Rhubarb question

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Goat_Nutz

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So i found a recipe I wanted to try for rhubarb wine. I was talking with my brother about it and he tried to talk me out of it, swearing that "anything with rhubarb in it goes bad real fast". I like to make batches and put a bottle in the basement for long periods of time and see how they age out. Just wondering if maybe rhubarb does suffer from this and maybe I should fight my normal urge to age a bottle out.


Goat_Nutz
 
My parents used to make this alot, you kinda have to age it for at least half a year. It takes time to mellow out. I think 10months is where it becomes best.

If your talking about aging it for years? Ive no idea, once it hits age it never seemed to last long ;)
 
I just bottled 6 gallons of 2008 rhubarb wine. It's not quite ready to drink yet, since I used too much rhubarb!

If you get an ABV of 12-15%, and use proper winemaking techniques and store it well, the wine should last for 5-10 years before the flavor fades. It won't ever "go bad" but it might not taste as good after that.
 
So I got 20 pounds of rhubarb from my friend. I went with a rhubarb/strawberry mead for starters, its crashing in the fridge as we speak. If that turns out i'm going for the wine. Wish me luck.
 
My favorite recipe for rhubarb wine is posted here. The one I did 2 years ago came from Jack Keller's website. Usually, his recipes are fantastic, but this one isn't very good ( it used WAY too much rhubarb) and I don't recommend using more than 3 pounds of rhubarb per gallon of wine based on that experience!
 
I started a batch of rhubarb wine using YooperBrew's recipe a couple of days ago. I followed the instructions perfectly with one hold up. I added campden along with other ingrediants about 12 hours before adding Montrachet yeast. Will the campden inhibit my yeast from reproducing? If so, what can I do about it?
 
Solo1013 said:
I started a batch of rhubarb wine using YooperBrew's recipe a couple of days ago. I followed the instructions perfectly with one hold up. I added campden along with other ingrediants about 12 hours before adding Montrachet yeast. Will the campden inhibit my yeast from reproducing? If so, what can I do about it?
Click to expand...

No, it will be fine. Wine yeast are actually pretty tolerant of sulfites. I try to wait 24 hours, to be certain, but I've often forgotten and added the yeast right away. Much of the sulfites have disipated by 12 hours anyway, so it's nothing to worry about!

You can stir up the must a bit, just to encourage it to get working if it hasn't started up yet.
 
YooperBrew said:
No, it will be fine. Wine yeast are actually pretty tolerant of sulfites. I try to wait 24 hours, to be certain, but I've often forgotten and added the yeast right away. Much of the sulfites have disipated by 12 hours anyway, so it's nothing to worry about!

You can stir up the must a bit, just to encourage it to get working if it hasn't started up yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much!

How many days does it typically take for the specific gravity to get into the 1.020-1.040 range? Is that the 5 days listed in the primary?
 
I've had my Montrachet yeast in the wine for 3 full days now and the specific gravity started at just over 1.090 and hasn't budged. I don't have an airlock on the carboy as the recipe calls for it to be covered with a towel for the first several days so I haven't been able to tell if any gas has been released. I checked my thermostat and it is roughly 68 degrees in my house.

The specific gravity started at just over 1.090 and hasn't moved.

I may just be worried because I am new to brewing wine, but is this long of a gestation peroid for the yeast something to be worried about? I plan on just letting it sit, perhaps giving it a good stir everyday to encourage it.

Any insight would be great, thanks.
 
Solo1013 said:
I've had my Montrachet yeast in the wine for 3 full days now and the specific gravity started at just over 1.090 and hasn't budged. I don't have an airlock on the carboy as the recipe calls for it to be covered with a towel for the first several days so I haven't been able to tell if any gas has been released. I checked my thermostat and it is roughly 68 degrees in my house.

The specific gravity started at just over 1.090 and hasn't moved.

I may just be worried because I am new to brewing wine, but is this long of a gestation peroid for the yeast something to be worried about? I plan on just letting it sit, perhaps giving it a good stir everyday to encourage it.

Any insight would be great, thanks.
Click to expand...

It should have definitely started by now! Stir it up very well, into a froth, and see what happens. It should be going quite well by now. Either the sulfites did stun the yeast, or the yeast is old or otherwise unhealthy. See if you can get it going today, and if not by tomorrow, add new yeast.
 
I added new yeast two days ago but still no fermentation has happened. I'm very confused but it looks like I must have done something wrong. I'm still hoping that it will start up within the next day or so.

However, if it doesn't start up, what is the next step that I take. I have no experience making a yeast starter but I think I could make an attempt if need be.

Any ideas?

A few notes of information:
Temp = 72 degrees F
Specific Grav = 1.090
The must is 4 gallons. I used 4 campden tablets and they were added about 1 week ago now.
I don't havea tool to check the pH at the moment.
 

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