Inprovements possible?

[kmoorman]

Hi there,

My good lady has given me a bit of a hurry up in terms of freeing up freezer space, so I'm making a few batches of wine in parallel, but I was wondering if there's any 'tweaking' needed for these 3:

1. Sloe Wine - 17.5lb of sloes (2006). 12/7 - Sloes into primary - 2 gallons boiling water - mash. 2 crushed campden tablets.

13/7 - mash again - added 2 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape concentrate, plus 3 litres red grape juice.

That's it so far. There i 4 gallons in total, including a lot of pulp, and I intend to make 5 gallons with this one.

2. Blackberry

10lbs blackberries (2006) and 1lb elderberries (2006).

13/7 - into primary with 1.5 gallons on boiling water. Mash.

Added 2.5 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape conc, and 4 litres red grape juice.

This will be 4 gallons, but is currently about 2.5.

All so far.

So, what else might be needed?

[Her Lushness]

Blimey! That's some huge freezer you've got there!

I'm dropping hints and keeping an eye on Freecycle for a spare freezer, and crossing my fingers that a chest one comes up at some point, then all I have to do is persuade my hubby to find space for it in the garage...

(or build a new garage as suggested a while ago!)

[kmoorman]

hi there lushy, that's only the start of the clear out. I have another 11lbs of bullaces 12lbs of plums bags of un stripped elderberries and some kiwi fruit, rhubarb and bananas to go!

[kmoorman]

by the way, is your avatar a true reflection of that you look like

[Her Lushness]

by the way, is your avatar a true reflection of that you look like

...erm, well... I don't have a tail, and my hair is red...

[kmoorman]

...erm, well... I don't have a tail, and my hair is red...

So, not exactly like the picture then...
My next task is to free up some demijohns as i have a lot of unbottled wine.

[Her Lushness]

The trick with DJs is to get more of them, which saves freeing them up... I am off to collect 12 tomorrow that I won on Ebay for a pittance.

Then tomorrow evening I can start fermenting things again...

[kmoorman]

Hi there,

My good lady has given me a bit of a hurry up in terms of freeing up freezer space, so I'm making a few batches of wine in parallel, but I was wondering if there's any 'tweaking' needed for these 3:

1. Sloe Wine - 17.5lb of sloes (2006). 12/7 - Sloes into primary - 2 gallons boiling water - mash. 2 crushed campden tablets.

13/7 - mash again - added 2 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape concentrate, plus 3 litres red grape juice.

That's it so far. There i 4 gallons in total, including a lot of pulp, and I intend to make 5 gallons with this one.

2. Blackberry

10lbs blackberries (2006) and 1lb elderberries (2006).

13/7 - into primary with 1.5 gallons on boiling water. Mash.

Added 2.5 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape conc, and 4 litres red grape juice.

This will be 4 gallons, but is currently about 2.5.

All so far.

So, what else might be needed?

I take it no-one has any suggestions to improve these recipes then?

[GrillMonkey]

The trick with DJs is to get more of them, which saves freeing them up... I am off to collect 12 tomorrow that I won on Ebay for a pittance.

Then tomorrow evening I can start fermenting things again...

I'd like to get a few more demijohns but I think my OH would kill me She already compains about the blobbing noises.

[lockwood1956]

I take it no-one has any suggestions to improve these recipes then?

I was waiting for you to get back on topic

1. Sloe Wine - 17.5lb of sloes (2006). 12/7 - Sloes into primary - 2 gallons boiling water - mash. 2 crushed campden tablets.

13/7 - mash again - added 2 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape concentrate, plus 3 litres red grape juice.

That's it so far. There i 4 gallons in total, including a lot of pulp, and I intend to make 5 gallons with this one.

may be a little too Sloe based, and as such may end up a tad bland, also you are at a rate of just over 3lb fruit to the gallon....do you think that is enough?

you say you added grape concentrate....how much? two 1 kg tins or 2 of the real small ones.
what sort of wine are you trying to make...in terms of body and style, this will dictate where it needs to be.

. Blackberry

10lbs blackberries (2006) and 1lb elderberries (2006).

13/7 - into primary with 1.5 gallons on boiling water. Mash.

Added 2.5 tspn pectic enzyme.

13/7 pm - added 2 small tins red grape conc, and 4 litres red grape juice.

This will be 4 gallons, but is currently about 2.5.

All so far.

So, what else might be needed?

11lbs of fruit in 4 gallons is a little thin again I feel, (more like 4lb per gallon is best, also 50/50 blend of elderberry and blackberry works) you need to be making a decision on the style of wine you want to create, then decide where you need to go. If you want a fruity red with plenty of body, you need to be shooting for 2lb elders and 2 lb blackberries per gallon.

You really cant start a wine and then decide what you wish to make, make the style choice first...then prepare your must. You then have a chance of making what you set out to.

see here

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2312&highlight=wines+style

but I was wondering if there's any 'tweaking' needed for these 3:

I only count two recipes ...not three

[kmoorman]

thanks for the advice lockwood, i have to admit they were last minute recipes.

Both wines are meant to be table wines. Both have 2 small tins of concentrate in.

I have some more elderberries in the freezer, but they are still on the 'branch'. I made sloe only wine before and it was very nice.

Do you think i am low on fruit in both cases, as i can leave them at lower gallons per batch to compensate.

Perhaps restrict the sloe to 4 gallons and blackberry to 3?

[lockwood1956]

Well I was thinking on this today and a blend of the two would maybe make a nice wine, I would shoot for 4lb per gallon so 28lbs of fruit, if i was putting them all together with that level of fruit id likely go for a 7 gallon batch.


should make a nice batch at that level of fruit and the extra concentrate for some vinosity

[kmoorman]

After posting before i was thinking about a blend myself. As i only have 5 gallon primary fermenters what would you say was the best approach; attempt to mix the batches now (before adding sugar and fermenting) or ferment the batches separately and blend at the end?

[lockwood1956]

Blend at start is the way I would go, split into two 3.5 gallon batches, and then rack to glass at 1.010

regards
Bob

[Her Lushness]

I'd like to get a few more demijohns but I think my OH would kill me She already compains about the blobbing noises.

The trick is to sneak them in when the OH is at work, and if the extra DJs get spotted, then blame a friend for giving them to you...