I ran out of 2 part finings for this last batch of wine. Ended up purchasing some 1 part finings (if you know what I mean). Took a different approach this time - added the finings and shook the demijohn - all of the sediment dispersed throughout the wine - but the finings were also mixed in thoroughly. A couple of days later - the wine was clear - as good as or better than the 2 part finings. I'd previously followed the instructions and gently stirred in the finings - turns our that sloshing the wine around vigourously to the point that the sediment if again suspended in the wine - is the approach that works best for me. Popped into ASDA to pick up some red grape juice - couldn't get any - plenty of juice drinks but very few juices. Has anyone used a juice drink to make wine? I do have one problem - I need a proper siphon - the last time I tried to siphon I ended up drinking more wine than went into the bottle - and ended up rather drunk
I've got two fermenters and a bucket, with both fermenters being pressed back into service this weekend at some point. We've not long decanted ten gallons of blackcurrant hi-juice wine into gallon containers which are now being stored in the outhouse where it is cold. Both batches were made with the turbo yeast, and to be honest it is the last time I will use it as it seems to leave a flavour behind it that taints the end result. One batch that looked as though it had finished ended up having a second crack at fermenting, the net result being that it has ended up being very alcoholic tasting (I think the upside to the turbo yeast is that it is highly tolerant of high alcohol content), so it has really gone for gold. I am going to have to back sweeten it somehow to make it palatable as it is currently reminiscent of petrol. The other batch stopped before going all the way, and it is actually quite a pleasant drink (would be even better without the after taste of the yeast) - - I am drinking some now actually. The best wine we have had so far, by a long way, is the strawberry jam wine (going to kick a batch of that off tomorrow); the last batch we made fermented fully, and cleared beautifully; the pectolase did its job really well, and the strawberry flavour carried through to the final wine. I intend to do a good few batches of it in the coming months to build a stock up.
Generally they are poor value and lacking in flavour when fermented out, it's cheaper to buy pure juice. Beware of artificial sweeteners (and 'flavourings' that can impart odd flavours after fermentation). Some carton juices are only avalable as juice drinks, such as Blueberry or Cranberry for example as they have too strong a flavour as pure juice. The convential mix is 2 Litres of red juices + 1L Red Grape Juice and it It wll turn out as a dark rosé at best. It will need addition of Sorbate + Sulphite so it can be back sweetened. NB Mixed juice drinks such as Cranberry & Blueberry contain less juice than mixing your own from single juice cartons. Blackcurrant juice drink doesn't have enough flavour. I thought Asda stopped selling grape juice years ago (I cleared out a couple of stores when it wad reduced as discontinued), but that was longlife carton juice and I see thatvtgey now sell bottles of chilled Red Grape Juice @ 3 for £3 Online Food Shopping - ASDA Groceries Sainsburys sell long life carton Red Grape Juice and I think Lidl may still stock it but I haven't seen it for a while although they don't seem to have it in all stores and even then not all the time. NB Some Lidl grape juice is a red/white mix. Waitrose sell carton Merlot grape juice. Be wary of using Welches purple (Concord) grape juice as many find the flavour of wine produced a little odd.
Many years ago Mrs Shiney used to make wine at home (she worked for Gilbeys in those days ) and she once made rice wine. It looked and tasted like whisky . She got one of their top wine tasters to taste it and he said that to a majority of drinkers they would be unable to tell that it wasn't whisky, but he knew exactly what it was with his first sniff and taste. She can't remember how she made it (it was fifty years ago ).
A silly question, but if you are making wine in 10+ gallon batches what do you do with it all? A bottle a day is about 65 gallons a year. Also where do you keep it? Are you all excavating cellars under the garden?
I'm not sure how long home made wine can be stored? I've not made much - but it soon goes - by the time bottles have been given to friends/family etc. I like the sound of strawberry jam wine - have to get some wilko's pectolase and have a go. Any other tips on making this wine fat controller? Is it the normal approach but using pectolase - when does the pecrtolase go into the brew? Ta
Beside own consumption, our daughter's a poor student at uni and appreciates a supply of free wine (together with all the 75% off reduced cider we can find). And @ approx 40p/bottle they make very cheap Birthday/Xmas/thank you presents. Quick maturing white wine made from 2 litres of carton juice and sugar to achieve 11% Abv will ferment out in 11 days and can be de-gassed, fined and ready to drink in a few more days, so the same demijohns are being used several times a year, reducing storage requirements. For example, if making 6 galls at a time every month and racking off into 5 demijohns (yes it will fit after loss from sediment as glass demijohns hold 4.7L), then that's only a max of 5 demijohns to 'store' when making 72 galls p.a. with a fermenter in use 2 weeks a month and a bucket (for de-gassing and fining) in use for 2 days a month.
There's an assumption that the longer wine takes to mature/become drinkable, the longer it will store and stay drinkable, so lower alcohol quick maturing wines are best drunk young, and heavy reds with sufficient acid, tannin and alcohol will take longer to mature but remain drinkable for longer. Many homebrewers (including myself) will make both quick maturing wines for general consumption whilst waiting for other stuff to mature, together with some 'heavy' reds using Blackberries, Elderberries (essential for colour & tannin), Red Grape Concentrate and other red fruits and I've drunk these up to 5 years old before finishing them, although they would probably have remained drinkable longer. It was probably Rice & Raisin Wine that's supposed to taste like Whiskey, never made it myself as I don't like Whiskey.
I've kept elderberry wine for 15 years and it was rather like port when drunk. My father kept some rhubarb wine for 10+ years before it was drinkable (really he forgot about it) and i'm hoping that if I keep the peapod from 2015 for a bit longer it will be palatable.
I store up to 20 gallons at any one time, and as others have said by the time it is given away, and the odd glass here and there, it soon goes. @clanless - would you like the full recipe for the Strawberry Jam wine? It works with other jams apparently, but we tend to use strawberry as it is the easiest to get in large jars.
Yes please . I mentioned strawberry jam wine last night - the conversation quickly moved to blackcurrent, apricot wine etc. etc.
I'll dig it out later, and post back I have a peach wine one that I fancy trying at some point - I will post that too if you like?
Jam Wine: Note that it states leaving it for six months to mature - I only make this in the large batch size, and once fermented out it stores in 5 x 5 litre water bottles for a couple of months usually before we end up drinking it
