, so if sediment is falling out really fast after I rack to secondary, I'll usually make myself wait until it's been in secondary for about a month. Then I jump to the 1/2 inch or 3 months schedule.

And let's be honest, sometimes the racking doesn't happen at 3 months, sometimes it's closer to 6.

Ok, so I really just rack when my kitchen is clean and I'm not feeling lazy.

 

[OhCrap]

After I rack to secondary, I only rack again when sediment is over 1/2 inch or 3 months, whichever happens first. Unless they start falling out really fast. I'm always paranoid I'll rack too soon and take some of the flavor out, so if sediment is falling out really fast after I rack to secondary, I'll usually make myself wait until it's been in secondary for about a month. Then I jump to the 1/2 inch or 3 months schedule.



And let's be honest, sometimes the racking doesn't happen at 3 months, sometimes it's closer to 6.



Ok, so I really just rack when my kitchen is clean and I'm not feeling lazy.

Hehehehehe... Ok I'll wait till the brew shed gets a once over

 

[Jericurl]

I racked this to secondary a couple of weeks ago and put in another 3 lbs of blackberries.

I plan on taking this one all the way down to dry, letting it clear out completely, then adding some oak cubes for a couple of weeks.

So far so good, though it does remind me of communion wine at this point.

 

[OhCrap]

I racked my rhubarb wine again last week as per the 1/2" Lees. Topped it up from the extra bottle I had left over from primary. It's tucked away in the dark at 20c along with a kr sc shiraz kit and 15L db

 

[the_rayway]

Racked my neglected grapefruit wine today. Final S.G. is 0.988 - I didn't think it could go that low!! tasted like gak, but that's to be expected when it's that dry.

I had a fair bit of space in my carboy so I topped up with 2 & 2/3 cups of strong grapefruit juice.

 

[JimmyT]

Racked my neglected grapefruit wine today. Final S.G. is 0.988 - I didn't think it could go that low!! tasted like gak, but that's to be expected when it's that dry.

I had a fair bit of space in my carboy so I topped up with 2 & 2/3 cups of strong grapefruit juice.

My grapefruit wine from January wotm taste pretty bad also and it finished at 1.004. I can't wait to back sweeten it to get it back to where it should be and actually be decent

 

[JDesCotes]

Pineapple wine FINALLY cleared and was bottles today. Took a bottle over to my in laws place to celebrate their anniversary and it was a HUGE hit!

Here were the reviews:

1. It is delicious as is
2. It will likely get even better if left to age for 6 months
3. It tastes just like pineapple juice except is crystal clear
4. You cannot taste the alcohol
5. There is lots of alcohol after one glass you certainly feel it.

I will certainly repeat this recipe and I don't think I would change a thing! Made with 100% pure dole pineapple juice from Costco it totalled about $1 a bottle to make and it tastes AMAZING!

It's so good I'm looking around the area for a wine competition to enter it in!

 

[BernardSmith]

Always lovely to receive compliments on your wine. You say that it has plenty of alcohol but if it started at 1.095 (your earlier post) then it will be about 12.5 % alcohol which is about standard for most wines. Is your pineapple dry or sweet?

 

[JDesCotes]

I did back sweeten it.

 

[OhCrap]

My rhubarb wine is refusing to clear.....it's still in dj's, I think I might cold crash if and add finings... I kept a small bottle for top ups, wasn't needed, it tastes pretty good if slightly tart...

 

[OhCrap]

Here it is after fining and racking...
Sample was tart bit nice, lacking a little in flavour (as I was told it would be)
After and before pictures
I've never done an fpac is there any sticky on it?

 

[OhCrap]

Just bottled my rhubarb wine 10 mins ago....personally I'm impressed, taste is not what I as expecting, it was nicer I back sweetened slightly and just took the real tartness out.. Ok so 6 gallons going on this year
Pic below

 

[OhCrap]

Pic of rhubarb just bottled

 

[reefman]

It always feel I've accomplished something when I get my wine bottled.

 

[Jericurl]

Gorgeous! And it appears to have cleared up nicely.

 

[PhilDarby]

I might be wrong but I seem to recall rhubarb clears well if u add pectolytic enzyme, during ferment.

looking good there, its cleared well ;-)