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Author Topic: Watery wine - Help  (Read 16565 times)

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2015, 04:44:18 pm »
Dans,
I made some wine last year and although we drank it it would probably have been good on chips  :)
Whatever you were doing previously sounds easy. When you get the time could you explain a bit more. I get the 3lb fruit to 3lb sugar. Is that for 1 gallon? And how much yeast? And is there anything else you can tell me.
Thanks
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

oldwolf

  • Joined Sep 2010
  • Livingston
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2015, 07:55:41 pm »
But Sally, its obviously not working
'And the crowd called out for more'

Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #17 on: May 30, 2015, 08:14:48 pm »
The very basic method I was taught was:

3lbs of fruit
3lbs of sugar
Yeast (We were using Allanson's bread yeast - yellow tub)
Water to make a gallon once fruit is added (bit of a judge by eye but better to go too little than too much)

Bring your water to the boil
Add your sugar and stir until dissolved
Add your fruit to the water and then immediately turn off the heat (don't let it boil).
Stick the lid on your pan and leave to cool overnight/several hours
When it gets to room temperature add your yeast and cover with a tea towel
Stir wine daily for a week - recovering with towel each day.
After a week strain off the fruit (I use a sieve and funnel) and pour wine into a demijohn
If you don't have much liquid after straining off the fruit then boil some more, allow it cool and add until you're at the shoulders of the demijohn
Bung an airlock on and leave for 6 weeks
Taste, if good go to next step if not leave a bit longer
Once happy with it stop it with campden tablet (We now use potassium sorbate).
If you like filter the wine
Bottle it
Drink it

We now rack wines when we are happy with them to get them out of the sediment and make it easier on the filter. For a pot I use a 7L stock pot. Also with fruit I often use a cheese cloth along with the sieve to mean less fruit gunk gets in the demi-john.

We also learnt that if a wine tastes good drink it down, we try to avoid lots of chemicals (Although now we use the potassium sorbate) so the flavours can change over time. I still mourn a batch of plum wine that was sooo good that we saved the last bottle for a year. When we drank it it was awful. On the other side if it's not quite right leave it for a few months if you have the bottles/space, it may well improve and surprise you!

It's an utterly basic method, and if you read the brewing books there's loads on getting the right mix of tannins and citric acid, pectolase, nutrients for the yeast. A lot of recipes using raisins and grape concentrate. If you're worried your fruit isn't very acidic you can add some lemon juice, you can add a tea bag if you like at the fruit stage for tannins. But we got good wines 9 times out of 10 with this way so stuck to it for years until I tried to deviate just recently. Only wine we couldn't get to work was rhubarb - old socks every single time. I struggle to get a cherry wine I like as well but I have two friends who would tackle me to the ground for a bottle of our cherry so different strokes for different folks!

I've passed this method of brewing on to 4 lots of people teaching them face to face, generally with a couple of demijohns and boots wine filter to get them started. All now still brew and have gotten along quite well with it. Let me know if you need any other information. Always happy to spread the brewing love. So grateful to the guy who offered me a bottle of dandelion wine at a camp, and in response to my surprise that you could make wine from dandelions decided to teach me and get me set up to brew.

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

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Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2015, 08:15:49 pm »
But Sally, its obviously not working
But it WAS working before
 
thanks for the info Dans. I am going to give it a go
« Last Edit: May 30, 2015, 08:20:49 pm by Bionic »
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #19 on: May 30, 2015, 08:17:08 pm »
D'oh didn't even see the link for applejack, my eyes must be going!

Interesting, though I must admit a fair amount went over my head!

But Sally, its obviously not working

The method I was using before was working well for 10 years oldwolf. It's when I have moved away from that method that I have run into trouble.

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

www.sixoaks.co.uk

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Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #20 on: May 31, 2015, 01:32:40 pm »
Well, my water has been boiled, sugar disolved and the cut plums have gone in  :fc:
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #21 on: May 31, 2015, 02:05:45 pm »
Good luck!  :fc:

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

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Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #22 on: May 31, 2015, 02:10:14 pm »
Interesting, though I must admit a fair amount went over my head!

How about this then:

1) Take wine (small amount to start with, in case this is a total waste of time and alcohol!)
2) Pour into plastic lemonade bottle
3) Put in freezer until a decent amount of ice has formed (not until the whole lot is frozen)
4) Pour wine out using a sieve to catch the ice. Throw ice away
5) Warm wine up to drinking temperature
6) Taste and tell us if it made any difference!  ;D
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #23 on: May 31, 2015, 02:15:41 pm »
With the yeast we made it up just the way it says on the tin. 150ml warmish water, tsp sugar, tbsp yeast, leave to activate then pour it in and give a stir.

