Dealing with raisins

[uncleJ]

-In what form should I add raisins? Whole, chopped, pulped in a blender, as a strained liquid tea etc.
-If I pulp the raisins in a blender will it fall down with the lees or float around?
-How long should they be in the brew?

 

[sfish]

Good question I would also like suggestions.

,.. I am using raisins tonight for the first time. My plan was to chop and add at 30 min to boil in a hops bag, squeeze at flame out and remove.

 

[browning348]

I chopped some about 6 weeks ago and added to a secondary red then racked and tasted after a month and I was satisfied. I removed the raisins while racking. It really added a lot of body.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

I usually rough chop them and boil in a little water to sanitize, then pitch the works into the primary with the must.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Warning, raisins will make your wine taste like raisins. Not a bad thing for some wines, but awful in others.

JMO...

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Warning, raisins will make your wine taste like raisins. Not a bad thing for some wines, but awful in others.

JMO...

Only if you're making a raisin wine. I've used as much as 4 lbs in 6 gallon batches of apfelwein & graff, couldn't taste the raisins. I've used raisins in cyser, blackberry wine, blueberry & plum wines, couldn't taste them at all in any of them.

Raisins WILL add a bit of sugar & a bit of body to a wine. There are many recipes out there that use a couple lbs of raisins. For the OP, I'd pulse those raisins in a food processor to roughly chop them & contain them in a mesh sack when adding them to the wine. Easy peasy.
Regards, GF.

 

[Homercidal]

I've chopped them up as fine as I could stand. They get really sticky quickly. I've tried the food processor, but it's not much faster (unless you have a lot to chop) and then there is sticky raisin guts to clean up.

I added raisins a couple of weeks ago. Maybe 1/3 lb and they are still bubbling away in the banana wine I made. Seems to ferment forever.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Only if you're making a raisin wine. I've used as much as 4 lbs in 6 gallon batches of apfelwein & graff, couldn't taste the raisins. I've used raisins in cyser, blackberry wine, blueberry & plum wines, couldn't taste them at all in any of them.

Raisins WILL add a bit of sugar & a bit of body to a wine. There are many recipes out there that use a couple lbs of raisins. For the OP, I'd pulse those raisins in a food processor to roughly chop them & contain them in a mesh sack when adding them to the wine. Easy peasy.
Regards, GF.

Grape winemaker myself, so that is why I wrote what I did. Tried fruit wines, but never found one I liked well enough to keep making it.

 

[mgonbrewlab]

For those without a food processor (or if you're only dealing with a pound or so of raisins) soaking them overnight makes raisins much easier to chop. I use my kitchen sprayer hot, and then cover the container overnight in the fridge. Make sure to add the soaking water into your primary.

 

[uncleJ]

I got a couple of more questions about raisins.

-How much(if any) liquid will I lose pr lbs of raisins added?
-Can I use raisins to increase gravity? For example how much raisins with 52% sugar will I need to add pr gallon to bring the gravity up one point from 1.08 to 1.09? Can I simply add 2lbs raisins instead of 1 lbs sugar?

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Rehydrate your grapes by soaking before you chop them, and add your soaking water. This helps alleviate liquid loss.

 

[browning348]

Rehydrate your grapes by soaking before you chop them, and add your soaking water. This helps alleviate liquid loss.

Great idea! I'll do that next time.

 

[browning348]

Rehydrate before or after chopping? And is chopping necessary?

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Before - I usually throw 1-2 lbs in a 2 quart mixing bowl, submerge them in hot water, and then cover and soak overnight in the fridge. It doesn't make it as easy as chopping grapes, but they are much less sticky.

Yes, I believe chopping is necessary to release the sugars.

 

[browning348]

Before - I usually throw 1-2 lbs in a 2 quart mixing bowl, submerge them in hot water, and then cover and soak overnight in the fridge. It doesn't make it as easy as chopping grapes, but they are much less sticky.

Yes, I believe chopping is necessary to release the sugars.

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely be trying this soon.

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Good deal. I forgot to mention, but I am sure it goes without saying - a heavy cleaver is a good tool for this job. Or a food chopper/processor if you have one