Rhubarb Wine

Yakima 728
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Helly said:
I just did my first harvest. Over 2.5 lbs, pretty good for a first picking I think.

View attachment 280505
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Nice picking there! I might suggest cutting each piece smaller to make sugar extraction a little more efficient. Or you can do the freeze-thaw trick (3 times) to make it softer/mushier. The bag is a must for the freeze thaw trick.
 
solbes said:
Nice picking there! I might suggest cutting each piece smaller to make sugar extraction a little more efficient. Or you can do the freeze-thaw trick (3 times) to make it softer/mushier. The bag is a must for the freeze thaw trick.
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Thanks. These went right in the freezer.
 
Just chopped up 11lbs of rhubarb. Going to go harvest another 4lbs so I have enough for a 5 gallon batch of this. I can't wait to serve it with your banana wine at my wedding (I've got till spring 2017 for these to age out so I think I have time).

Using Cotes de Blanc for my yeast just so I can be different, has anyone used Cotes in a rhubarb wine?
 
Hi all,
I have a huge rhubarb patch that I usually end up wasting or giving away so this year I've decided to make this wine!

Couple of questions though.
- I have 3 pounds in the freezer already but plenty more outside. I only have 2 1 gallon carboys so I was thinking of doing 2 gallons and racking into a pail then back to carboys. Assuming excellent sanitation does this seem like a reasonable idea?
- For the grape concentrate, can I use Welch's?
- Is Lalvin KV-1116 a good fit for this wine?

Thanks in advance!
nk
 
I've done 2 gallon batches that way. I've always used raisins in this instead of concentrate. But either will work, you just want to make sure your stuff doesn't have preservatives. I don't recall what yeast I used. Seems like it would work fine but I'd have to check my notes at home to see what I did. Good luck, if you're anything like me you'll love this wine.
 
Thanks guys! I thought about using raisins but the only ones I can find have sunflower oil and I think I read on this thread that oil was a problem. Chopping a pound of raisins doesn't seem like too much fun either!
 
About to rack our batch to secondary. Came home on Sunday from the lake to a house that definitely smelled like an active fermentation, after pitching on Friday afternoon.

Our first rhubarb wine where we grew/picked all of the fruit. 4 lbs of picked black raspberries and 14 lbs of rhubarb wine in a 6 gallon batch.

Grapes on our vines are starting to ripen also, good time of year!
 
Hi all, I finally got a 2 gallon batch going. This is my first wine so I was wondering when I do the daily stir should it just be a gentle stir to break up the foam or vigorous stir? My 2.5 year old has been helping stir so it's pretty vigorous and fizzy!
 
brewer_in_the_cap said:
Hi all, I finally got a 2 gallon batch going. This is my first wine so I was wondering when I do the daily stir should it just be a gentle stir to break up the foam or vigorous stir? My 2.5 year old has been helping stir so it's pretty vigorous and fizzy!
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Vigorous and fizzy is good!
 
Ok, so this wine fermented quick! I pitched on Aug 19th (OG 1.10) and checked gravity today and I'm at 1.000. I just transferred to secondary today after the reading instead of 1.02-1.04 like recommended, I got busy and really didn't expect it to go this quick. Will there be any effect on the end result?
 
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brewer_in_the_cap said:
Ok, so this wine fermented quick! I pitched on Aug 19th (OG 1.10) and checked gravity today and I'm at 1.000. I just transferred to secondary today after the reading instead of 1.2-1.4 like recommended, I got busy and really didn't expect it to go this quick. Will there be any effect on the end result?
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No, that will be fine.
 
Thanks Yooper! I meant to ask how long it usually takes to come down but didn't get around to it. I figured 2 weeks was safe given beer takes a week or so to drop 40-50 points, I was surprised it moved so fast.
 
brewer_in_the_cap said:
Thanks Yooper! I meant to ask how long it usually takes to come down but didn't get around to it. I figured 2 weeks was safe given beer takes a week or so to drop 40-50 points, I was surprised it moved so fast.
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Usually, I get to 1.010 in about 5 days or so, but sometimes I miss it and it goes completely dry by then.
 
I still have a ways to go with this batch but was wondering if I could bottle this using beer bottles/caps? Figure I'll ask now so I can start acquiring some wine bottles if needed! Thanks
 
Has anyone tried a sparkling rhubarb? I could imagine the acidity making it a bit like champagne.
 
In the past I have done some beer brewing, and this is my first swing at wine and of course I couldn't go easy with the Welches I had to jump in both feet first.
I started the rhubarb on 2/25/16, following the 1 gallon recipe down to the "t." Here are my numbers before pitching the yeast (Montrachet):
Temp 64
Gravity .95
Alcohol 12
Sugar 22

Yesterday (3/5/16) I noticed activity had dropped off significantly, so I assumed it was ready to from primary to secondary, before doing so I took new readings:
Temp 65
Gravity 1.002
Alcohol 0
Sugar 0

It has a very cloudy appearance, and doesn't smell rancid or "off." The sample from the thief is very bitter. Did I do something wrong, or am I just not being patient enough?? It looks like fermentation has stopped altogether, is this possibly due to the temp being low, and what can I do to restart it?

