Brew night: Blackcurrant WOW

Roddy · Nov 7, 2015

Evening all....

popped on 25L of this stuff tonight

6l asda red grape
12l Costa blackcurrant drink (20% fruit juice)
2 x 440ml Lowicz blackcurrant syrup
4kg sugar
5 tsp pectolase
topped up with water to 25L
5tsp youngs super wine compound
og 1.095 @ 24deg - est abv 12.5%

forgot the tea.. doh, will see if I notice any difference

View attachment uploadfromtaptalk1446922245196.jpg

Chippy_Tea · Nov 7, 2015

WOW, how much do you drink in a week :lol:

Roddy · Nov 7, 2015

Chippy_Tea said:
WOW, how much do you drink in a week [emoji38]

ahem.. probably too much... Ã°Å¸ËÂ¨

Trying to build up a bit of a pre- christmas stash though.. honest hehe

Chippy_Tea · Nov 8, 2015

Same here to both. :lol:

goodolpete · Nov 8, 2015

Hope you just forgot to mention yeast nutrient.
I think you got just the right amount of Lowicz.
It seems to have sweeteners in it. I did one gallon
with one bottle and it fermented to 990 but was
undrinkable.

Roddy · Nov 8, 2015

goodolpete said:
Hope you just forgot to mention yeast nutrient.
I think you got just the right amount of Lowicz.
It seems to have sweeteners in it. I did one gallon
with one bottle and it fermented to 990 but was
undrinkable.

as it happens, the youngs compound has nutrient in it although WOW's go quite happily without nutrient (in my experience anyway Ã°Å¸ËÆ)

Interesting you had taste issues when using something with sweetener in it, I've mad a fruity punches that turned out ok. What would you describe as undrinkable ? I've made a few borderline efforts but all have been drinkable !

Chippy_Tea · Nov 8, 2015

I have always used youngs super wine yeast compound and always add a level teaspoon of nutrient just in case.

goodolpete · Nov 8, 2015

Roddy,
there was a strong taste of sacharine that I hated.

Roddy · Nov 8, 2015

hmm I had a look at the bottle but my polish isn't that hot hehe

Looch · Nov 9, 2015

I keep seeing 'Lowicz blackcurrant syrup' - is it like Ribena?

Also - I've thrown a couple of WOWs together & each time I forget the blimmin' pectolase. Can I add it later or does it have to be added at the start?

Ta :)

Roddy · Nov 9, 2015

The syrups are similar, but Lowicz doesn't have the preservatives (yeast killers!) that Ribena has, so you have to boil up the Ribena first. I tried making a kind of punch with Vimto cordial and ended up binning the lot <sniff> because it didn't even start fermenting despite boiling it.

I forgot pectolase on my last WOW and bunged it in a couple of days after and stirred it up.

Looch said:
I keep seeing 'Lowicz blackcurrant syrup' - is it like Ribena?

Also - I've thrown a couple of WOWs together & each time I forget the blimmin' pectolase. Can I add it later or does it have to be added at the start?

Ta :)

Looch · Nov 9, 2015

Great - thanks Roddy!

RogueTrader · Nov 9, 2015

Roddy,

Good luck! i was reading your post and the replies... I am tempted at making a Blackberry WOW but did not realise that Lowicz doesn't have the preservatives... great.. every time i visit this forum i learn something new... all the information to help me get good results...

cheers

Pirate_Pete · Nov 11, 2015

Looch said:
I keep seeing 'Lowicz blackcurrant syrup' - is it like Ribena?

Also - I've thrown a couple of WOWs together & each time I forget the blimmin' pectolase. Can I add it later or does it have to be added at the start?

Ta :)

I can't get it here in Australia. But since I've been looking I've notices that we have syrups for sale. I'd never noticed them before. I'm sure it's a fancy name for what I seem to recall is called squash in England. We call it cordial here.

Looch · Nov 11, 2015

Pirate_Pete said:
I can't get it here in Australia. But since I've been looking I've notices that we have syrups for sale. I'd never noticed them before. I'm sure it's a fancy name for what I seem to recall is called squash in England. We call it cordial here.

Blimey - have you been away from Bristle that long? I was down by the docks just the other day! Got a soft spot for Bristol.

Yep, still called squash - we also get cordials too! I haven't seen the Lowicz stuff out in the shops, but I'm sure it will probably be in the Polish section of the supermarkets

Pirate_Pete · Nov 11, 2015

Looch said:
Blimey - have you been away from Bristle that long? I was down by the docks just the other day! Got a soft spot for Bristol.

Yep, still called squash - we also get cordials too! I haven't seen the Lowicz stuff out in the shops, but I'm sure it will probably be in the Polish section of the supermarkets

Yeah Mate, sometimes I have to try and remember different names for things. Doesn't help that I've had a pint of cider and just finished a stubbie of beer.

I realise you don't live in Bristol, but I seem to remember a fair few Polish people living in the Kingswood / Fishponds area, and that would have been in the seventies.

Looch · Nov 13, 2015

Pirate_Pete said:
Yeah Mate, sometimes I have to try and remember different names for things. Doesn't help that I've had a pint of cider and just finished a stubbie of beer.

I realise you don't live in Bristol, but I seem to remember a fair few Polish people living in the Kingswood / Fishponds area, and that would have been in the seventies.

Not too far away from Bristol mind ... but far enough :lol:

Yeah, there's quite a few Polish people living in Swindon too. When was the last time you were back in the UK?

Roddy · Nov 17, 2015

racked and stabilised, first degass (well fizzy), will add finings tomorrow night

sg down to 0.995 so not bone dry Ã°Å¸ËÆ

Mrcwcb89 · Nov 17, 2015

Looking lovely ! On a cost what did the ingredients cost roughly minus the yeast and other essentials

Roddy · Nov 17, 2015

Mrcwcb89 said:
Looking lovely ! On a cost what did the ingredients cost roughly minus the yeast and other essentials

6l of red grape ÃÂ£6
12L of the bc juice stuff ÃÂ£7.20
2 x Lowicz ÃÂ£2.80
4kg sugar ÃÂ£2.50

maybe about ÃÂ£18.50

one of the more expensive ones haha

Brew night: Blackcurrant WOW

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