You'll know if the yeast has taken or not as when you stir the next day you'll hear fizzing at the very least; you may even have a lot of foam. The fruit will have risen to the top as well. Make sure the pan isn't full to the brim at this point or it may overflow.  If it is full then split between two pans or sit it in a roasting tray that'll contain any overflow.

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

www.sixoaks.co.uk

www.facebook.com/pg/sixoakssmallholding

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Dans

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Spalding
    • Six Oaks
    • Facebook
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #24 on: May 31, 2015, 02:17:32 pm »
Now that my pregnant brain can handle Womble! Will give it a go and report back.

Dans
9 sheep, 24 chickens, 3 cats, a toddler and a baby on the way

www.sixoaks.co.uk

www.facebook.com/pg/sixoakssmallholding

www.goodlife.sixoaks.co.uk

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #25 on: July 06, 2015, 01:31:05 pm »
My wine has been in the demijohn for 4 weeks now and it seems to have stopped completely. It was going like the clappers but I haven't seen any signs of life for a few days now. Do I still leave it for another couple of weeks (leave for 6 weeks and then taste) or do I taste now?
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #26 on: July 06, 2015, 01:33:03 pm »
I'd taste it and check the density.  If it has stopped fermenting, what's the point of leaving it longer to not ferment further!  :D
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #27 on: July 06, 2015, 02:28:14 pm »
I'd taste it and check the density.  If it has stopped fermenting, what's the point of leaving it longer to not ferment further!  :D
Tasting it sounds like a good idea? How much do I taste? a pint?  ;D
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #28 on: July 06, 2015, 03:00:52 pm »
You'll probably find it will taste better after several large samples. To be truly representative you should really taste the whole demijohn.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Watery wine - Help
« Reply #29 on: July 06, 2015, 04:15:47 pm »
New or " Green " wine often has a yeasty insipid taste even if it has a high alcohol content .
 

"Rack the wine off " the sediment into a clean sterile container similar to the one you are currently using. Leaving the last inch that holds the sediment in the bottle undisturbed ..... by using a sterilized transparent plastic syphon tube . Do your hydrometer test if you feel like it and record the level of alcohol .
 
 Refit the air lock once you have sterilized it along with the bung and refilled it with clean cold boiled water and then agitate the bottle a bit to get it swirling round .. this should ensure that any suspended yeast  is allowed a final attempt at making alcohol .
 Then in four or so weeks time repeat the operation  , again leaving the sediment undisturbed.
Now do your alcohol reading  , this racking should see a slight increase in alcohol & a dramatic reduction of sediment in the bottom of the demijohn .

If the alcohol reading is to your choosing you'll need to " Stop the wine "  by adding the advised number of " Camden tablets " crushed and dissolved in a little of your wine  to kill the yeast cells.
 If you like your wine a lot drier ( not so sweet ) then you can let the wine carry on fermenting itself out after re-racking it yet again , till you get a higher alcohol reading or a set specific gravity reading. Then store the wine in an airlocked container for a couple more months  .not only will the wine be almost fully fermented out it will have developed some wonderful scents and flavours . Bottle the wine in cleaned sterile bottles and cork with new sterile corks
 
 Don't do what I did ...
I had five gallons of a delightful sparkling ruby red ( elderberry & black berry fortified with two litres of five star brandy to give it a bit of smoothness& body )  that I'd fermented out for over a year in bulk . Comne the middle of October I sampled and sampled it . Hic ) then bottled it . My own caligraphically made labels  " Vin De Pays Gordon ". Now where on earth do your store 35 bottles of newly bottled wine when you don't have a cellar or out building .

I know ...... I'll put it on top of the wardrobe as it's always cool up there . Come the middle of FEB 1982 it got so cold we had to put the central heating on  that night 21 of the bottles either exploded or popped their corks as the sudden warmth had caused the wines to start fermenting again.
Our bedroom was a hell of a mess , I had to use a wall & ceiling sealer  to lock the wine stains in the wall and ceiling to stop them bleedog through .


From then on I always used Camden tablets to stop my wines.   Do take care with some of the more delicate favoured wines, for too many Camden tablets can leave the sulphourous after taste that a lot of the cheaper German Pearl wines have.

 
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

 

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