I force carbonate and have fizzy WOW on tap. I suppose you could store it, protected from oxidation under a layer of CO2, but I'm guessing that even under a low dispensing pressure it would take on a bit of a spritz, given time.
Mole's Winery 2011
- Thread starter Moley
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Hawks
Landlord.
Moley said:
Cheers Moley, that was my thinking, I have been thinking of force carbing one for some time though, problem being it would be great in the summer but then I have nowhere cold enough for it... maybe I need another fridge :hmm:
wulliemc
Active Member
Moley said:
I have a few of my inevitably, come on down the timing is *****, questions. timing on account of, I made this earlier while I had the opportunity, and now need to ask about some of the assumptions I made when I was making it, if that is OK...
Young's Super Yeast - I used this because I already had it in stock, but is there a particular reason? I am finding this yeast to be a PIA TBH . I normally mix all but the juice and top up water in a 5l jug first and it always takes donkeys to continually pour fruit juice into the jug, swill it, and try to make sure all the residue/leftover particles of this yeast is making into the FV :x . Maybe a few grains missing is not a disaster, I just hate waste :cry: .
Coz the first few WOW I made have blown my brains out on a regular basis, I have purposely only used 2kg sugar, OG = 1.074. If this ferments to 0.990 as usual, I might manage more than a couple of glasses (or one in the case of mrs mc) before I start to lose focus :party: . Whats the worst that can happen? I have a lower alcohol, maybe sweeter wine than I might otherwise have been expecting? All batches so far +13%, nearly 14% some of them, if this was closer to 12% it might make the night last a bit longer :rofl:
Topping up after the whoosh with cwanberry. Oops, went into Jonathan Woss mode there, I've has a few of previously mentioned WOWs this evening :
. Is this coz you are using a 15l capacity FV so dont want to start mount etna? I assumed so, so as I made the 15l in a 30l FV, I just chucked the lot in from the start.Ref chucking it in from the start, the FV is about half full (its a Youngs 30l job with the srcrew top bored for an airlock), so lots of headroom, is that really a problem :wha: ? I plan in a few weeks to decant to 3 * 5L water PETs anyway. BTW, its been on a touch over 2 hours and already bubbling thru the airlock even with that headroom, that must be a good sign :clap: :thumb: .
wulliemc
Active Member
dammit, I was racking my brains for the other Q, and as soon as I pressed submit, remembered it. backsweetening with Ribena...
Are you taling box standard, full fat, diluting ribena here, and adding to the FG desired basically like a purple syrup? Any particular reason for ribena, or does it not matter?
Are you taling box standard, full fat, diluting ribena here, and adding to the FG desired basically like a purple syrup? Any particular reason for ribena, or does it not matter?
Whoa! Hang on, let's see if I can wade through that lot:
First off, all I use is a large funnel and everything goes straight into the fermenter. If you open the juice carton, upend it in the funnel and stab a hole in its base it drains quickly and easily. I boil my sugar to a syrup with a minimum amount of water, top up the pan with cold water and tip that into the fermenter.
If you're using the Young's SYC the bits left in the jug are probably the bentonite. Chuck it all in the fermenter and give it a shake.
Quantity of sugar is entirely your choice, I have tried everything from 500g to 1kg to the gallon, it's all good.
Yes, in that case I topped up with the cwanberry simply because I was using a 15 litre water bottle. If you're using a large fermenter, chuck it all in right from the start. While it's working and until you start taking the lid off, the headspace is irrelevant, it will just fill up with CO2. Seems like a waste of space though - make a bigger batch.
And yes, with the Fruity Pink I may back-sweeten with the full sugar blackcurrant or strawberry Ribenas, just as a fruity syrup. With conventional WOW I back-sweeten with white grape juice, or if I don't want to sweeten I use a bottle of wine from a previous batch.
First off, all I use is a large funnel and everything goes straight into the fermenter. If you open the juice carton, upend it in the funnel and stab a hole in its base it drains quickly and easily. I boil my sugar to a syrup with a minimum amount of water, top up the pan with cold water and tip that into the fermenter.
If you're using the Young's SYC the bits left in the jug are probably the bentonite. Chuck it all in the fermenter and give it a shake.
Quantity of sugar is entirely your choice, I have tried everything from 500g to 1kg to the gallon, it's all good.
Yes, in that case I topped up with the cwanberry simply because I was using a 15 litre water bottle. If you're using a large fermenter, chuck it all in right from the start. While it's working and until you start taking the lid off, the headspace is irrelevant, it will just fill up with CO2. Seems like a waste of space though - make a bigger batch.
And yes, with the Fruity Pink I may back-sweeten with the full sugar blackcurrant or strawberry Ribenas, just as a fruity syrup. With conventional WOW I back-sweeten with white grape juice, or if I don't want to sweeten I use a bottle of wine from a previous batch.
wulliemc
Active Member
cheers, thanks as ever. I just remembered my (an)other Q, call me Columbo..
