Thread for questions and discussion on new winemaker series

[lockwood1956]

whoa.. touched a nerve there!!

no not at all...it may look that way, so i edited the post

I must say I not really sure what difference is between turbo style cider (or other fruit juices) and the no.1 wine or other recipes that are about.

Its mainly the alcohol level/style...TC is around the 5-6% mark

wines will keep longer but are over 10% (rough guide)

I dont denigrate the other forum, (in fact I am a regular contributor there) but EVERYTHING gets labelled turbo this and that, and it is not conducive to clarity, but you are right , it does get people into the hobby, but I'm hoping to get them to move on...

I sure you experimented a bit before you knew what you were doing!!

yes I did, and I built this forum as a means of winemakers sharing their knowledge and helping others to find better Winemaking techniques

Anyway to this brew:-
it was 2 jars of pears in wine juice that I bought to make a perry (turbo style.. god forgive me!!)
1 litre of white grape juice (thought that would make it a bit like no. 1)
1 litre of apple juice (ditto)
1lb of sugar
Og was about 1080 but because i liquidised the pears it was a bit pulpy so was not sure how accurate this was. I don't have a way of measuring acidity but decided not to add any citric acid (as per no.1) just to see what it tasted like. I put some pectalose in then waited 24 hours and added cider yeast in powder form and put it on the aga. Next day (today) it was too hot and nothing happening. I have now made a yeast starter with other half of pack of yeast and as nothing is still happening I think I will pitch some in as the yeast starter is ok. Thanks for your help.

You are pretty much doing the right thing

Another question now.. when is a wine a wine?

A wine is a fermented beverage from fruit or grape (oxford English Dictionary) most people think it should contain the juice of the grape to be a true wine.(not sure I agree with that...the "original" fermented beverage was mead)

[Andirou]

Thanks for reply.. not sure you should edit cos it makes my reply look a bit weird (but probably nothing new there). I have pitched yeast and will see if I get something alcoholic, drinkable and pleasurable (not a bad defination of a wine!!)

[lockwood1956]

not sure you should edit cos it makes my reply look a bit weird

the edit allready happened ....at 8:01 (44 mins before your reply)

if I get something alcoholic, drinkable and pleasurable (not a bad defination of a wine!!)

thats a fantastic definition (works for me anyway)

[medpretzel]

Hi Andirou, welcome to the forum.

"Turbo" wine is a quick wine that is decent for "turbo" drinking. So, yes, your wine will be a "turbo" wine.

But... I would suggest one thing... make a "turbo" wine and a good wine. You will see the difference what a little time and patience and knowledge will give you - namely not just a quickly drinkable wine, but also a good one.




Some of us (me included) are just so passionate about winemaking that it seems that we get snippy or overly emotional about "turbo" vs "good" wine. But that is why we have these forums - not to deter you from making the wine that you like, but to deter you from making the mistakes we have made in the past. This not only includes high-quality ingredients such as juice or yeast, but also equipment.

We're just a passionate winemaking bunch. Stick around, you'll soon notice that this passion is infective.

[Andirou]

Thanks Danina

I've been lurking around for a while now and would say I am infected already. (I've now got 100l of wine bottled or aging in dj.. some of which I hope is 'good' .. thanks to all the advice from these invaluable forums). I still not sure when wine or cider is 'turbo' or not but it just seems to me there is a little prejudice against 'turbo' when we all do it sometimes and TC in particular seems to introduce a lot people into this hobby because its easy and most people like the taste of it.

Andy

[lockwood1956]

there is no prejudice against the beverage you are making, just the term Turbo, and you have illustrated my point......if you call it turbo or TC or whatever...no-one really knows what it is.

I call for clarity is all, if it is a cider call it cider, if it is a wine, then call it a wine. when I look on other forums (and I'm a member of a great many) all sorts of terminology springs up, and most of it inaccurate, and unhelpful to newbie winemakers. So I resist the use of the term TC wherever possible on here, and recently it has been springing up all over the place. I mention the other forums not because I think they are less worthy than here, it's just that they are not well moderated, and all sorts of nonsense goes on, and frequently, bad advice is offered.

