I fermented the red grape juice from my vine in September and would like to try to turn the 5 gallons produced into Port. I've read that the brandy should be added while the juice is still fermenting - so I would be grateful to know if I have left it too late or can I add the brandy at this stage ? Many thanks.
Making Port
- Thread starter likaleica
- Start date
Help Support The Homebrew Forum:
Adding the brandy before the end of fermentation increases the alcohol content so the yeast is killed off, resulting in a natural sweetness. Adding the brandy after fermentation will result in a dryer port, I can't see any reason why you can't add it now to produce a port strength wine, if you want it sweeter, you can add sugar.
calumscott
Regular.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2011
- Messages
- 311
- Reaction score
- 32
Exactly what I'm going to be doing. I have a pineapple WOW-style that stopped sweet and just wouldn't go any further, it's been killed and the brandy is going in...
...I've also got a Bramble, Elder and Damson which went to dry and was killed, that'll get brandy and backsweetened with sugar.
:thumb:
...I've also got a Bramble, Elder and Damson which went to dry and was killed, that'll get brandy and backsweetened with sugar.
:thumb:
Crastney
Landlord.
how much Brandy do we add?
I have an elderberry port type wine currently in bulk maturing, but it's in a PET, and I need to get it into a glass DJ, so I can add brandy then.
I have an elderberry port type wine currently in bulk maturing, but it's in a PET, and I need to get it into a glass DJ, so I can add brandy then.
I fortified my blackberry wine with blackberry vodka this year (a 55% abv import from Ukraine). Mine was fortified to 19% abv, it was almost a whole bottle for the gallon of wine. The calculations may have been a bit (a lot) out, they were made after a few drops of the vodka :lol:
p.s. you could use this calculator to work out how much brandy to add (looks like I wasn't too far out after all :) )
Schnapps In Derby
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2012
- Messages
- 20
- Reaction score
- 1
Thought I'd share the success I've had with damson port - I couldn't work out how some of the brews earlier in this thread turned out like dishwater. We had a glut of damsons in our hedge last Autumn - I froze 17 lbs and used the remaining 9lbs to get a brew on.
Searching the web I came across a very simple recipe, which produced a fantastic port at the first attempt. Try this:
9lb damsons, 1lb blackberries for colour and tannin, 9lb ordinary sugar, pectic enzyme, Young's dessert/high alcohol wine yeast,
Cover the fruit in water in a jam kettle or similar and heat. Get your hands in and mash the fruit to separate it from the stones. Take them out if you want, but the whole thing will be sieved later anyway. Heat up to sterilise the fruit and dissolve all the sugar. Pour into FV and make up to 3 gallons - you might want to add a little more water, as the large amount of pulp takes up some volume. When cool, add the enzyme and yeast according to instructions on the packet.
After a week fermenting, sieve into another sterilised FV. I use a colander as an ordinary sieve mesh is too fine. I also squeeze the remaining pulp through a muslin - its sounds a pain but is well worth it to get the extra bit of juice.
Syphon the resulting liquid into 3 demijohns, primed with 150g of sugar each. Airlock and leave 6-8 weeks until fermentation stops. I taste and adjust for sweetness halfway.
Syphon into bottles - its drinkable now, but better after a month. You can still add a tsp of sugar to the bottle to adjust sweetness if you want. This makes about 14 bottles of port for £6 - bargain! Mine turned out fruity, med-sweet, with lots of body, quite a syrupy consistency,very clean - tasting with a beautiful ruby-red colour. Had to ration myself to one glass per night as its incredibly drinkable. With all my family scrounging bottles, I've had to get another batch going from the frozen fruit. This is pretty much the most drinkable brew I've made yet.
Searching the web I came across a very simple recipe, which produced a fantastic port at the first attempt. Try this:
9lb damsons, 1lb blackberries for colour and tannin, 9lb ordinary sugar, pectic enzyme, Young's dessert/high alcohol wine yeast,
Cover the fruit in water in a jam kettle or similar and heat. Get your hands in and mash the fruit to separate it from the stones. Take them out if you want, but the whole thing will be sieved later anyway. Heat up to sterilise the fruit and dissolve all the sugar. Pour into FV and make up to 3 gallons - you might want to add a little more water, as the large amount of pulp takes up some volume. When cool, add the enzyme and yeast according to instructions on the packet.
After a week fermenting, sieve into another sterilised FV. I use a colander as an ordinary sieve mesh is too fine. I also squeeze the remaining pulp through a muslin - its sounds a pain but is well worth it to get the extra bit of juice.
Syphon the resulting liquid into 3 demijohns, primed with 150g of sugar each. Airlock and leave 6-8 weeks until fermentation stops. I taste and adjust for sweetness halfway.
Syphon into bottles - its drinkable now, but better after a month. You can still add a tsp of sugar to the bottle to adjust sweetness if you want. This makes about 14 bottles of port for £6 - bargain! Mine turned out fruity, med-sweet, with lots of body, quite a syrupy consistency,very clean - tasting with a beautiful ruby-red colour. Had to ration myself to one glass per night as its incredibly drinkable. With all my family scrounging bottles, I've had to get another batch going from the frozen fruit. This is pretty much the most drinkable brew I've made yet.
Similar threads
