Any suggested improvements

Here is a recipe I have followed to make a gallon of rhubarb wine so far it has been going for around two weeks all signs of fermentation seem to have finished I have racked it off just the once so far an I had a sneaky sip when I did it it still tasts very acidic which I am hoping will calm down during aging but does anybody have any suggestions on improving the recipe ?

1.5kg rhubarb
1.3kg sugar
250ml white grape juice concentrate
1 sachet general purpose white wine yeast (I used Champaign yeast)
1 tsp yeast nutrient

Wash the rhubarb, then chop finely into 6mm lengths. Place in a sterilised, food grade bucket and stir in the sugar. Cover with a lid or a clean tea towel and leave for three days. I forgot mine for a week and it started to go a bit mouldy on top – not that it seems to have done any harm.

Crush the pulp with the end of a rolling pin then stir in three litres of boiled but cooled water. Strain through sterilised muslin into another clean bucket, add the grape juice concentrate and make it up to 4.5 litres with more water. Add the yeast (activate it if necessary first) and the yeast nutrient.

Cover and leave for a week. Siphon into a clean demijohn and add a bubble trap.


After three or four weeks "rack off" into another demijohn (this disposes of the muddy stuff at the bottom which can taint the wine). Any shortfall should be made up with a sugar syrup made from boiled water, three parts, to sugar, one part, and allowed to cool.

When all fermentation has stopped siphon into clean bottles. It is ready immediately though patience may have its reward.

Enjoy.

Justin.

Rhubarb actually has some of the highest acidity of fruits, specifically oxalic acids. You may want to look at checking the acid level with an acid test kit and then research deacidification process. When I made my rhubarb wine I used precipitated chalk prior to ferment and it worked out quite well.
Some great links:
http://vinoenology.com/calculators/acid-addition/
http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/AcidCntrl/AcidControl.htm
http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/info/06iawgmtg/chemdeacidmustwine.pdf

Thanks for that I will have a good read when I get a chance

You could try a mild dose of calcium carbonate (precipitated chalk), it works.
Regards, GF.

I will see how it tastes at the end I did try it after just a week of fermenting the acidity might settle on its own it still needs to ferment for another couple of weeks yet I was actually asking about any improvement on the recipe. But thanks alot for the advice I will bare it in mind.

scorpien222 said:

I will see how it tastes at the end I did try it after just a week of fermenting the acidity might settle on its own it still needs to ferment for another couple of weeks yet I was actually asking about any improvement on the recipe. But thanks alot for the advice I will bare it in mind.

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Well, with champagne yeast it's going to be dry. If you like it that dry, great; if not, you might go with another yeast, maybe 71-B or montrachet. If you can ferment on the cool side, maybe go with cote des blancs.
Regards, GF.

I am thinking about maybe putting a vanilla pod in with the next batch what do you guys think ??

Well I had another sip of this yesterday even though it still has two weeks before bottling and the acidity has almost completely gone and it tastes delicious you guy really need to try this.