Plum Wine Recipe

[Forkbeard]

Recipe. Sorry.

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

By and large, 4lb of fruit, 2lb of sugar, pectolase, yeast and nutrient is a reasonable rule of thumb guide.

Always worth checking the forum first though just to see about sugar quantities/anything else that might be useful such as citric acid or tannin. Plenty of recipes for most fruits available if you run a search or, if you can't find one for a particular fruit, feel free to ask :)

 

[tojo82]

Hi I am aware that this thread is very old but I have followed the recipe for plum wine from the second post. I am new to brewing and have a question if anyone could answer it that would be great. Can I ask why was the yeast added to the must and left for 4 days stirring twice daily before sugar was added to it in the second fermentation bucket? I always assumed that sugar should be added at the same time as yeast as the yeast feeds off the sugar? I have followed this to the letter and have just strained the initial must that I left for 36 hours before adding yeast and leaving for 4 days into a second sterilised container that I poured the correct sugar into. Will the yeast re start again now it has sugar to feed off? Thank you and apologies if this is a silly newbie question.

 

[Triker]

Hi Moley,

I just found your recipe for this wine last week. I have a fermentation problem. It wont start! The only thing I did which was different was that I inadvertently added the yeast to the must before straining it off. It therefore still has a lot of fruit in it, but I didn't think it would matter. The barometer reading is 1070 after adding the sugar, The temperature is 22/24c and I have de-gassed it.

Any Ideas please?

 

[lavo]

Hello Triker, I have the same problem. Did yours start in the end?. I added Campden tablets at the same time as the yeast etc. as per recipe
I was a bit dubious about that. That is always added at the end normally. anyway there is nothing happening at all even days after adding sugar. I am now thinking I might have added stabiliser by mistake. No way. But seems that the Campden tables have killed the good yeast 'youngs' as well as the nasty ones that it is intended for.
I used the powder type by 'Richies' for which saves crushes the tablets. Even warmed to 24* dipped in warm water. The brew in currently dead.
Any comments from anybody before spilling 3 gallon of Victoria plum wine down the drain. thanks Lavo

 

[Triker]

Hi Lavo,

I left mine alone and fermentation started one full week later. Its happily bubbling away now :clap:

Re your adding of campden tablets at the 'same time' as the yeast?

Just to clarify Moley said....

"Chop the plums in half, remove the stones and throw the plums into the first bucket.
Add 6 pints of cold water for every 4 lbs of plums.
Add 1 crushed campden tablet for every 4 lbs of plums.
Add 1 tsp Pectolase for every 4 lbs of plums.
Stir well then put the lid on.

After 24-36 hours add yeast and nutrient or GP yeast compound"

Hope this helps

 

[simon12]

I have a similar problem. I didn't follow any recipe this is what I did:
put all the ripe plums I can reach from the tree 1/2ed and de stoned in a fermentation bucket (with a lid tap and airlock)
Squished all the plums with clean hands to make a pulp
Added around 4l of boiling water and 3 crushed campden tablets and stirred well in
24 hours later added 2 tsp each of pectolase, yeast and yeast nutrient airlock bubbling away 12 hours later
1 week later opened tap and drained into a clean fermenter (surprisingly drained fine and didn't block the tap) around 18l drained and 4l left behind. Added 2kg granulated sugar.
48 hours later no airlock activity since draining and adding sugar, added 2 more tsp of yeat and yeast nutrient.
48 hours later still no airlock activity any ideas?

 

[lavo]

Hello Tricker/Simon12,
Sorry not at the same time, I added the yeast the next day after 24Hours as per recipe.
I will hold off chucking mine then. I will wait a week or so. There is hope yet then.
Thanks Ticker you saved my brew, I hope.:nah:
Good luck folks. Next year I will stick to plum pudding

 

[tojo82]

Hi all mine has been sat in 3 djs for approximately three weeks now after I stopped fermentation and re racked them. They look excellent currently. I have them in the dark and there is a tiny bit of yeast settled at the bottom. My question is when do I re rack again I read somewhere one month then I read somewhere else 3 months?

 

[lavo]

HELLO PLUM BREWERS,

I CAN FINALLY DETECT SMALL ACTIVITIES GOING ON AFTER OVER A WEEK OF FERMENTATION. THINGS ARE RISEING TO THE TOP OF THE BARREL. IT NOW SMELLS OF HOMEBREW RATHER THAN SWEET PLUM SMELL. :-)
WITH EARLY CAMPDEN USE, TIME & PATIENCE IS THE ESSENCE THEN. HELLO TOJO82 I HAVNT THE PATIENCE IN RACKING AFTER MONTH OF WAIT. IM GUNNA WAIT TILL IS HAS FERMENTED THEN STABALISE AND USE FININGS, TWICE IF NEED BE. USING BENTETINE, THAT USUALLY WORK WELL. GOOD LUCK FOLKS. LOOKING FORWARD TO DRINKING NOW. :drink:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

What is be bentetine?
If you answer could you turn your caps lock off, thanks.

 

[simon12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite

 

[lavo]

Hello,

Sorry for being sloppy using capitals. I meant to say Bentonite which
is indeed is a form of wine fining.

Thanks

 

[Triker]

Hi all mine has been sat in 3 djs for approximately three weeks now after I stopped fermentation and re racked them. They look excellent currently. I have them in the dark and there is a tiny bit of yeast settled at the bottom. My question is when do I re rack again I read somewhere one month then I read somewhere else 3 months?

I rarely brew in DJ's these days, preferring the 5 gallon FB option. I do not rack until at least 4 or 5 days following the addition of finings. Then I will rack into DJ's ready for the final filtering.

 

[tojo82]

Are finings necessary? Is it better to wait for it to naturally clear? The 3 djs have been sat for nearly 4 weeks now and have a thom layer of sediment in the bottom. Should I re rack the wine into clean djs without the sediment? If I should do I put another campden tablet into the dj

 

[Triker]

Are finings necessary? Is it better to wait for it to naturally clear? The 3 djs have been sat for nearly 4 weeks now and have a thom layer of sediment in the bottom. Should I re rack the wine into clean djs without the sediment? If I should do I put another campden tablet into the dj

There are people on the forum who more qualified than me but......

Finnings are not always necessary and if you think its clearing ok without finnings its not a problem. In a five gallon batch it just speeds up the process so that I can get it into bottles sooner. It depends on how long its taking. You don't want your wine to sit on dead yeast cells for too long !

You can add a campden tablet and leave to clear which will stop any fermentation before bottling and ensure the wine does not have any nasties in there.

 

[simon12]

My understanding is finings speed up the clearing but time does it anyway. Camden tablets when racking mainly stop oxygen being absorbed and quickly leave the wine leaving a new protective atmosphere on the top (replacing the co2 one). You can rack the wine multiple times if a new sediment forms to get it as clear as possible this may be needed less if you use finings. Campden tablets do not guarantee to kill all the yeast so if there is any sugar remaining (or added) fermentation could continue this is important to know if you are back sweetening to avoid bottle bombs.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You can add a campden tablet and leave to clear which will stop any fermentation before bottling and ensure the wine does not have any nasties in there.

If you are going to back sweeten with anything that has sugar in it you have to kill the yeast with Potassium Sorbate usually found in home brew shops labeled as fermentation stopper.

 

[Wildjonno33]

Currently following this recipe and wondered which of these yeasts to use. Any thoughts. View attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1437763149.797959.jpg