Newbie with questions

[gardengrl]

O.k., I have all my equipment and want to start with a strawberry wine. I’ve been reading Jack Keller’s website, plus Terry Garey’s book, so I think I’m ready. I have a few questions though

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Both of the following recipes are from Jack’s website. <O></O>
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· The frozen wine recipe calls for “2 tsp. of citric acid”; however, the other wine recipe calls for “acid blend”. Are they one in the same? Terry Garey says you can substitute the juice of 1 squeezed lemon per tsp of acid blend. Do I need to purchase acid blend? Can I just go with what Terry is recommending?<O></O>
· The frozen wine recipe calls for Campden added to the secondary during racking; however, the other wine recipe calls for adding the Campden in the primary. Why is that? Is it because it has more fruit?<O></O>
· Lastly, the second wine recipe calls for pectic enzyme, but the frozen wine recipe does not. I thought you always wanted to add pectic enzyme to any recipe with whole fruit to help with juice extraction. <O></O>
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Thanks!<O></O>
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Frozen Strawberry Wine <O></O>
<UL ="disc">
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">3 lbs. frozen strawberries <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 11-oz. can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 lb 14 oz. light brown sugar <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">2 tsp. citric acid <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1/4 tsp. grape tannin <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">water to make 1 gallon <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 tsp. yeast nutrient <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 sachet Red Star Côte des Blancs wine yeast <O></O></LI>[/list]
Thaw strawberries and grape juice concentrate. Dissolve sugar in 5 pints water and bring to boil. Strain juice or syrup from fruit and save liquid. Put thawed fruit in nylon straining bag in primary and crush fruit with hands. Pour boiling water over fruit, cover primary, and set aside to cool. When cooled to 80-85° F., add grape juice concentrate, tannin, acid, yeast nutrient, reserved juice or syrup, and 1 pint water. Stir well to blend ingredients. Add activated yeast, cover and stir daily. Do not further crush, mash or squeeze bag of strawberry pulp. Remove bag on 7th day and allow to drip drain, saving drippings. Return drippings to primary and transfer to secondary fermentation vessel. Top up to one gallon if required, attach airlock and set aside. After 45 days, rack into secondary containing 1 Campden tablet dissolved in a little wine and reattach airlock. Rack again after additional 60 days. Stabilize wine when clear and rack after additional 45 days. Bottle and age at least 6 months.


[Author's own recipe<O></O>
Strawberry Wine #3<O></O>
<UL ="disc">
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">3 1/2 lbs fresh chopped strawberries <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1/4 lb. chopped golden raisins <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1/4 lb. chopped dates <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">2-1/2 lbs. granulated sugar <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 1/2 tsp. acid blend <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">2 tsp. pectic enzyme <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1/4 tsp. grape tannin <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">1 crushed Campden tablet <O></O>
<LI style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #001f76; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" ="Msonormal">Champagne yeast and nutrient <O></O></LI>[/list]
Place chopped fruit in nylon jelly bag, tied. Place jelly bag and all other ingredients except Campden tablet, pectic enzyme and yeast in crock and cover with 5 pints boiling water. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Cover. After two hours add crushed Campden tablet. After additional 10 hours add pectic enzyme and 12 hours later add yeast. Cover and stir daily. On 7th day remove jelly bag and hang over bowl to collect juice. Allow to drain thoroughly without squeezing (about two hours). Pour all liquids into secondary fermentation vessel, top up to one gallon, fit fermentation trap, and set aside. Rack every 30 days. After 3rd racking, bottle when clear. Allow to age at least 1 year.<O></O>Edited by: gardengrl

 

[gardengrl]

Oh, one more thing. The person at the wine supply store gave me some Super Kleer and I've read about it. When do I add it during the wine-making-process??

 

[PeterZ]

While I am not a fruit wine maker, let me try to answer some of your questions.


Acid blend is a nixture of acids that mimic the acids in grapes. This includes tartaric acid, malic acid and citric acid. The first recipe contains the Welches White Grape concentrate, which will contribute some of the other acids, so I am guessing that is why it calls for citric acid alone. I think the acid blend will offer more complexity in either recipe, but it is not required.


The campden tablet is probably omitted in the frozen recipe because the ingredients have been frozen, which will kill off most wild yeast. The fresh fruit may have wild yeast on the surface, and the campden tab will inhibit them so the good yeast can out perform them.


I think pectic enzyme is always a good idea in fruit wines. It certainly can't hurt.


Mostly I chalk up the differences in the recipes to the habits of different authors. Just like cooking, different chefs make the same dish in different ways with minor changes in ingredients.

