red currant wine

[JustJoe]

A friend told me she has an abundant crop of red currants and doesn't know what to do with them. I tried to find info on red currant wine but found almost nothing. Even Jack Keller's site had only one recipe with no comments.
Has anyone made it? How was it? What was the recipe? Any special issues?

 

[AkTom]

I made a red currant mead. I really should have sweetened it. Sorry that’s the best I can do.
Cheers

 

[wildhair]

I think Scooter68 has made it. If he doesn't chime in - you may want message him. I grow red currants, but only a couple bushes, so I haven't had enough to make a batch of wine yet. I'll check my recipe books later when the heat chases me inside for good.

 

[Johnd]

A friend told me she has an abundant crop of red currants and doesn't know what to do with them. I tried to find info on red currant wine but found almost nothing. Even Jack Keller's site had only one recipe with no comments.
Has anyone made it? How was it? What was the recipe? Any special issues?

Hit him up with a @Scooter68 and he’ll see the thread for sure.

 

[Masbustelo]

I haven't made it, but I would say be heavy on the fruit so it isn't watery. You will have to add sugar or honey to bring it to your desired gravity prior to fermentation. You will have to keep an eye on the pH during and after fermentation. Depending on the pH prior to fermentation, you might want to use a yeast that will help lower final acidity, such as Maurivin B. Also if the fruit is good quality up front don't use sulphates up front, get it fermentating fast and let it go to completion of MLF.

 

[wildhair]

Red Currants are VERY tart - high in acid. The flavor tends to be pretty strong, personally I would follow the recipes or add wht grape juice concentrate to add body and to back sweeten. This is one fruit where I would not go overboard - just my opinion. As I said - i haven't made it yet, (made plenty of jelly from them) but I would definitely try to get the ph in the 3.2-3.5 range before pitching yeast.

I scanned these from 2 of my books. First one is from Mary's Recipes and the 2nd from Terry Garey - Joy of Home Winemaking.

Hope that helps. Be sure and post whatever recipe you decide to use and how it turns out.

 

[JustJoe]

Red Currants are VERY tart - high in acid. The flavor tends to be pretty strong, personally I would follow the recipes or add wht grape juice concentrate to add body and to back sweeten. This is one fruit where I would not go overboard - just my opinion. As I said - i haven't made it yet, (made plenty of jelly from them) but I would definitely try to get the ph in the 3.2-3.5 range before pitching yeast.

I scanned these from 2 of my books. First one is from Mary's Recipes and the 2nd from Terry Garey - Joy of Home Winemaking.

Hope that helps. Be sure and post whatever recipe you decide to use and how it turns out.

Thanks! I think I will give it a try.

 

[Vinobeau]

I made a small one gallon batch in 2016 and used Mary's recipe. I had 3 pounds and 11 ounces of fruit and it turned out very good. I used 2 pounds of sugar and started with a 1.1 SG and ended with 14.4% alcohol. I used Montrochet yeast and I did back sweeten it a bit, but I lost that data!! I first froze the fruit and left the fruit fermenting until the SG was about 1.06. IMO 4 1/2 pounds of Currants aren't needed, 4 pounds might be just right.

 

[kyle5434]

I have a pink champagne currant bush, but it's only in its second year, so I won't be getting enough fruit for winemaking just yet. But based on my elderberry wine experiment last year, here are some ideas:

1) You probably want around 4 lbs of fruit per gallon.
2) If you freeze the fruit first, it disrupts the cell structure and aids in extraction of the fruit goodness.
3) As others have said, check the acid levels. You probably want to shoot for a pH of 3.3-3.4.
4) For fruit (country) wines, it's generally recommended not to go for high alcohol if you don't want to overwhelm the fruit. An initial gravity of 1.08 to 1.09 would be good.
5) 71B is an all-around good choice for a fruit wine yeast.
6) After an initial 12-24 hours of K-meta, be sure to use an appropriate amount of pectic enzyme for the volume of wine you're making, and stir every few hours.
7) Add yeast nutrient and pitch the yeast 12-24 hours after adding the pectic enzyme.

If you have a spare carboy, give it a dose of K-meta and 3 months of bulk aging after secondary fermentation has finished. Top up with some dry Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay if needed. After 3 months, and before bottling, give it a taste. You can always back-sweeten, but you may discover that it's heading in a good direction as a dry fruit wine.