This forum was set up to help newbie winemakers find their way to making quality wines, via the tutorials section, the FAQ section and the new winemaker series these are to help newbies build wine making skills. We also have a great depth of Winemaking knowledge among the mod team, who were chosen because of their knowledge and their desire to help new winemakers along the way. It is important to understand the correct terms for things, and it is important to have clarity in descriptions when using the written word to communicate.

hope this clarifies my position
regards
Bob

[Andirou]

Just an update to the original question.. it is now fermenting away after i added the starter.. thanks for the advice and I agree the term turbo is confusing. As a point of interest what could I have done different with the ingredients/method I used that would make my wine better?

[lockwood1956]

Your recipe

it was 2 jars of pears in wine juice that I bought to make a perry (turbo style.. god forgive me!!)
1 litre of white grape juice (thought that would make it a bit like no. 1)
1 litre of apple juice (ditto)
1lb of sugar
Og was about 1080

Improvements?

Your ingredients list looks OK, (assuming the jars of pears were 1lb each?) but I would have added a double dose of pectolase, as pear wine is notoriously difficult to get to clear..

first thing that jumps out at me is what sort of yeast did you use? this can have a dramatic effect on the final wine,
Yeast info

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2004

Also look to adjust the acid levels, thats another thing that will really make a difference..I think the HBS in your neck of the woods (I visited it once ..the jolly brewer??) carries Ritchie's stuff. the Acid test kit is around £5... get your acid levels right and you are on your way to making better wine.

see here for method

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2005

hope this helps
regards
Bob

[lockwood1956]

Look at page 2 of this sheet for optimum acid levels

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/downloads/TAtestsheet.pdf

and here for acid levels of different styles of wine

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1056

deciding what style of wine you are going to make at the beginning is also a key factor, once you know what it is you are trying to achieve, you can then work toward getting it, for example if you are going to sweeten the wine at the end, then a little more acid would help in terms of balancing the sweetness

hope this helps
regards
Bob

[Andirou]

I did use pectalose but not a double hit and I only used a cider yeast for this one because I only have that or a standard wine yeast compound and wasn't sure which would be best. I do use the HBS you mention so I think the next stage for me is to use the more advanced yeasts and definately to measure the acidity and try and control that in future wines. This one is now fermenting with a large build up pulp? (not sure if that is the correct term) floating on the top which I keep shaking up. Should I ferment it with this all the way or rack off it at a certain stage?

[lockwood1956]

I would rack it off at around 1.020 to 1.010

and in the meantime keep stirring the pulp (its called a cap) into the must to keep it wet, at least twice a day...dont worry about oxygen at this stage.

I will be taking delivery of Lalvin 71B-1122 yeasts next week for supply to members of the site who want it, it should work out at £1.10 delivered to your door (not 100% sure on pricing yet, depends what they charge me for shipping it to here.)

regards
Bob

[Andirou]

Thanks for that.. will try the shop next week for yeast first.. another question and not related so hope you not mind it in this thread but i have inherited some glass djs with plastic stoppers and bubblers and some with a safety valve. It has red nipple? on the top which doesnt move.. should it? If I blow really hard into it releases pressure so it seems to work. I not seen them before though so was bit unsure if ok to use for storage.

[Duffbeer]

Thanks for that.. will try the shop next week for yeast first.. another question and not related so hope you not mind it in this thread but i have inherited some glass djs with plastic stoppers and bubblers and some with a safety valve. It has red nipple? on the top which doesnt move.. should it? If I blow really hard into it releases pressure so it seems to work. I not seen them before though so was bit unsure if ok to use for storage.

yep they're fine, safety corks and ideal for maturing in d/j's.

[Richard S]

I have made Turbo Cider/Apple wine/Suicider a few times and my best results were from a lower start SG aiming for 6-7% alcahol. With the last couple of batches I made, I used a jar of honey instead of sugar - quite nice!

[lockwood1956]

Turbo Cider

PAH!