Opinions on 23l rhubarb wine recipe please

[davemorton]

Have been hunting on the forum/google for a rhubarb wine recipe, and there are so many variations, that my head is spinning. I have digested them all, and came up with this, does it look okay please? Also added a few questions at the bottom. TIA

7kg Rhubarb
7kg Sugar
4tsp Pectolase (Should I add this to the fruit at the same time as the sugar)
1 packet Champagne yeast (Any opinions on the yeast, would a different type be preferable?)
2 (245g) tins of Youngs white wine enhancer/CGJ

I plan on freezing the rhubarb. then in a bucket add the defrosted fruit and sugar. Do I add the pectolase now, or when I have strained the juice?
Also, is it worth adding some campden tablets to the fruit at the beginning to kill any wild yeasts, or is this not needed due to the freezing?

Thanks for any opnions.

 

[Tau]

Recipe seems fine for a five gallon batch. Maybe another tin or litre of white grape juice. Yeast is fine, yeah add a camden if not boiling and stir, vigourously at start, thrice a day for 3 days before straining. Freezing doesn't kill yeasts generally, they just doze. Don't need to defrost the Rhubarb just pour boiling water over them. Add the pectlase after straining into your new vessel you'll just end up wasting half of it in the strain, same with the yeast just a sprinkle for the must. Add sugar after straining the must, or just add a kilo to the must to start off fermentation.

 

[Tanzanite]

Theres not enough rhubarb in my opinion i would use at least 10kg , dont be afraid to throw some finally chopped apples in there too, and grape concentrate Richies is the best one , the others contain glucose. add 1 campden to the fruit and three quarters of the water in your bucket,( Boiled) leave over night then add the pectolase 6 teaspoons is ok. leave 3-4 days sealed then strain the juice through muslin, add sugar dissolved in boiling water and grape juice to make up your amount then yeast nutrient and a heaped teaspoon tartric acid or juice of five lemons. A german hock type yeast, aim for a med dry -to med wine. Champagne yeast is a fairly high alcohol tolerant yeast, Rhubarb flavor does not take to lots of alcohol so temper the sugar back a bit you can all ways back sweeten with a some Truvia.

 

[engineer]

I would agree that is not enough rhubarb, i use 2.5kg for 5 litres so i would be looking to use at least 10kg for a 20+ litre batch. Never made a rhubarb wine batch that size yet though.

I never freeze rhubarb but i do soak it in the water/sugar mix for a week before straining and fermenting in the demijon.

 

[Tau]

You might get away with 3lb per gallon if you leave the must for a little longer. I use 4lb, but of short have used 3lb per gallon.

 

[Tanzanite]

You might get away with 3lb per gallon if you leave the must for a little longer. I use 4lb, but of short have used 3lb per gallon.

Personally i would keep the rhubarb frozen if you only have a small amount, until the elders have flowered then gather and freeze a load of them. (its a fantastic addition to country white wines, apple ,gooseberry, rhubarb ect . I use 5-6 pound per gallon but use 4lb and add apples and a small amount of elderflowers say two to three heads fresh depending on size of the heads or a small hand full dried or frozen per gallon. makes a massive difference, with the german yeast you can get a superb hock type wine. too much elderflower can leave your wine smelling like cat piss just enough gives a beautiful muscat grape smell its experience to know your required amount.

 

[davemorton]

Thanks for all the replies. I will be patient and wait until the rhubarb grows some more, so that I can increase the amount of kg per l.

 

[davemorton]

Well if seems ages ago that I posted the original question (well it was really.)
I saved and froze more rhubarb, and also got one of those wine buddy Cabernet Sauvignon 5gallon wine kits that were silly cheap at tescos a couple of month ago, which are not meant to be that good, so plan is to combine.

Plan is....

14kg of frozen rhubarb chopped, put into a bucket with 2kg of sugar, left overnight to defrost.
Add 2 gallon or so of boiled cooled water the following day, and 1 campden. Stir.
Next day, add pectolase and stir now and again for 3 days.
Make up to 5 gallon with water and the juice that came with the Cab Sav kit and some yeast nutrient and 3 more kg of sugar. I am just intending to use the yeast that came with the kit. I might even throw in the oak chips that came with it, but undecided as yet.

I know this isnt a true rhubarb wine, but dont want to waste the winebuddy kit, and I had tried a couple of other peoples rhubarb wines, and they were quite sour/bitter. Hoping this will give me the benefit/taste of the rhubarb, make a not so good wine kit much better, and give me 5 gallon of nice wine to drink.
Opinions please.

 

[Tau]

Well if seems ages ago that I posted the original question (well it was really.)
I saved and froze more rhubarb, and also got one of those wine buddy Cabernet Sauvignon 5gallon wine kits that were silly cheap at tescos a couple of month ago, which are not meant to be that good, so plan is to combine.

Plan is....

14kg of frozen rhubarb chopped, put into a bucket with 2kg of sugar, left overnight to defrost.
Add 2 gallon or so of boiled cooled water the following day, and 1 campden. Stir.
Next day, add pectolase and stir now and again for 3 days.
Make up to 5 gallon with water and the juice that came with the Cab Sav kit and some yeast nutrient and 3 more kg of sugar. I am just intending to use the yeast that came with the kit. I might even throw in the oak chips that came with it, but undecided as yet.

I know this isnt a true rhubarb wine, but dont want to waste the winebuddy kit, and I had tried a couple of other peoples rhubarb wines, and they were quite sour/bitter. Hoping this will give me the benefit/taste of the rhubarb, make a not so good wine kit much better, and give me 5 gallon of nice wine to drink.
Opinions please.

Ok think that's too much Rhubarb, 10kg would be max' otherwise may well turn out bitter or too acidic. I'd use the cab' sav kit seperately and make another time for blending if needed. Invest a few quid in 5 litres of rgj from Lidl for your grape source rather than use the kit. Thinking about it you could use half that amount of Rhubarb if using grape juice and make two batches.

 

[davemorton]

Thanks for the reply, I will have a trip to Lidl tomorrow, see if they have the RGJ. lol, wish I had just made a load of crumble the hassle this rhubarb has caused me.

 

[davemorton]

Okay, did as above, and have now added Lidl's GJ, and topped up with bottled water so it is 5 gallon. The reading is 1.080, so does this mean it is only going to be about 10.5%, I was hoping about 14%. To make it to the desired strength, how much more sugar must I add about please?

Edit: Also, reading up on the yeast I have used, it states...There is an increased chance of Malolactic fermentation by lactic acid bacteria following MA33 fermentation. MA33 is a killer-sensitive strain. ...What the hell does that mean? Is it bad? (Mangrove Jacks MA33) (Edit2: It looks like its a good thing.)

 

[davemorton]

Well just racked it off, and it is reading 0.940. Tasted it, and it is rather sour, so hope it sorts itself out.
edit: Hmm, that makes it 18%, does not sound right.