What's in your glass tonight?

[Omniata]

A Gervin High alcohol yeast...

Generally a restarter but found it worked well over the whole brew too...
Will find the particular strain for you later

I generally get wines between 18 and 25% , keep better too as I like them slightly on the sweet side.
They mature fantastically as well

Best batch I ever got was with a hock yeast when I made my first batch of Rhubarb wine 10 years ago, believe it or not came out in the high 20's to low 30's!!!
Tasted weak as water but you felt the effects pretty quickly hehe.
Me and a few friends drank a bottle between us, couldn't walk, let alone crawl after 30 minutes lol...

I've still got a bit of the yeast gunk from racking in the freezer but I think it's pretty much just waste now



Edit: Lockwood1956 as far as I can read it was a GV4 high alcohol yeast. The highest I've gotten with this one is about 26% at a push, going through my notebook hehe...

As I said in another thread I liked CJJ Berry's book on making wine, even if he did use a little too much sugar in his brews

[Darren]

A very very tasty wine no1 rose tonight with lavender very very nice

[Rich]

Tonight, we have bottle of Goldseal's Shiraz (the famous eggy one).

No smell/taste of eggs at all.

Did this have oak in it at all? A very faint hint of vanilla. Dark in colour, a resonable amount of body for a mid range kit. Very drinkable. Went well with breaded pork chops and salad!

[goldseal]

Lacking oak? In my opinion all the Beaverdale kits I have made have needed more oak. This one had some extra Brupaks oak, but maybe it needed more.

Good news about the egg though

[Rich]

Nah, not more oak, it was enough. Not over oaked. Unlike some of mine seem to be at times!

[NorthernWiner]

Sounds like a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society.

[Duffbeer]

Lacking oak? In my opinion all the Beaverdale kits I have made have needed more oak. This one had some extra Brupaks oak, but maybe it needed more.

Good news about the egg though

A man after my own tastes and that of Richard s, we believe all reds should be fermented in the stumps of old oak trees

[Omniata]

How much oak chippings should you use and would there be any benefits to Elderberry wine??

Other than the casky oak taste what else do they do??

[Duffbeer]

They seem to add a maturity to the wine, a pleasant farewell as such. Oak is like marmite you love or hate it and occasionally you get some that meet in the middle.
Oak barrels, however give a different complexity to the wine, it allows it to breath whilst maturing and in conjunction takes on the aroma and flavour of the barrel.
Obviously the oak chips we use are a cheat, but if they infuse the flavour of oak then top job.

Back to the question....about a handful for about 6 weeks is good, and yes it will complement a hearty elderberry wine

[Omniata]

Mines been maturing a year now, tempted to add to one demijohn and leave both for another two months before bottling...

This has been the longest I've waited to drink some of my home brew, started it before my other half became pregnant with out son, he's one now hehe...

[Duffbeer]

Top job for patience there, the addition of oak can be a personal thing, try and taste, then establish what you like.
As you say add some to one d/j smaller amounts are best, then work from there, increase the oak or increase the contact time.

[Omniata]

Will have a good think about it, it's around 22% so will make a cracking Elderberry port

[Rich]

Will have a good think about it, it's around 22% so will make a cracking Elderberry port

That sounds interesting!! I hope you're going to take part in the next wine swap!!

Out of interest, how are you measuring your % alcohol content?

Rich

[Omniata]

I use a very old capillary tube, one of my dad's...
Bit of an antique to be fair but it's always worked for me, bit better than the newer ones...

To double check I dilute a bit of the wine to be tested by half and check to see how close to half the second reading comes

I never got on very well with hydrometers as I don't add all my sugar in one go, little bit at a time and then when it gets to about 20% add the remaining sugar required to get it up to about 23%...

Depending on fruit sugar content they tend towards sweet, as their so strong though if they were dry it would be like drinking Vodka to me



Re: Wine swap?? When and where??

[Rich]

Next wine swap hasn't yet been arranged. It'll be in general chat when it is I'd think.

Interesting way of doing it with a capilary tube. Is it like a Vinometer?