Rhubarb Wine

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whoops- i made a mistake in my posting but fortunately not in my concocting, in that i wrote 2kg sugar rather than 1.5. i blame a particularly tasty batch of cider from last november, which has been making me do funny things lately. i actually used 2 kg rhubarb and 1.5 kg sugar which (neglecting any other source of dissolved solids) *should* give around 1.130... but i guess that is a reasonable og?? as a cider person this seems lethal. to yeast if not humans. anyways this stuff smells really amazing after 2 days, rhubarb still in the bag, will pitch tomorrow
 
dinnerstick said:
whoops- i made a mistake in my posting but fortunately not in my concocting, in that i wrote 2kg sugar rather than 1.5. i blame a particularly tasty batch of cider from last november, which has been making me do funny things lately. i actually used 2 kg rhubarb and 1.5 kg sugar which (neglecting any other source of dissolved solids) *should* give around 1.130... but i guess that is a reasonable og?? as a cider person this seems lethal. to yeast if not humans. anyways this stuff smells really amazing after 2 days, rhubarb still in the bag, will pitch tomorrow
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Ideally, it's be 1.100 or less. But a measly .020 extra hasn't killed anybody yet............
 
Yooper said:
As Conpewter did the math, I will trust him! I use about one KG of sugar in 1 gallon. I ended up with an OG of 1.090ish.

Ideally, you'd only use enough sugar to get you to your desired OG, but I didn't see your post until just now.

The thing that will help is this- rhubarb seems to drop a lot of lees and requires several rackings. Each time you rack, you can top up (well, MUST top up) with water or a light white wine. If you use water, you will reduce the ABV and the "hotness" of the wine.

Your math is a bit off, I think. 1 US gallon is a tad less than 4L, about 3.79 liters. You could have made a 4L batch with my recipe. Multiplying by 1.3 "upped" it a bit, I think.
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got it! i think we were typing replies at the same time. i'll check the actual og tomorrow when i kick things off and am happy to know that a bit higher is fine. i will top off with water at rackings. for some reason the pack of generic champagne yeast from my local says 12% max. i can't wait to disprove that. thanks for replies and recipe
 
dinnerstick said:
got it! i think we were typing replies at the same time. i'll check the actual og tomorrow when i kick things off and am happy to know that a bit higher is fine. i will top off with water at rackings. for some reason the pack of generic champagne yeast from my local says 12% max. i can't wait to disprove that. thanks for replies and recipe
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Most champagne yeast strains easily go to 18% and up. Let's not try to push that, though! ;) "Hot" flavors can take years to age out!
 
Hey Yooper question for you.... I couldn't find white grape juice, so used "100% grape juice" from welchs. Turns out to be the purple kind. Guess I'm going to end up with a rose colored wine? Not sure if there would be any tannin issues with purple grape juice.
 
conpewter said:
Hey Yooper question for you.... I couldn't find white grape juice, so used "100% grape juice" from welchs. Turns out to be the purple kind. Guess I'm going to end up with a rose colored wine? Not sure if there would be any tannin issues with purple grape juice.
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I don't think so- the welchs purple juice is concord juice. It may end up even more tart but you can fix that by sweetening later if you have to.
 
Thanks yooper! I actually got a bit confused with my threads, I am making your cranberry wine right now (will pitch yeast tonight). Planning on the rhubarb :)
 
to up your recipe to 5g is fairly easy on most of it i have a few questions. does it become
1 1/4 tsp tannin
5 tsp yeast nutrient
5 campden tabs
5 tsp pectic ?
and still 1 montrachet? or up that as well
i have exactly 1 wine kit under my belt so i am not sure about all of these extras.
I got lucky i have acess to 4 rhubarb patches and they all doing good right now
 
tchuklobrau said:
to up your recipe to 5g is fairly easy on most of it i have a few questions. does it become
1 1/4 tsp tannin
5 tsp yeast nutrient
5 campden tabs
5 tsp pectic ?
and still 1 montrachet? or up that as well
i have exactly 1 wine kit under my belt so i am not sure about all of these extras.
I got lucky i have acess to 4 rhubarb patches and they all doing good right now
Click to expand...

Yes, you can multiply everything by five, but still use one package of yeast.
 
Cool recipe yooper - now I know what I can do with the tons of rhubarb we have all around our house. Some of it has already started to bolt with all the rain we have been getting. Time to get some in the freezer!

best part about fruit wines is... the price! ha
 
i have this going in my laundry room, 3.5 days after pitching it is fermenting so noisily that when i walked past the room i thought the water was on in the washing machine. looks like carbonated pink paint, smells luxurious
 
A few questions:

1. Do you wait for the rhubarb thaw before adding the sugar water?

2. Do you add the sugar water while still hot or do you cool it first?

Thanks in advance!
 
my batch developed some flocky looking stuff near the top, hopefully just yeast. but to be safe i racked off and sulfited immediately. three days later it looks normal, still clearing slowly. should have taken a picture but i didn't. does this sound ok??
it is just over a month since pitching and i have now racked twice. i tasted some while racking, it is really stunningly good already. a bit hot alcohol-wise but the balance of flavors caught me off guard! it's tart, tastes almost sweet (hydrometer confirms it is not sweet) really concentrated like a late harvest riesling! wow
 
If i wanted to do a Strawberry Rhubarb wine. Would you go half/half Strawberry to Rhubarb. Thanks
 
Thanks. He just dropped off the rhubard. Going to toss it in the freezer and get to ordering. Never made a wine before other than Apfelwein, but his Son in Law usually makes it and I had some last year. Me and my neighbor both agreed it was way too sweet. Can't wait for this one.
 
