Strawberry Rhubarb

I don't know if I am putting this in the correct forum, because I did not make beer, nor is it cider. I hope you guys can help.

I have made a vairation of the hard lemonade. I like to call mine hard "Strawbarb" ade. I used strawberries and rhubarb.

How long do you think something like this should take to ferment. Do you think 2 weeks would be sufficient.

When I am ready to bottle this concoction, is 1tsp of priming sugar per bottle enough and should an additional 2 weeks to carbonate be sufficient?

So its like a strawberry rhubarb wine (no malts) that you want to carbonate in the bottle?

If you're preparing it like this, I'd recommend a longer ferment, at least 2-3 months. Then I'd probably add carb tabs to the bottles instead of priming sugar. What kind of yeast are you using for primary fermentation?

BTW sounds interesting, and just the kind of science experiment I would try.

I guess I wouldn't call it wine. I used a recipe a friend of mine gave me, only I substituted the Straw. & Rhubarb for the lemons. You are correct that there is no malt.

His recipe called for plain bread yeast and a fermention of 1 week, and then carbonation of 1-2 weeks in the bottle. I have tasted this and it tastes just like mikes hard lemonade.

My thought was that the rhubarb and strawberries may be more acidic than the lemons therefore requiring a longer ferment.

I was skeptical about the bread yeast, but that's what he used. I guess if it doesn't work I am only out a bag of sugar because the rhubarb and strawberries I have an abundance of.

The concoction tasted great before I pitched the yeast, so I'm hoping for some sort of positive result

Well if the fermentation doesn't stall, it should work out the same as your friends.

With this kind of experiment, I might follow the recipe with most of the must, and maybe reserve a few bottles for 3 or more months just to see how the time impacts the flavor.

Let us know how it turned out!

This concoction seems to be fermenting right along. Lots of activity in the air lock. When I am ready to bottle this, can I sweeten with splenda, and then still use 1/2 - 3/4 cup of corn sugar to carbonate it. I don't know if the splenda would mess up the carbonation. What do you guys think?

I've never sweetened with Splenda, I've always used conditioner. I would think Splenda will work just fine though.

Do you know what your FG reading is going to be?

Mitch take a look at this:

The Brewing Network • View topic - Is Splenda (aka sucralose) fermentable?

Thanks, I read the link --

If I understand what is said correctly, I should be able to use it since it is not a sugar. Did I understand it correctly?

Heh well its not definitive, but that's the impression I get as well.

However, since it introduces some new chemicals to the mix, there is a chance for off flavors.

All I can say is, try it! Wine conditioner will always be a safer bet, but give it a try and please post the results.

Thank you for your help. I will hopefully be bottling next week, I will let you know how it turns out

It has been fermenting for 2 weeks now and don't want to have an alcohol content of 10% since I added quite a bit of sugar when I made it. There are still bubbles in the airlock acout every 15 sec.

Is there a way to stop the fermenting before I bottle it to carbonate it?

It smells and tastes ok now. I just need to sweeten it with a little splenda to perfect the taste.

Mitch,

Read this:
Wine Making Supplies: E C Kraus

I'm not an expert, but what you've created is essentially wine. The typical process for wine is to let it ferment out to dryness then sweeten to taste.

When I make sasparilla, I essentially add yeast to carbonate, then after a few days when the pressure is high, I move it to the fridge to dormant the yeast. However, I would definitely not try this with glass bottles.

What happens with your friends hard lemonade? Does it stop early due to the high acid content?

Also, you should take a hydrometer reading to check the sugar content.

My understanding is that rhubarb is acidic. I'm just not certain how it compares to lemons.
There's no magic way to stop the fermentation. And if you try to stop fermentation, you won't get much bottle carbing.

A possible solution is to bottle now. Don't add extra sugar. If you do this, I'd bottle in plastic. You don't want the bottles to explode.

You're better off waiting until it's done and add a controlled amount of sugar.

How big is this batch anyway?

it is roughly 3 gal.

so i should let it finish fermenting and then sweeten to taste with splenda, and then bottle carbonate it with a little sugar in the beer bottle

mitch1 said:

it is roughly 3 gal.

so i should let it finish fermenting and then sweeten to taste with splenda, and then bottle carbonate it with a little sugar in the beer bottle

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That would be my recommendation.

Also if you're leary about Splenda, you can instead buy Wine Conditioner available at your local supply. Its a non-fermentable sugar with potassium sorbate.

I will try that. Hopefully it won't take a lot longer to finish fermenting. This is new territory for me as the couple batches of beer I have made have been done fermenting within 2 weeks.

Well guys, fermantation is all done. I sweetened it and I bottled this concoction 2 days ago to carbonate it.

It tastes good before carbonation.

The question I have is that I hope I didn't mess it up. In order to filter the strawberry seeds out, i poured it through a clean flour sack dish cloth which i had soaked in mild bleach solution and then rinsed out. But by doing this, did i remove too much of the remaining yeast for it to carbonate, or do you think it will still carbonate.

Even if it does not carbonate I will still drink because it is very delicious, but it will be better if it can mellow in the bottle and also carbonate,

No idea. Yeast stays in suspension in liquid, but if the cloth is fine enough, it will like strain off all or most of the yeast.

So the variables are how fine the cloth is, and how much yeast made it through.

If enough yeast made it through, it will carbonate but may take some extra time.

If not enough yeast made it through, like you said you'll still enjoy the drink.

My recommendation: don't worry about it. Wait a few weeks, and enjoy it either way.

On a related thought, in the future if you figure this out after straining but before bottling, you can buy carb tabs from your brew supply.

Another suggestion to sweeten a cider/beer without adding fermentables is to use Lactose sugar.

what is lactose sugar?

mitch1 said:

what is lactose sugar?

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Its non-fermentable sugar used for sweetening, much like the wine conditioner I talked about previously. Although wine conditioner is fructose and glucose.

Here's a nice reference on sugars used in wine making:
Winemaking: sugar

It's is milk sugar. It is non-fermentable and available at you local brewing supply house (LBSH).

Vic

mitch 1

What are the exact formulas for your Hard Lemonade and Hard Strawbarbade? Sounds interesting. This house enjoys hard lemonade.

Vic

I have it written down at home, when I get home from work, I will dig it out and post it.

here you go vic

2.5lbs strawberries (i used frozen berries I picked from the previous summer. thaw if frozen)

20 medium stalks rhubarb - chopped

1 lb brown sugar

2 lbs white sugar

3/4 - 1 cup lemon juice (to taste)

1 packed bread yeast

3 gallons water

- Place berries and rhubarb in blender with rhubarb and liquify
- Bring 3 gal water to boil, and add fruit, sugars.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 min. stirring as to not scorch sugar
- Cool to just a little warmer than room temp and add lemon juice to tone down sweetness .
- pour into primary and pitch yeast.

Mine was done fermenting after two weeks. After that I bottled in beer bottles to carbonate.

- mine should be done carbonating in 1 more week

And for the hard lemonade?

Vic

gave a friend my copy of the recipe, I will see him this weekend and will get it back then.

Great, we like hard lemonade here.

Vic