Plum Jerkum - first time

[bottleinfrontofme]

Hi all,

First time trying this, my Uncle mentioned it and we had a huge hoard of plums this year. I found a recipe and it's currently sat in the kitchen in the demijohn with a single Camden tablet crushed. Tomorrow I'll add the teaspoon and a bit of wine making yeast, airlock and leave. Has anyone else tried this before? Any tips?

Thanks James

 

[MashBag]

You can press, boil or freeze the plums to make the wine.

Plum winner can be a bugger to clear, so get some ceramic goblets just In case. Makes nice eau de vie.

 

[Clarence]

Hi all,

First time trying this, my Uncle mentioned it and we had a huge hoard of plums this year. I found a recipe and it's currently sat in the kitchen in the demijohn with a single Camden tablet crushed. Tomorrow I'll add the teaspoon and a bit of wine making yeast, airlock and leave. Has anyone else tried this before? Any tips?

Thanks James

I haven't made country wines for ages, but I always understood, that after the first, violent, fermentation was over, it was important to fill the demijohn to the bottom of the neck to minimise oxidation. If there's not enough juice, some sugary water would suffice.
Don't take this amis, but your demijihns look half empty and prone to oxidation or worse, acetic acid contamination, which can only work in the presence of air.
The acetic acid bacterium, by the way, it's not killed by Campden tablets.

 

[bottleinfrontofme]

Thanks for the info. The left hand demijohn is the plum jerkum I did yesterday, was going to add the wine what this morning and fit airlock. After this process, maybe a week or so? Should I the. Fill the demijohn with the sugary water?

The narrow rum on the right I did 2 years ago. Didn't know I should have filled it, but it had an airlock fitted the whole time, would this have avoided the acetic acid issues?

How do I know if it's been contaminated? Thanks

 

[Clarence]

Thanks for the info. The left hand demijohn is the plum jerkum I did yesterday, was going to add the wine what this morning and fit airlock. After this process, maybe a week or so? Should I the. Fill the demijohn with the sugary water?

The narrow rum on the right I did 2 years ago. Didn't know I should have filled it, but it had an airlock fitted the whole time, would this have avoided the acetic acid issues?

How do I know if it's been contaminated? Thanks

If it had been contaminated, it would have turned to vinegar, so since it hasn't, you're OK.
Fill the demijohn up as soon as the fermentation has subsided and it's no longer likely to start bubbling through the airlock. When you rack the wine off the lees, top it up again.

 

[bottleinfrontofme]

If it had been contaminated, it would have turned to vinegar, so since it hasn't, you're OK.
Fill the demijohn up as soon as the fermentation has subsided and it's no longer likely to start bubbling through the airlock. When you rack the wine off the lees, top it up again.

Thank you. Doesn't smell vinegary, so should be fine. Maybe filtering might help or I'll just rack it as is.

Checked the recipe and it says fit airlock for 2-3 months, after that period I guess I'll rack it. So at that stage I siphon off, Camden tablet in new recepticle, make sure it's filled to the top of the bottle and seal?

Thanks again, appreciate your help!

 

[Clarence]

There should be no need to filter. I've never filtered a wine and I've made hundreds. If it needs filtering its not ready.

 

[bottleinfrontofme]

I haven't made country wines for ages, but I always understood, that after the first, violent, fermentation was over, it was important to fill the demijohn to the bottom of the neck to minimise oxidation. If there's not enough juice, some sugary water would suffice.
Don't take this amis, but your demijihns look half empty and prone to oxidation or worse, acetic acid contamination, which can only work in the presence of air.
The acetic acid bacterium, by the way, it's not killed by Campden tablets.

Ah, just posted again but remember you mentioned this. I'll leave as is for now, let it ferment and bubble away, and then I'll top up with sugar water. How long does fermentation last? Once it's done and stopped bubbling I guess do I remove airlock, top up with the sugar water to near the top and re fit the airlock? And leave for the recommendation of 2-3 months? Thanks

 

[The Baron]

You can use apple juice to top up as Clarence mentioned after the first eruptive fermentation