Ok so i made the rhubarb wine, despite protests from my brother and uncle. After about 8 months, it was awsome. Weird thing is it looks like tap water when you pour it. Its smooth and has a nice rhubarb taste, not to heavy not to lite. I used Yoopers recipe with some EC-1118 that stuff is indistructable i swear. I was wondering if i did anyhting wrong that it came out like tap water, like clear. It's the clearest wine i've made so far, is that good? I mean it tastes good and all but isnt it supposed to be like pinkish or seomthing? Thanks in advance to any answers to this.

Goat
 
I just got a ton of rhubarb from my grandpa's garden, so I think I'm going to give this a go. Bear in mind I have never made wine of any sort-just a lot of beer, so I apologize if this is a stupid question. My question is this : why a towel over the fermentor and not an airlock? Just putting a towel over it sounds like a great way to end up with infections. I mean, even after washing there could be all sorts of microscopic stuff on the towel. I understand that must needs some oxygen, but a towel over an open fermentor does not sound kosher to me. Are there any more sanitary options?
 
AdamWiz said:
I just got a ton of rhubarb from my grandpa's garden, so I think I'm going to give this a go. Bear in mind I have never made wine of any sort-just a lot of beer, so I apologize if this is a stupid question. My question is this : why a towel over the fermentor and not an airlock? Just putting a towel over it sounds like a great way to end up with infections. I mean, even after washing there could be all sorts of microscopic stuff on the towel. I understand that must needs some oxygen, but a towel over an open fermentor does not sound kosher to me. Are there any more sanitary options?
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the towel is only for the first couple of days to make sure that the must has enough oxygen to get cranking, after 2 or 3 days you can slap an airlock on.
 
after much procrastination, my rhubarb is now sitting in the fermenter in a strainer bag thawing out. Got about 13.5 lbs. Going to add the sugar and water and campden tomorrow when I get home from work.
 
IrregularPulse said:
after much procrastination, my rhubarb is now sitting in the fermenter in a strainer bag thawing out. Got about 13.5 lbs. Going to add the sugar and water and campden tomorrow when I get home from work.
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My rhubarb is still in the freezer! This summer has been so busy for me, that I'm rarely brewing or working on my wine. I'm going to spend two days next week brewing and racking wines!
 
You think over night is to let it thaw and then add the sugar water tomorrow aroun 6? Or should I run to the store now? I have no idea how long it takes to that 13 lbs of fruit or how long it with stay good once it thaws.
 
IrregularPulse said:
You think over night is to let it thaw and then add the sugar water tomorrow aroun 6? Or should I run to the store now? I have no idea how long it takes to that 13 lbs of fruit or how long it with stay good once it thaws.
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Overnight should be fine! You'll be adding the campden, too, so it'll be fine.
 
lschiavo said:
Good queestion. At first, I think it kills the stuff you don't want fermenting your wine. What does it do when racking?
Click to expand...

It is an antioxidant. The sulfite binds with the wine, so that oxygen can't. Then it gradually disipates.

I guestimate 50 ppm by using one campden tablet per gallon at every other racking.
 
One last question before i make this. If i am doing a 4 gallon batch would i need to add 4 times the amounts of tannin, yeast nutrient, campden and pectic? Thanks
 
So this is the second racking since primary. I racked this onto crushed campden tabs. It has to be the campden that is responisble for the color change right? Yooper said it would end up a golden color but I did not expect it to change right before my eyes.

IMG_20110811_211339.jpg
 
Finally got mine all finished and yeast pitched. Mine was never pink. It's been a light green thus while time. My stalks were all green a well though. In the gravity sample it was mor yellowish.
 
Whoops, I added the yeast after everything else instead of waiting 12 hours. What's the reasoning to wait? I've got a spare pack of the same yeast if the other chemicals are going to kill this first batch.
 
IrregularPulse said:
Whoops, I added the yeast after everything else instead of waiting 12 hours. What's the reasoning to wait? I've got a spare pack of the same yeast if the other chemicals are going to kill this first batch.
Click to expand...

The yeast should be added after 24 hours- just so the campden doesn't stun it. It might be fine. The pectic enzyme works better 12 hours after the campden is added- they don't play well together, but no harm will come from adding them at the same time. The PE just might be a bit more ineffective. I wouldn't worry about it, though- this wine clears beautifully anyway.
 

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