I noted from all my limited experience that it might be down to my technique, but I am boiling the kettle at roughly 0.5L per 1kg sugar, merrily (in every sense) mixing away, la de da de da, not 0.5L any more, more like, in tonights example, 1L water, 2kg sugar, suddenly roughly 3.5 L syrup :wha: .
Q is, count this as 1L of my 15L mix based on the water content, 3.5 L of 15L (or whatever it was, 2 many WOWs now to remember), or somewhere in between. OR, is the recommendation to have your starting water, add le sucre, and reduce to the/a known qty, like, I will end up with 1L of syrup with however much sugar was added irrespective, and at least the adding to make up to 15L will be easy after that, coz it will be 15L - juice qty - syrup = water to add?
If I do that, will that cause the OG to raise?
Sorry, I did say in an early post I would be asking lots of Qs. I've found that a little assumed knowledge on this topic makes you a potentially loose cannon, I now have 19 gallons of varying recipes on the go...
I noted from all my limited experience that it might be down to my technique, but I am boiling the kettle at roughly 0.5L per 1kg sugar, merrily (in every sense) mixing away, la de da de da, not 0.5L any more, more like, in tonights example, 1L water, 2kg sugar, suddenly roughly 3.5 L syrup :wha: .
Q is, count this as 1L of my 15L mix based on the water content, 3.5 L of 15L (or whatever it was, 2 many WOWs now to remember), or somewhere in between. OR, is the recommendation to have your starting water, add le sucre, and reduce to the/a known qty, like, I will end up with 1L of syrup with however much sugar was added irrespective, and at least the adding to make up to 15L will be easy after that, coz it will be 15L - juice qty - syrup = water to add?
If I do that, will that cause the OG to raise?
Sorry, I did say in an early post I would be asking lots of Qs. I've found that a little assumed knowledge on this topic makes you a potentially loose cannon, I now have 19 gallons of varying recipes on the go...
Look, I'm sorry, I've had a few glasses myself tonight, I'm seeing words on a screen but it's just a splurge of letters and I don't know WTF they all mean :drunk:
âSugar bulkingâ is half a pint per pound, so if you boil one pound of sugar in half a pint of water you get one pint of syrup. Right now I couldn't give a rat's **** how that works out in Metric or American.
Regarding a WOW it's juice plus sugar plus water to a desired volume. If you're making 15 litres in a 30 litre fermenter your OG is going to be true right from the start.
âSugar bulkingâ is half a pint per pound, so if you boil one pound of sugar in half a pint of water you get one pint of syrup. Right now I couldn't give a rat's **** how that works out in Metric or American.
Regarding a WOW it's juice plus sugar plus water to a desired volume. If you're making 15 litres in a 30 litre fermenter your OG is going to be true right from the start.
wulliemc
Active Member
:rofl: that made me laugh.
cheers, I must have gone to the same school as you, it all makes sense at lunchtime but by dark o'clock its the wrong side of pot luck, but its in the right half :whistle: :drunk: :drink:
cheers, I must have gone to the same school as you, it all makes sense at lunchtime but by dark o'clock its the wrong side of pot luck, but its in the right half :whistle: :drunk: :drink:
Updates on the WOW comparisons using Young's Super Yeast Compound and Gervin GV5:
I bottled the SYC last night and I've just kegged the GV5 this morning to force-carb.
Sweetened both to 0.996
To be honest, they are both good but I really can't tell a great deal of difference between the two.
I've also just started off #1107 with 4L of RGJ, 1L of OJ, 2L of Cranberry + 1L of Pomegranate (well the Cran & Pom were getting near to date and needed using up). Volume will be my usual 15 litres and 2.8kg of sugar will give a net 1.095 after topping up.
I bottled the SYC last night and I've just kegged the GV5 this morning to force-carb.
Sweetened both to 0.996
To be honest, they are both good but I really can't tell a great deal of difference between the two.
I've also just started off #1107 with 4L of RGJ, 1L of OJ, 2L of Cranberry + 1L of Pomegranate (well the Cran & Pom were getting near to date and needed using up). Volume will be my usual 15 litres and 2.8kg of sugar will give a net 1.095 after topping up.
So last Sunday/Monday and yesterday I've had a major bottling session, re-racked anything which needed it and polished a few gallons through my filter. Just did a stock check and I've got 33 gallons (assorted, crystal clear) which could be bottled whenever I feel that way inclined. I've no room to store any more bottles unless I build another rack, so they can all sleep in their DJs for a while longer.
Started #1108 on Friday, 15 litres WOW but using Morrison's âthe bestâ Clementine juice.
I'm playing now: #1109, Morrison's âValueâ Melomel (5 litres)
500g Morrison's âValueâ Raisins, well washed and minced
4 x 340g jars Morrison's âValueâ clear Honey
15g Citric
A bottle of that Polish raspberry cordial.
