Various SJ wow varients

[El Draco]

Bit late but decided to do an update.

25l
5ll x RGJ
5 x Apple
1l x apple, grape and raspberry
1 full melon chopped up
Usual suspects of the Youngs variety and topped up with tap water.

3 gallon of RGj & Apple
With the usual suspects.

1 gallon RGJ/tropical fruit
+ usual suspects

1 gallon RGJ/Apple & Mango
+ usual suspects.

I litre of red grape juice and 1 litre of the other juice were added per gallon and topped up with tap water to the neck of the DJ

All equipment sterilised and strong tea tannin made for each brew.
Fermented out to .994 (i think)

After the initial rack, degas, stabiliser then finings, in this case a new one to me, Ritchies (see my other thread about it)

My initial favourite tasting one (from the DJ's) was the Tropical fruit followed by the apple then the apple and mango.

The 25l one though, blew the others away with taste. Whether thats down to large brew or the melon, thats debatable. Note that i have been advised to add the melon after the fermentation stops.

After leaving it over a week, i saw no progress with the clearing (been used to kwik clear or clear it) and after some forum chats i decided to rack again yesterday. I had also decided to give the Ritchies another go but double up on dosage.

After second rack, taste reaction was similar to the first taste.. the 25l was way nicer than the others.
The Tropical Fruit was still second but not far better than the Apple but the Apple and Mango was better than the first taste.

Going to leave it now for a week to see if any movement on the clearing.

I had only been doing White Grape Juice prior and had no problems clearing them, in fact i think i was bottling them at this time period.

One thing for sure is that i will be using Kwik Clear or Clear It next time:lol:

 

[El Draco]

Well blow me... Just went to check on the progress and its as clear as a bell
Had a word with my sis (where ive done the brew) and she said it had started to clear that evening...

Maybe the double amount is needed?

Bonus:lol:

 

[El Draco]

Did some bottling on sat.. mainly for samples

Noticed that even though the wine was clear, sediment had started floating again even though no one had been near it :hmm:

Filtered it to make sure...

Initial taste is the Tropical sjwow is fruity and got lovely body, bit like a blossom hill fruity wine.
The apple & melon one is medium dry ish, again got lovely body but not as powerful a fruity taste.

If i was drinking one glass of wine then it would be the Tropical but after a couple of glasses its a bit much for me.
Had a couple of glasses of the apple/melon one last night

 

[Roddy]

Hmm, like the sound of the melon one :)

Edit: So yo didn't put the melon in at the start ? (when did you add it, so how long as it in for before racking) ?

 

[Razor]

So do I. How do you think I could scale it down to 5l?
Edit: What type of melon was it?

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[El Draco]

Hmm, like the sound of the melon one :)

Edit: So yo didn't put the melon in at the start ? (when did you add it, so how long as it in for before racking) ?

Sorry about the late reply..

I put the melon in at the start (was advised on here that its better to go in after fermentation stopped)

I racked after fermentation ended then did the usual stablilizer/campden/degas then did the clearing additive the next day.

The melon gave the wow varient a less harsh taste and a mellower flavour compared back to back with an apple wow.
How much that is compared to doing 25l to a 5l who knows?

Tbh the melon & apple juice wow was just a trail and error...
I did the usual ingredients for 25l and just lobbed in a chopped up full yellow melon.
I supposed that id put a quarter to a half in a Dj?

 

[El Draco]

Will also add that i found, in the name of science, that the melon/apple WV pallet (from racking/bottling stage) had a similar body/mouth feel to an aged wow varient (note that mine have never lasted much more that a month thou )

Had numerous approvals on the three bottles drunk last evening at a family gathering.
The Tropical WV was liked for different reasons to the Apple and Apple & Melon WV's (main difference between the latter was a mellower taste)

 

[pvt_ak]

What sort of melon was it ? May give a 5l batch of this one a go .


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[Tau]

So do I. How do you think I could scale it down to 5l?
Edit: What type of melon was it?

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I'd also like to know what melon it was! I'm assuming it wasn't a watermelon.

 

[El Draco]

Just used one of them yellow melons from supermarket.
Cut it into chunks (minus the skin and pips) and lobbed it into the fermenter

 

[El Draco]

Ive done another 25l batch exactly the same way

Im also going to start a gallon one where i will put the melon in after fermentation to see if that makes a difference (when melon goes in)

 

[Razor]

Just a Honeydew melon like this?

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[Razor]

I'd also like to know what melon it was! I'm assuming it wasn't a watermelon.

I just picked up a watermelon wheat beer today at my LHBS in a bottle swap. Hopefully it's nice.


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[El Draco]

Just a Honeydew melon like this?

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Thats the one...
I got rid of all the pips and **** then spooned chunks into the fermenter.

Sampled a 3 week bottled apple last night and it was superb