Wine no1 experiments- Body

[malcmackenzie]

Ive done a yeast trial, with a selection of 5 'young's' yeasts (all purpose, bordeaux, red and white versions) and some lalvin EC-1118 and 71B-1122

All of the Lalvin are great. The only Young's yeast I now use is burgundy Red. It is by far the best even fantastic in Apple No1. and was my best yeast for white wine and compares very well to the Lalvin EC-1118.

Ive tried mixing the number of liters of fruit to water to grape juice. Ive settled on 6 liters of fruit and 6 liters of grape juice with water to top up to 23 liters. using 6 L fruit juice and 12 liters of grape was not much better and the wine tasted a little thick on the palate.

Ive tried adding sultanas, and raisins (to white and red) and also added honey as an alternative to them. Honey gave a real flavour enhancement, but I used 1.25Kg and think that was probably too much. It really gave the wines body though. Honey is a lot easier than squashing and squishing the sultanas, then pressing and all of that...

Hope this helps...

Did you find that the youngs white ones went very slow at the end of fermentation? I have some number 1 on the go with youngs bordeax in them and its proving hard to get them to 1.000. Otherwise I have number 1 with Lalvin K1-V1116 which seems to race along.

[bickerton]

Did you find that the youngs white ones went very slow at the end of fermentation? .

To be honest I cant remember.

[krakowmike]

WGC after bottling

Today we opened up the WGC after bottling. It had the darkest colour of the 5. The bouquet smelled of ripe apples yet the taste seemed very high in alcohol (more so than the others). This is a heavier wine but doesn't leave a coating on your tongue like the glycerine did. I added the WGC while the ferment was in full action. I wonder how the wine would come out if I would have added it after stablizing. I think it will benefit from some aging. Also, I think that 1 small can of WGC is overkill. Maybe 1 small can for 2 gallons. Comparing it to the control- the WCG does add that extra 'ump'!

[krakowmike]

Final thoughts after bottling

That's it- 5 bottles gone. It was a great experience and I learned so much in wine making. My other half and I spent lots of quality time enjoying the wines nonetheless. It's amazing what the addition of something can change the body so much.

The control is great as always- simple, light bodied, easy to drink.
The banana was something totally different than what we expected- medium bodied, but came out cloudy.
The raisin gave a slightly oxidised flavour that made it seem 'older' than the rest- medium bodied.
The glycerine gave the smoothest wine out of the bunch. A teaspoon or two will add much to the wine leading to a medium body.
The WCG had the best bouquet but that was expected. This was the heaviest body wine and I think that the one can of WGC was too much. This will benefit from aging.

I know that this challenge wasn't fair because we tasted them at different times with different food etc. However, I think it gave us a good chance to taste the wines and attempt to be objective. The outcome at this stage is to add glycerine and some WGC. I'm not sure how much, and when the best timing (after stablizing or before) would give the best benefit. Of course, all of this may change after the wines age.

Round two will be sometime in December. Maybe I can arrange to taste them all at the same time with some friends. Stay tuned and thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread and to the forum!

ps- Happy Thanksgiving

[Leon]

And Thank you, that was interesting. I'll definately be trying something similar with red grape juice, once I've got the wines on the go at the moment aging in the brewery (shed). I want to make a house red just for the missus and I, so I think this is the way forward.

What will round 2 consist of?

[krakowmike]

Thanks Leon

I've made 6 bottles of each. Round two will be in a month or so after aging. I think the sultana and WGC will benefit from some aging. Also, I want to see what the limiting factor is in terms of age. Originally I was planning to have a bottle every two months giving me a years worth of testing but instead we'll have an accelerated course- maybe month 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 12.

Let us know what you are planning to do with a house red- I can tell you that my other half's favourite at the moment is a rose no1, and would be interested in a good quaffing red!

[Ted.B]

I had high hopes for this thread and it hasn't let me down. Some very useful information here for future batches of #1 and variants.
I have already added glycerine to my amoury and put it to good use in my first Lychee using the Rubicon juice. I think it has turned out a belter.

[krakowmike]

Control month 1

Week 1 after bottling-

I couldn't resist trying the control Wine no 1. I know its still early and might be in bottle shock but nonetheless-

It tastes like a standard Wine no 1. not great, not bad, but good. No particular smell (slight woody smell), beautiful yellow color, slightly bright on the tongue. Not acidic, just young. Body is rather thin. Perfect quaffing wine.

Other reviews to follow soon-

We finally got around to opening the control after about a month or so. Color is wonderful, brightness has mellowed, light bodied- but not if it is watered down when we first opened it after bottling. I can't sense it, but the Mrs smells a light almond bouquet. Not sure if this is a fault or not but it is drinkable. This is definitely a good quaffing wine.

[malcmackenzie]

I also tryed my first Number 1 last ninght and thought it was perfect quaffing wine...... great.

I also did a number 1 but wu=ith 2 cheap grape juices (a little darker colour) and balanced the acid with an acid mix instead of 1x citric.

It turned out ok a little more like a heavier Chardonnay type wine. Will give it a while in the bottle and see.

[krakowmike]

Malc-

Do you think the acid mix is better than citric acid? You are right to say, all of my wine no 1 have come up like a Chardonnay but not as buttery. Did you try any glycerine or anything else? As I mentioned before, there is much improvement after 1 month-

[malcmackenzie]

Hi Mike

My number 1's are now coming off the production line, the ones with Lalvin K-1116 are proving very slow to clear. In fact I can say I have not had one clear on it's own all have had to have Kwick Clear. Then one needed two doses.

I believe I am following the reciepie closely, but do any of you use Pectin in the initial blend?

Any clues?

[lockwood1956]

These days I add pectolase (and bentonite) to everything I make.

regards
bob

[malcmackenzie]

These days I add pectolase (and bentonite) to everything I make.

regards
bob

Hi Bob

Thanks for the reply. Bentonite do you add to the must or after racking off? I know a lot of kits add it 1st thing.

Also do you have a number 1 type recipe for sparkling wine?

[lockwood1956]

I add to the must at the beginning

regards
Bob

[krakowmike]

These days I add pectolase (and bentonite) to everything I make.

regards
bob

I added pectolase at the beginning. However, I didn't when I separated the bucket into (5) 1gal sections. The control and glycerin and nice and clear, however the others get cloudy. This is definitely pectin haze. It goes away once the wine is at room temp.

How much pectolase do you use?