Raisin a question or two

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Wynott

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I'm considering making Parsley wine, after consulting 3 different books, one of them recommends 1/4 lb of raisins - and also says that it 'produces a light, fragrant white table wine...' The other two make no mention of raisins (or WJC) . I've found in the past that raisins considerably darken the wine, and thought of using golden raisins, until I went into Holland and Barrett (£3.59 for 375g).

The other recipes use 4lb sugar + 1 gallon water, which to my mind, wouldn't all fit in a DJ, even when filtered.

Thoughts/advice welcome!
 
Raisins used to be used before granulated sugar became so cheap.Raisins I think impart a lovely flavour to the wine I just use supermarket ones.
Those old winemaking books are fun arn`t they!!!!
4lb sugar per gal is TOO MUCH (misprint for one gallon)
2-2.5 lb is nearer the mark.
Also:- in the gallon is NOT the same as to the gallon. (old books again)
Say two pounds sugar plus 1/4lb raisins per gallon will get you in the tablewine ballpark.
 
It was fun comparing the recipes, in the end I went with the CJJB one, as it seemed the simplest - but that was the one with 4lb sugar. That made the S.G. 1.144 at the start, it will be interesting to see how much of that ferments out. The only sugar 'in the gallon' before I added was from 2 oranges and 2 lemons. Next up will be a carrot, with wheat, and yes, raisins too.
 
Real old style winemaking.Another thing i notice about old books is the tendancy for long fermentations lasting months.At about 70-75 deg most of my wines are fermented dry in a matter of days,Unless i use the sugar feed technique for higher alcohol.
 
Real old style winemaking.Another thing i notice about old books is the tendancy for long fermentations lasting months.At about 70-75 deg most of my wines are fermented dry in a matter of days,Unless i use the sugar feed technique for higher alcohol.
The carrot, wheat and raisin is currently in a covered bucket, seems to be going well. I've held back a 1lb of sugar to feed it with as it goes along. I didn't realise that made wine stronger, just didn't want it too sweet. I've also just picked up a book by Peggy Hutchinson, which claims she was the 'Mrs Beeton of winemaking'. Haven't read it through yet, but there seems to be no precise mention of fermenation times. I find the WOW wines ok for quaffing, and they are quick. However, the 'country wines' seem to benefit flavour-wise from the slower fermentation. Not that any are really ready yet. Interestingly, the Parsley wine (with 4lb sugar) has reduced from 1.144 to 1.030 already, and it's still going!
 
Yes sugar feeding is the way to high alcohol 15-20%. By adding the sugar in small doses rather than all at once allows the yeast to ferment to its full acohol tolerance. The reason the technique works is it prevents osmotic stress on the yeast.
What this means is that high gravity sugar is harmfull to yeast,So by adding sugar as syrup at small amounts at a time the yeast can carry on producing alcohol much longer than otherwise would be the case.
It is generally agreed slower fermentation = better quality wine.
Champagne yeast EC1118 is really tough stuff but even it will benefit from sugar feeding Plus you are guaranteed NOT to end up with over sweet wine !!!
This is how to do it !!!!
Start off with OG 1.070 and feed with 4oz syrup when gravity falls to 1.005 and repeat until fermentation stops.
vitamin B1 should also be used. (from health food shop or chemist)
The syrup is 1kg bag of sugar to one pint of water,Also 1/2 teaspoon of citric or tataric acid.Boiled to desolve the sugar.when cool it will be like treacle.and ready to use.The purpose of the acid is to invert the sugar but is not absolutely needed.
Dissolve the vit B1 in the cool syrup.
Hope this helps.
 
Ah, that makes sense. It will be the high gravity 4lb of sugar in the Parsley wine which has caused it to stop at 1.030. Admittedly, it's a sweet wine, but quite a pleasant taste, and will be good to have one sweet wine on hand. Thanks for the tips about feeding, as I get used to keeping a more careful eye on SG, that will come in handy. I've just opened a bottle of Medlar from last year, bro-in-law was quite taken with it. Sadly, medlars are small and sparse this year, but I may get enough to make 2 litres or so. No plans at present to make Peggy Hutchinson's 'bread champagne' :laugh8:
 
It would be good to get all these books digitised and online but i guess copyright might be a problem.My dad used to make wine from all sorts of weird and wonderfull things,After he passed away he left over 80 gallons of wine now to be totally honest some of it was not what i would call drinkable some however was rather nice.
BTW Its a good idea to always use the hydrometer rather than going by the book when adding sugar you wont go far wrong in aiming for 12-14% alc.Personally i have only had one failure caused by swiching the brewbelt off and forgeting to turn it back on the wine stuck!!!
 
Perhaps i should also add when making stronger wine you also need to increase the flavouring ingredients in order to maintain ballance.As the higher alcohol numbs the palate
 
What also helps with stronger wines is using the small tins of booster that are sold to boost wine kits,In essence they are just super concentrated grape juice and can be used to good advantage rather than just plain syrup which only adds alcohol.

As an asside i recently had a wine kit in a cupboard which i forgot about for aprox 2yrs. The juice in the kit ate right through the tin !!!!!!
 
Perhaps i should also add when making stronger wine you also need to increase the flavouring ingredients in order to maintain ballance.As the higher alcohol numbs the palate
Glad that I remembered this when starting a Parsnip this week, choosing the recipe with 7lbs in - and using all the 1 gallon of water. I also added raisins to my banana, which have already given it more flavour and body. Couldn't get all the initial sugar out, so it's now about 1.006 and stopped, but at least I'm learning!
 
Just been looking at a usa website (jack keller) on one of his pages he notes problems his customers have had with some of CJ.Berry`s recipies
ie too much sugar.!!!
 
Ah, that makes sense. It will be the high gravity 4lb of sugar in the Parsley wine which has caused it to stop at 1.030. Admittedly, it's a sweet wine, but quite a pleasant taste, and will be good to have one sweet wine on hand. Thanks for the tips about feeding, as I get used to keeping a more careful eye on SG, that will come in handy. I've just opened a bottle of Medlar from last year, bro-in-law was quite taken with it. Sadly, medlars are small and sparse this year, but I may get enough to make 2 litres or so. No plans at present to make Peggy Hutchinson's 'bread champagne'
 
Bananas are great for giving a country wine "body"

Raisins I would say are more of a flavour ingrediant,Very nice in a young wine and superb in an old one.
 
Hi Trevor, no I just used medlars (6lb) and sugar (3lb). I might try substituting some raisins for sugar next year. It took quite a long time to mature, but worth the wait.
 
I agree that raisins will alter the flavour slightly but still add body. As a point of interest I found out which days of the week (Wednesday and Sunday) my local Tesco took the unsold bananas off the shelves and replaced with fresh. The bananas taken off were just right for banana wine and could be bought for half price or less instead of going in the bin. Also after peeling they could be frozen until required although not the skins. Hopefully I may be able to get hold of some medlars this year and add some banana wine to the mix or just bananas when fermenting the medlars
 
Good planning there, I must remember that when visiting the supermarket. I'm trying to establish a good relationship with a great little greengrocers a few miles away, try to talk to them in a bit about fruit or veg they can't sell. Softly, softly wink...
I found that putting raisins into the banana did sweeten it a bit, but yes, has added body and should be a good one when it finishes.
 
Thats how my Father did it.
He got all of the slightly over ripe fruit given FREE !!! from Rowbothams greengrocer by about 1990 he had over 100 gallons of wine.They became firm friends.

When I left London in 2003 and returned home and was looking for a job,The man from Rowbothams he say yes.!!!
 

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