 

[gardengrl]

Thanks Peter! Any idea of when I would use Super Kleer during the process?

 

[grapeman]

gardengrl you use the superkleer after the wine is finished fermenting, has been degassed and dropped most of the lees. You treat it then, and it will usually clear withing a day or two but can take a bit longer.

 

[whino-wino]

· The frozen wine recipe calls for “2 tsp. of citric acid”; however, the other wine recipe calls for “acid blend”. Are they one in the same?

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No. Acid blend and Citric Acid are not the same. Acid blend is just what the name implies, a blend of acids (namely, Citric, tartaric, and malic). One of thethings I likemost aboutmaking wine is the fact that you have so many options which allows for experimentation. Both Citric acid and Acid blend will work, but there will be a slight difference in taste in the final product. Peter's point about the grape juice concentrate in the one recipe sounds rather feasable.
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Terry Garey says you can substitute the juice of 1 squeezed lemon per tsp of acid blend. Do I need to purchase acid blend? Can I just go with what Terry is recommending?

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I have substituted lemon juice in some recipes and it works just as well, in fact in many cases may be preferrable. Be careful and don't just dump in all of the juice from one lemon. The acidity and the amount of juice is not the same in every lemon you buy. Start by adding about 1/2 the juice and test for acidity (taste it too, this is not accurate by any means but will help you discern if you are getting too much). Add small amounts until you reach the desired amount of acid.<O></O>

· The frozen wine recipe calls for Campden added to the secondary during racking; however, the other wine recipe calls for adding the Campden in the primary. Why is that? Is it because it has more fruit?

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Personally, I would do both. Adding to the primary 24 hours before pitching your yeast will kill any bacteria that could wreak havoc on your precious commodity. There will be no trace of this first dose left in the wine after it completes the secondary fermentation and it is a good idea to add another tablet when racking for the same reason that you would add it to the primary. It has nothing to do with the amount of fruit. Peter is also right on this that the frozen fruit probably doesn't have as much risk of bacteria in it, but I always say better safe than sorry.

· Lastly, the second wine recipe calls for pectic enzyme, but the frozen wine recipe does not. I thought you always wanted to add pectic enzyme to any recipe with whole fruit to help with juice extraction.

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I would add the pectic enzyme regardless. You are correct that it will help extract the juices. Frozen fruit is usually easier to extract juice from since all of the little juice sacs rupture from the expansion of water when the fruit is frozen and this may be why it is not called for in that recipe. However, there is another reason to add pectic enzyme and that is to avoid any problem with pectin haze in the final product. I'm not sure how much pectin there is in a strawberry, but I'm sure that there is at least a small amount there and if you don't use any pectic enzyme this could make the final product seem "cloudy". Pectin haze is one of the more difficult problems a winemaker has to deal with and is not something a beginner would probably want to tackle on their first batch. It is not impossible to get rid of, in fact, it's not even really that hard, but it takes patience and can be frustrating to a beginner.Edited by: whino-wino

 

[gardengrl]

Ah, yes. I forgot about the pectic haze issue. For some reason, Jimmy Hendrix comes to mind...


"Pectic haze, all in my wine"

Anyone else wanna' try and take a stab at the next verse?

 

[Wade E]

Another reason why you may not want to add the campden tablet to the frozen one is that the Welches contain some meta bisulfite already and if you add yours in primary you may have a hard time getting the yeast started. Just the small amount in the Welches will not hinder your fermentation.

 

[Wade E]

Another reason why you may not want to add the campden tablet to the frozen one is that the Welches contain some meta bisulfite already and if you add yours in primary you may have a hard time getting the yeast started. Just the small amount in the Welches will not hinder your fermentation.

"Dont know if I will bulk or fine"
Next person?

 

[PolishWineP]

Ah, yes. I forgot about the pectic haze issue. For some reason, Jimmy Hendrix comes to mind...


"Pectic haze, all in my wine"

Anyone else wanna' try and take a stab at the next verse?

"Lately, juice don't seem the same..."

 

[joeswine]

hay is this going to be a sing along,i like sing alongs,ok pwp i'am ready!

 

[gardengrl]

"Smellin' funny, but I don't know why"


Who's next?

 

[PeterZ]

'Scuse me while I drink my wine.

 

[grapeman]

next verse


"Purple grapes are all around"

 

[joeswine]

t i think i'll have just one more

 

[Waldo]

Down on my knees now, picking em up off of the ground

 

[joeswine]

thanks waldo

 

[Wade E]

Lots of purple carboys on my counter tops, I think its time to start brewing with hops!
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