Damson (in Distress) Port

Moley · Oct 22, 2012

Moley said:
bluebell said:

Just got mine going and wondering what a second go with these fruit may produce?

Click to expand...

I'd been wondering that myself, for the price of a bag of sugar it has to be worth a try :thumb:

Damn, blast, bugger and f*ck!

I must keep better notes.
I must keep better notes.
I must keep better notes.
I must keep better notes.
I must keep better notes.

So I started off a gallon of English Port to GA's recipe last September. I then saved the fruit pulp from the first straining, tossed it into a second bucket on 16/9/11 and according to my scant scribblings I added some water, a bag of sugar, a litre of RGJ and a 340g jar of Morrison's 'value' runny honey, but if I took a new OG I didn't write it down

I have absolutely no idea when I strained it again, when I racked it, what final gravity it hit, when I stabilised it or how I sweetened it.

I've just bottled it. It had thrown another sediment so I only got 5.75 bottles at 0.996

5 bottles are going away for this Christmas, or later. The part bottle seems to have disappeared somehow :drunk:

It was bloody lovely!

Don't waste that fruit pulp, try a second mash, but write down what you did just in case you ever want to repeat it.

graysalchemy · Oct 22, 2012

Have you sampled the port yet Moley :hmm: :hmm:

godfrey · Sep 9, 2013

some good tips here for those looking to make port

bookmarked :thumb:

godfrey · Sep 10, 2013

my elderberrys and damsons (washed and stoned) are in the freezer :party:

any recommendations on the yeast ?

I am planning on ordering some red grape concentrate
I think it will add extra body and depth to this fine recipe
so I can get some yeast in the order

I have in stock vintners harvest SN9 and VR21
also have Gervin GV2

I was looking at ordering richies port yeast

was also thinking to add more different varietys of plum instead of brambles
need to see what weight of brambles I can forage tho,
I am sure I can get the brambles still.

graysalchemy · Sep 10, 2013

godfrey said:
any recommendations on the yeast ?

:wha: :wha:

er Port Yeast :grin: :grin:

sorry for being flippant :lol: :lol:

Gervin GV4 (Port) High Alcohol Yeast is what I always use :thumb:

The Goatreich · Sep 10, 2013

This looks great! I have around 1kg of blackberries and a few kilos of elderberries in my freezer. I was going to make a wine up with it, but my parents have been nagging me to take some of the damsons off their tree and do something with them, so I think a port may well be on the cards.

godfrey · Sep 10, 2013

graysalchemy said:
Gervin GV4 (Port) High Alcohol Yeast is what I always use :thumb:

thanks GA ! I will get this one :hat:

EDIT:
ordered youngs red grape 245g
oak chips 30g
GV4

godfrey · Sep 10, 2013

any idea how much water to add for this recipe ?

I am sure you won't need a gallon of water
with all the juice from 6lb of fruit

graysalchemy · Sep 10, 2013

Hi ferment on the pulp and sugar syrup (sugar boiled up in the minimum amount of water to get it to all disolve) then when you have squeezed the juice out after a week put in an Fv and top up to youir finished volume.

hope that helps :thumb:

godfrey · Sep 10, 2013

thanks again GA :hat:

I would say the 2lb of sugar approximately equal to 1Kg

sugar saturation of water is about 2kg in 1litre of water at room temp

so you could in theory dissolve the sugar in 500ml of water

but I guess 1 litre would be ok :-)

as for squeezing ? ... fruit press ?

graysalchemy · Sep 10, 2013

I just use a straining bag available from your local HB shop or a bit of Muslin. Give it a good squeeze to get every last drop out. :thumb:

Boatbrewer · Sep 11, 2013

I bought a bin bag full of net curtains from a car boot sale for Â£3. I just cut off what I need to use that for straining. Use once, then bin it.

My only regret, having read this topic is that I didnt save the fruit after the first press for another bash.

hypnoticmonkey · Sep 20, 2013

GA et al., how long would you ferment on the pulp for? Given the sheer amount of fruit in the port recipe, I'm thinking a while? Today is Day Four.

godfrey · Sep 21, 2013

Just got my fruit in the bucket defrosting, over 16KG all weight after de-stoning :party:

6KG of mixed berries of which 2KG elder, 2KG blacks the other 2 KG are raspberry, blue berry, black currant
9KG of mixed plum of which 1.6KG damson, 900g gauge, 800g vic, 3KG president and the rest are unknown variety
1KG grape from 600g of red wine grapes 400g black beauty desert grape

also to add to this in the next few days still to decide quantities after BRIX and acid testing... i have

oak chips
3 litres of waitrose merlot grape juice
1KG blossom honey
2KG unrefined sugar
2KG sugar

also to add extra body I have 3 black bananas
red grape concentrate

not sure when to add the oak chips, I am thinking 48 hours after i pitch the yeast

maybe I just throw the lot in and see what happens :lol:

water top up to 4 gallons ( after removing the pulp for another brew )

graysalchemy · Sep 22, 2013

You need to add the oak during maturation when fermentation is complete, and it is in the secondary. That is the process in a vineyard

hypnoticmonkey · Sep 22, 2013

Hi GA, any advice on how long to leave the pulp fermenting before straining into an FV?

graysalchemy · Sep 22, 2013

About a week :thumb:

then strain to get every last drop. :thumb:

godfrey · Sep 22, 2013

what SG should I be aiming for?

I am currently over 5 gallons of must (with the pulp) with an SG of about 1.100

added 2 litres of merlot grape juice, 1KG honey and 2KG sugar with about 3 litres of water

before I added the water with the sugar and honey dissolved in it, I was about SG 1.062

the must taste awesome, really happy with the recipe :party:

I am thinking this is a good starting point and pitch the yeast in the morning ?

I can add 100g or 200g of sugar each day when I punch down the crust and stir the pulp ?

EDIT:
just mixed in another kilo of sugar with no water up to about 1.110 now
the GV4 i will be using will go up to 21%ABV
should I be adding more sugar still ?

hypnoticmonkey · Sep 22, 2013

graysalchemy said:
About a week :thumb:

Thanks!

graysalchemy said:
then strain to get every last drop. :thumb:

That's the bit I'm dreading. I usually get fed up of straining and don't get quite as much out as I otherwise could, but for this it's all about body so I know I need to get every bit out.

And I've done 3 gallons...

godfrey · Sep 23, 2013

SG is up a tiny bit from last night @ about 1.112

Yeast has been pitched :thumb:

Damson (in Distress) Port

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