Rhubarb & Watermelon wine.

Just started this one off yesterday, but it's a 2 part effort and my timing is off.



Recipe -

1.3 kg frozen thin sliced rhubarb
1 medium large watermelon (produced 3.7kg pulp)
2.5l bottled water
1.8kg white sugar
1 lime, juice and zest
1/2 tsp grape tannin
GV2 yeast 1/2 pk.

Will make 10L split into two 5L water bottles.

All the sugar added to the frozen rhubarb which takes 3 days to soak. This will then be added to the watermelon.
Watermelon was sliced, scooped then blended in the tub with a hand blender just to break it all up into a pulp.
Yeast was then pitched straight away onto it, as it should be sterile. I'm hoping the rhubarb won't start off on it's own as it is in a very thick sugar syrup at the moment which should act as a preservative.

The tubs are 10L each and I copied using them from an american youtuber for the first stage of fruit wines. They aren't 100% airtight, but seal well enough without a risk of the lids exploding.

I can't take an initial gravity reading due to everything being in a pulp, but I will in 3 days when it all gets put into a muslin bag and squished, but the yeast is already multiplying at this stage.

I think there is enough sugar there to hit 11% ABV. Maybe someone can check, and do you think I need pectalase at this point?

I'm hoping the watermelon will cut the acidity of the rhubarb, and they would both produce a rosé wine. The lime just seemed to go with the watermelon in some still drinks.

- lets see what happens.

Subscribe for updates, sounds yum.

Drained the rhubarb last week and rinsed with a little water All the colour came out of it, and it made a very sweet crumble with the addition of some other fresh rhubarb.
Put the two liquids together into one tub and it fermented out until today. It has slowed down enough to transfer into DJ's or in my case 5L water bottles through a muslin square.

Looks like a strawberry milkshake !

Still no idea on gravity readings because by the time the rhubarb was steeped in a thick sugar syrup and ready the watermelon had almost finished, and all the floaty bits had dropped.

I will try and calculate it based on FG and total sugars at the start.

Fermented out to 0.998. Took an age to clear and used Kwik Clear in the end which resulted in loosing all the colour.
Bottled today as it has been sitting in the new ferment fridge at 10C.

Tastes quite strong with an overwhelming flavour of watermelon. Not really drinkable now unless maybe you mixed it with a peach schnapps and made a punch out of it. Quite harsh, maybe from the rhubarb.
Will see what happens after resting a while.

How long? 6 months?

I don't make a lot of wine these days, but one I always make is rhubarb flavoured with ½oz dried elderflowers per gallon. Makes a lovely fizzy wine if you put it in primed champagne-type bottles. I like rhubarb because it so easily loses its own flavour in favour of whatever you put in it. Never found it "harsh" though.

That sounds rather interesting, An Ankoù. Will you give the recipe please. Thanks.

Rodj said:

That sounds rather interesting, An Ankoù. Will you give the recipe please. Thanks.

Click to expand...

You're welcome. I use Berry's method of juice extraction so 3lb rhubarb stalks (base and leaves chopped off), washed and chopped into ½ to 1 inch lengths. Put in a bowl and cover with 3lb sugar, stir and leave overnight or up to 24 hours. Stirring now and again ensures good contact of sugar with rhubarb. When you come back to it, you'll have a syrup. Pour the syrup into a bucket or another bowl and rinse the rest of the sugar off the rhubarb with small amounts of water until you've got just a tad over a gallon. No other additive apart from yeast. Use a champagne yeast if you've got one or a general purpose yeast. After all the fizzing and fluffing is over, 3-5 days, pour into a gallon demijohn and let it ferment until it starts to clear (my last lot took about 4 weeks). Put ½ oz dried elderflowers in a hop sock or small bag and put it in another clean demijohn ( I seem to recall leaving them loose in earlier versions) and rack the wine into the second demijohn and leave it until it's finished. Get 6 champagne or cidre bouché or any bottles designed to withstand a pressure- some of the swing-top lemonade bottles (I think the brand is Lorina) are also good. Put a teaspoon of sugar (4-5g) in each and fill up with the wine. Leave it for several months to condition or add a tiny bit of the lees to get a bit more yeast in there. And Bob's your uncle.
Never did get past "First Steps in Winemaking" as I'm not a great wine maker.
Edit: I see my elderberries are ripe so I'm going to try a gallon of elderberry and flavour it with the remaining half ounce of elderflowers. Could be interesting.

Many thanks. Good luck with the elderberries. I'd be interested to hear the outcome.

Just tried a bottle today.


Not too acid but not sweet either but it is overwhelming in watermelon flavour. Pretty strong too I think at around 14% by the effects.
Not to my taste so will salt it away and probably not touch watermelon again.
Might try it with lemonade and see what it is like then.

This is why I prefer to use supermarket juice it's quick, easy, I am lazy and if it turns out undrinkable it's cost little in time and money.