OG 1.123
Started #1108 on Friday, 15 litres WOW but using Morrison's âthe bestâ Clementine juice.
I'm playing now: #1109, Morrison's âValueâ Melomel (5 litres)
500g Morrison's âValueâ Raisins, well washed and minced
4 x 340g jars Morrison's âValueâ clear Honey
15g Citric
A bottle of that Polish raspberry cordial.
OG 1.123
I thought mead was meant to be sedate :wha:
I've just strained that melomel from bucket to PET. When I say âbucketâ it has been in a 10 litre square kitchen storage tub with the lid drilled for an airlock.
1.123 down to 1.002 in 14 days :shock:
Topped up with half a litre of grape juice, so that's added a few more points.
I've just strained that melomel from bucket to PET. When I say âbucketâ it has been in a 10 litre square kitchen storage tub with the lid drilled for an airlock.
1.123 down to 1.002 in 14 days :shock:
Topped up with half a litre of grape juice, so that's added a few more points.
#1110, WOW(ish) started 22/5/11 with WGJ, OJ & AJ, ready for racking, stabilising & finings.
#1111, Tymbark Multifruit started 1/6/11, fermentation almost finished, tiny threads of bubbles still rising.
#1112, Strawberry, Raspberry & Blackberry Smoothie (1L) found in the fridge, out of date so no way kids were going to drink it, carton still sound and not blown so tipped it into a PET with 2L RGJ + 850g sugar. Started 5/6/11, OG 1.091. Needless to say, there was a colossal amount of fruit pulp in this, I started it in a 5L PET and was swirling the jar every few hours to mix the head of gunk back in, then by mid week it was safe to top up and then began the best lava lamp effect I think I've yet seen. I've just racked & strained that to a gallon DJ, didn't taste or check gravity.
That mead is going to be very nice, fermentation has finished, it's clearing well, I've just racked it and put it down the cellar for a few months.
I picked a big bag of elderflowers yesterday so I'll do something with those this afternoon.
#1111, Tymbark Multifruit started 1/6/11, fermentation almost finished, tiny threads of bubbles still rising.
#1112, Strawberry, Raspberry & Blackberry Smoothie (1L) found in the fridge, out of date so no way kids were going to drink it, carton still sound and not blown so tipped it into a PET with 2L RGJ + 850g sugar. Started 5/6/11, OG 1.091. Needless to say, there was a colossal amount of fruit pulp in this, I started it in a 5L PET and was swirling the jar every few hours to mix the head of gunk back in, then by mid week it was safe to top up and then began the best lava lamp effect I think I've yet seen. I've just racked & strained that to a gallon DJ, didn't taste or check gravity.
That mead is going to be very nice, fermentation has finished, it's clearing well, I've just racked it and put it down the cellar for a few months.
I picked a big bag of elderflowers yesterday so I'll do something with those this afternoon.
Peapodmaster
Regular.
Hey Moley, do you have a full set of instructions for your fruity pink wow
Same as the regular WOW - mix it up and watch it go :thumb:Peapodmaster said:
I sometimes infuse some of the fruity âtea bagsâ such as the Twining's raspberry, strawberry & loganberry, about 5-10 bags to the gallon, two 10-minute soakings in boiling water, or back-sweeten with strawberry Ribena after racking and stabilising.
I've completely lost track of this year's numbering system now, there's 5L of wheat & raisin, 15L of Tymbark, 15L of pink juices, 6 gal of elderflower and 5 gal of damson & plum to add to the previous list.
That mead is going to be bloody lovely, I was having a few little tasters yesterday and seeing what needed racking.
Peapodmaster
Regular.
I'm gonna soundlike a fool but, what does "back sweeten" mean ?
if its cornish mead you've made then you'll taste nothing like it
if its cornish mead you've made then you'll taste nothing like it
Mead is a raspberry melomel of my own invention, scroll up the page a bit.
I ferment all of my wines out as far as the yeasties want to take it, then if something is too dry I will stabilise to prevent fermentation starting up again and add sugar or grape juice or cordials, or blend with a sweeter wine.
Back sweetening is simply adding more sugars at the end to bring a dry wine back to medium-dry, or medium, or however you happen to prefer things.Moley said:
I ferment all of my wines out as far as the yeasties want to take it, then if something is too dry I will stabilise to prevent fermentation starting up again and add sugar or grape juice or cordials, or blend with a sweeter wine.
Peapodmaster
Regular.
but wouldn't that cause more fermentation ? or is that where campden tablets come into place.
yeah i know you were doing that. just boasting about Cornish mead. strong strong stuff! :P
Cheers
Andy
yeah i know you were doing that. just boasting about Cornish mead. strong strong stuff! :P
Cheers
Andy
Peapodmaster
Regular.
Ahh alright, another question... how do you stabilize it? sorry for being so slow with these things! haha
