CC's not so fine WINE diary

[CrealCritter]

Red clover wine is taking on a nice peachy pink color. It will probably need its first racking in a week of so.

My extra hard/high gravity pear cider wine is starting to clear out. It looks like it will need to be racked, stabilized and back sweetened in the next few days or maybe I'll add more sugar a boost the gravity even more. The cider yeast I used is good to 18% ABV, 36 proof is high for a wine though. Pears are my favorite fruit, so I fermented this one for me and I don't plan on sharing any

 

[wyoDreamer]

@CrealCritter I made some pear jam one year and it was heaven in a jar.

I am interested in hearing what the pear cider tastes like.

 

[CrealCritter]

@CrealCritter I made some pear jam one year and it was heaven in a jar.

I am interested in hearing what the pear cider tastes like.

Well you can pretty much be assured, it's going to taste like pear and alcohol. I picked a bottle of pear natural flavoring extract to ensure it will taste like pears

 

[wyoDreamer]

Hedging the bet a little bit, aren't you?

 

[CrealCritter]

Holy Cow - you are truly a mad wine scientist, lol!! I'm impressed!

View attachment 12085

If it doesn't move, ferment it.

 

[CrealCritter]

Hope it works out for ya....stoopid cranberries!

Cranberry is so difficult... Somehow I ended up with 6 gallons. I don't understand because I added 4 gallons of spring water. But when I pulled the fermentation bag, added more sugar, and mixed in. I ended up with 6 gallons.

It's also odd that it keeps dropping in volume so much. The necks of my 3 gallon carboys are only so long and I'm having to top off with aldi's unsweetened 100% cranberry juice. It's still fermenting violently even after a week into secondary fermentation. This may be the first wine I've made that might need to be racked off the lees for a third fermentation. I don't know yet, i hope not.

My buddy at the home brew store told me cranberry is a great wine but it's difficult and will test your skills. I'm finding out he's right about the difficult part anyways. I wouldn't recommend trying a cranberry wine to anyone who is just starting out.

 

[CrealCritter]

It's been a while since I posted anything about watermelon wine. As per the destructions I've been waiting patently for fermentation to complete. Today I measured the gravity of .999 which according to the destructions is about as low as this wine kit will get. A gravity of 1.000 is the same as water, so I guess they have some unfermentable sugars in this kit.

Anyways I'm on step 7 now, racking and stabilizing then set aside to clear. It's somewhat clear now but not clear enough for me. I did sneak a little taste. The watermelon does smell and taste like watermelon, but it's quite harsh. All the wines I'm made so far are harsh at this point, because the yeast is still suspended and wine yeast tastes harsh.

I also noticed both my pear and apple cider wines have also completed fermenting, I checked the gravity and both are at 1.000. These gallons are leftovers from the 6 gallon cider kits, I made up for my daughter's wedding reception (a corney keg only holds 5 gallons). I'll also rack, stabilize and fine (benonite) them at the same time, as long as I got everything out for the watermelon wine. The pear on the left is noticeably clearer than the apple next to it. I tasted both the pear and apple, they are both harsh but underneath the harshness is a nice pear and apple flavor. So I think both are going to make some delicious cider wines.

 

[CrealCritter]

I had some extra from lees on the bottom of the carboys, so I made my wife a few bottles back sweetened with local honey to her taste buds.

I carefully syphoned off the clear wine from on top of the lees after cold crashing into canning jars and shook the tar out of them to dissolve the added honey. Poured her a taste test and added more honey until she liked the taste.

I told her I won't be clear, like store bought wine due to the honey addition, but she said that was OK with her. She likes sweetening with honey better than sugar, even her coffee.

Now both batches of blackberry and raspberry are done and she's all set for the Oktoberfest party

Happy Wife / Happy Life.

 

[CrealCritter]

So I took my neighbor over some wine for his wife. He said my buddy at work also makes wine, I have a couple of bottles of his you want it? Sure I'll take it. So he brought two unlabeled bottles out written on top of the cork was 37 and 39 with a sharpie.

So asked what kind is it. He said I think he said both were white grape and peach. So I brought them home and put 39 in the freezer. After a while I asked my daughter in law if she wanted a glass. Sure she said so I poured us each a glass. It smelled good like white grapes and peaches. But oh my god it was dry as a bone and rough I mean it actually shocked me how rough it was and it put a pucker up on me big time. My daughter in law took a drink and chocked and said " "OK yeah let's just get the buzz out of the way right quick!, no messing around now." So we don't have to drink anymore of this stuff.

I took my hydrometer and measured the gravity of .992. and when I poured it I noticed it bubbling, so the yeast is still active and is the reason behind the harshness, it's been fermented completely dry which is good but man at least kill off the yeast and back sweeten to the gravity of water 1.000.

I had to take a heart burn tablet because it gave me heart burn so bad and I'm still burping. I'm afraid to open 37 and see what surprises it may hold. I got massive heartburn from to much acid blend in wine and a free case of empty wine bottles but I'm still not sure it was worth it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You need to give that guy some lessons!