Chilli Wine, first ever attempt.....

[Wol]

Hi, i've recently come back to brewing after a a year or so out, and this is my first attempt at doing a wine.
I've done a bit of research, and i've decided to go with a chilli wine, and heres the process i've decided to go with.......

200g of chopped chillis
250g of chopped raisans
1/2 juice from a lemon
Boiled 1 ltr of water, added to ingredients, plan to leave for a couple of days to create the must.

Now where im getting a bit confused is when do i add the pectolase and tannin?? Does that need to be in there at the very start, or just before it goes in the DJ??

Also how much sugar would need to go in this? Im planning to make 5Ltrs.

Thanks for the help!

 

[SloeBrewer]

Other than kits, I've only made WoW, but for that, you need 900g sugar for 5 litres. You might need less, due to the raisins. The pectolase and tannin go in with the liquid ingredients.

 

[Wol]

ok, so.....

- chuck in the tannin and pectolase into the must
- leave for a few days, strain into DJ
- Dissolve quantity of sugar into water, add to DJ along with glycerine with yeast & nutrient
- Wait till fermented out and rack into another DJ with crushed CT
- Stabalise and de-gas
- Bottle it and wait

Sound about right?

 

[Wol]

Just had a read through that post, seems like im on track. Time will tell now!!

 

[tenbeech]

Hi Wol Like the idea of chilli wine Me and the wife are chilli addicts What type of chillis do you use in your wine ? Would Scotch Bonnet (Our favourite ) be too much of a challenge to drink ?

 

[Wol]

Hi, sorry for the late reply, but i used a medium to hot chilli, rather than a flat out beast like the scotch bonnets as i was thinking it would be better to have a higher quantity of chillis in the must for maximum flavour, rather than a few super hot ones and it ending up a bit pissy.
I have no actual proof of whether any of this is true, just pure guess work mind!! Once i've tried it, i'll post up a review and let you know :thumb:

 

[Brewtrog]

Be interesting to hear how well the fermentation goes in this, or if the chilli's have an adverse effect on the yeast.

 

[adensf]

you'e tempted me into it im going to give this a go , im thinking more lemon to break down the oil in the chilies in the hope of gaining more flavor or at least temperature lol other than that im going to copy yours

 

[GZCider]

Awsome Idea! Hope you can put some pictures up. I really wonder what it would look like in a glass.

This reminds me of the Ancient South American drink that was a Chili/Chocolate beverage. Could be an interesting idea for a brew

 

[Wol]

Right, i've got this recipe fermenting, and for the first week it was going like the clappers, then settled to a steady blip every 2seconds or so, checked it yesterday and its basically stopped dead. I know the weather at the moment aint the the best, so i've had it placed on top of the fire to try and get the yeast doing its business again, but with no joy. I really want this to ferment out, as it smells....well...interesting, so any ideas what else to try to get it going again???

 

[Abiruth]

Right, i've got this recipe fermenting, and for the first week it was going like the clappers, then settled to a steady blip every 2seconds or so, checked it yesterday and its basically stopped dead. I know the weather at the moment aint the the best, so i've had it placed on top of the fire to try and get the yeast doing its business again, but with no joy. I really want this to ferment out, as it smells....well...interesting, so any ideas what else to try to get it going again???

Sound like it's finished fermenting to me. Best to use a hyrdometer to check. Worth buying one for a few pounds if you've not already got one. Careful of getting it too hot it won't help the flavour any. Look forward to hearing how it tastes

:drink:

 

[Wol]

Would it ferment out in a week :wha: ?? its not hot on top of the fire, its a steady 20c on there, got a digital thermometer on there to monitor it :thumb:

 

[Abiruth]

Would it ferment out in a week :wha: ?? its not hot on top of the fire, its a steady 20c on there, got a digital thermometer on there to monitor it :thumb:

Yep could do if it got a good start like you said. Is there much sediment at the bottom of the demijohn?

:drink:

 

[Wol]

yeah, compared to my ribena effort which is sat next to it bubbling away nicely. I'd say the chilli has just under 2cms worth of sediment, and the ribena has only a couple of mm's. The ribena one was started 5 days before the chilli!! I've got my hydrometer soaking in some milton solution now, so i'll check in 15mins and let you know!! cheers for the quick reply :

 

[Abiruth]

yeah, compared to my ribena effort which is sat next to it bubbling away nicely. I'd say the chilli has just under 2cms worth of sediment, and the ribena has only a couple of mm's. The ribena one was started 5 days before the chilli!! I've got my hydrometer soaking in some milton solution now, so i'll check in 15mins and let you know!! cheers for the quick reply :

Yep sounds like it's done. Not sure what you'd planned but IMHO best bet would be to rack it then leave it another week. If there's still no signs of movement add your wine stabiliser and degas. Then leave to clear (with or without finings).

:drink:

 

[Wol]

Checked the SG, and it was 0.998, so I'd say thats done. I've just got the next DJ, syphon tube and airlock steralising, when i rack this now, do i add a crushed CT in the recieving vessel? I'm still a bit hazy on this wine malarky...

Also how essential are the finnings? wasnt expecting this to go so quick and i aint got any yet....

 

[Abiruth]

Checked the SG, and it was 0.998, so I'd say thats done. I've just got the next DJ, syphon tube and airlock steralising, when i rack this now, do i add a crushed CT in the recieving vessel? I'm still a bit hazy on this wine malarky...

Also how essential are the finnings? wasnt expecting this to go so quick and i aint got any yet....

Great You don't need to add the CT just yet but don't think it'd do any harm if you want to. I usually rack now then rely on the last bits of residual fermenting to provide some carbon dioxide to protect the wine from oxygen. Then after a few days add the CT.
No finings not at all essential, many folks don't like them and prefer to wait. Once you're sure fermenting has stop i.e. in a few days and after CT added move to a cool area and it'll clear quicker.

:drink:

 

[Wol]

Right, I've racked into 2nd DJ, just put the airlock on and after a couple of mins, I've got the slightest movement in the airlock, so aint put a CT in yet, as it shouldnt oxidise if there is CO2 there? Im assuming i only need to put a CT in later when theres no movement at all, and when i put the stabaliser in? Sorry for the daft questions, just dont wanna balls it up

 

[oldbloke]

Abiruth is right that a CT isn't essential, but I always add one when racking as I tend to get a bit of splashing and swirling that must introduce some oxygen to the wine.
If there's live yeast still working, yes it will mop up some oxygen, but I don't like to take chances - I've had one oxidised wine and it wasn't nice.

 

[Abiruth]

Right, I've racked into 2nd DJ, just put the airlock on and after a couple of mins, I've got the slightest movement in the airlock, so aint put a CT in yet, as it shouldnt oxidise if there is CO2 there? Im assuming i only need to put a CT in later when theres no movement at all, and when i put the stabaliser in? Sorry for the daft questions, just dont wanna balls it up

Great all sounds good. If you've got a separate wine stabiliser you don't need to add the CT at this point (the one I use is practically the same as a CT). I'd only add one later before bottling if you're planning on reracking again.

Did you taste it?? :)

:drink: