Ribena Wine

[Rich85]

I decided to have a go at the Ribena Wine I saw on here a couple of weeks ago.

Recipe (5 gallons):
3l Tesco High Juice
3.5kg White Sugar
1 tsp Youngs Wine Yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
Cup of strong tea made with two teabags

I boiled the High Juice for 15 mins to get rid of the preservatives, let it cool then added the lemon juice and tea. I split the mixture into 5 demijohns and topped up with water to get a OG of 1.105.

After about a fortnight, the gravity is down to 1.014. I gave it a try and it isn't horrible, it just isn't particularly nice. It tastes much more alcoholic than it actually is (12.1% abv) and smells a bit odd and is still as cloudy as it was when it first started.

Any ideas on how to improve it?

Cheers

 

[Moley]

Any ideas on how to improve it?

Yes, leave it alone for at least another fortnight :thumb:

 

[Rich85]

Will do, cheers Moley.

 

[blueboron]

Just trying to work out 3 Litres of Juice makes 5 Gallons - Do you add water to this and if so, is the High Juice a Cordial?

BB

 

[Moley]

Yes, add water, although I would be inclined to add at least 1litre of grape juice to the gallon to give it some vinosity.

High Juice is just a stronger cordial, with the more watery cordials you'd probably need to use twice as much.

With any cordials, make sure you get the full sugar versions and not the ‘healthy’ option for calorie counters.

 

[blueboron]

Thank you Moley

 

[Rich85]

Yeah next time I make it I'm going to put grape juice in, I've since read that it makes it better. I was originally only making two gallons as an experiment to see what it was like but out of sheer stupidity I blindly followed the recipe I'd found which was for 5 gallons. I tried to take a hydrometer reading but it only sank by about an inch leaving most of the bulb part sticking out :lol: .

 

[Rich85]

Well it has been near on a fortnight now, the hydrometer reads 0.990 and the airlocks are bubbling about twice a minute. It is still cloudy but after a sneaky taste it seems to taste a lot nicer than it did a fortnight ago and I'm really pleased with it.

When I have done wine kits before there is normally a cocktail of chemicals that comes with the kit to be added at the end to clear and stabilise. I assume with this wine that it will need stabilising to kill off the yeast so it can be back sweetened and also need finings to clear it because it is really cloudy. I have got a couple of bottles of isinglass finings and I bought a tub of potassium sorbate stabiliser today. Are these the right things to add, and if so when and in what order? Also do I need to degas it and if so how?

I can't wait for it get it in bottles and ready for drinking, especially while we have got some nice weather for a change!

 

[Moley]

See the sections on racking, de-gassing, stabilising and clearing about two thirds of the way down the WOW Guide, the procedure's exactly the same.

 

[Rich85]

Cheers again Moley!