Btw, I have been stalking this site for quite a while now, and the information on here is outstanding.
 
travis4077 said:
In the past I have done some beer brewing, and this is my first swing at wine and of course I couldn't go easy with the Welches I had to jump in both feet first.
I started the rhubarb on 2/25/16, following the 1 gallon recipe down to the "t." Here are my numbers before pitching the yeast (Montrachet):
Temp 64
Gravity .95
Alcohol 12
Sugar 22

Yesterday (3/5/16) I noticed activity had dropped off significantly, so I assumed it was ready to from primary to secondary, before doing so I took new readings:
Temp 65
Gravity 1.002
Alcohol 0
Sugar 0

It has a very cloudy appearance, and doesn't smell rancid or "off." The sample from the thief is very bitter. Did I do something wrong, or am I just not being patient enough?? It looks like fermentation has stopped altogether, is this possibly due to the temp being low, and what can I do to restart it?

Btw, I have been stalking this site for quite a while now, and the information on here is outstanding.
Click to expand...

Couple of things. Yes the gravity of 1.002 would indicate the yeast have done their part. Not sure what you mean by the Alcohol 0, at as that point you should be about 12% off the top of my head.

And is it bitter or sour? I have made this wine several times and it is sour and acidic. But I don't know where any bitter compounds would come from.

In any case, give it time and it will clear. Make sure the airlock has liquid and then put it in a cool, dark place and check back on April fools day. By then is will probably have cleared and will be ready to rack to secondary.
 
rlmiller10 said:
Couple of things. Yes the gravity of 1.002 would indicate the yeast have done their part. Not sure what you mean by the Alcohol 0, at as that point you should be about 12% off the top of my head.

And is it bitter or sour? I have made this wine several times and it is sour and acidic. But I don't know where any bitter compounds would come from.

In any case, give it time and it will clear. Make sure the airlock has liquid and then put it in a cool, dark place and check back on April fools day. By then is will probably have cleared and will be ready to rack to secondary.
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Thanks RL for your reply. You're right, the hydrometer reading was 12 before and 0 after. I just forgot to do the math, sorry for the idiot moment there. And I guess sour is a better description, it's definitely acidic.
 
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travis4077 said:
Thanks RL for your reply. You're right, the hydrometer reading was 12 before and 0 after. I just forgot to do the math, sorry for the idiot moment there. And I guess sour is a better description, it's definitely acidic.
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chances are after time to settle out in secondary, you're going to want to stabilize and backsweeten it a bit to take some of that sour/bitter out. but like RL said forget about it for a few months. that's the biggest thing I've realized between beer and wine. wine takes a lot longer to enjoy your fruits of your labor.
 
I have made three batches of this and all of them tasted very much like rhubarb. I start drinking them at about 3 months age. So if you like to eat fresh stalks of rhubarb, you should not need to back sweeten or anything.
 
We've altered the sweetness of our annual batches. First had a little sweetness, went overboard on year 2, was not quite sweet enough last year. Should be able to dial it in to what we like this year. I'd say a little sweeter than off dry but not quite semi-sweet.

Some like it bone dry, but I agree with some posters above that the sweetness cuts the acidity some which we enjoy.
 
Thank you everyone on their comments and recommendations. As recommended above, the wine, still in it's primary, has been put away in the basement where it is cool and dark. I'm taking this time to do some research on how to back sweeten. The girlfriend doesn't like dry or bitter wines, so this step is necessary ;)
Guess it comes as no surprise the different techniques to doing this step. I'm thinking the bench test method sounds like it will give the best results. Any opinions on that?
 
Has anyone tried strawberries in the secondary rack? I love strawberry rhubarb preserves, and was trying to figure out if it would be possible to replicate this in wine form.
 
TattooCelt said:
Has anyone tried strawberries in the secondary rack? I love strawberry rhubarb preserves, and was trying to figure out if it would be possible to replicate this in wine form.
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Not really a direct answer to your question but I recently made a version of Dragon Blood with Rhubarb, instead of lemon juice, and strawberries/blueberries/blackberries/raspberries. Turned out quite nice really, and while the rhubarb is not a dominant flavor I can confirm that using strawberries in the primary resulted in a definite strawberry aroma and flavor in the finished wine.
 
TattooCelt said:
Has anyone tried strawberries in the secondary rack? I love strawberry rhubarb preserves, and was trying to figure out if it would be possible to replicate this in wine form.
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No reason it should not work, giving some strawberry flavor as well as more color. But I don't think you will get a strawberry preserve flavor since there will be no sugar.

This wine comes out with a tart flavor for me, much like eating fresh rhubarb. I like that flavor so all is well. Adding strawberries should add the strawberry flavor but would still have the tartness of the rhubarb.

Curious about how it would age. I had a bottle from 2014, so probably 19 months old, just this last week and it has lost some of the fresh rhubarb flavor but was still tart, reminded me very much of a $8 a bottle Pinot Gris.
 
I did a 1 gallon batch with half strawberry half rhubarb back in October ...tasted after the last racking and so far had a dominant strawberry flavor. That was about 2-3 months ago. I need to rack off the Lee's again soon, so I can provide an update then.
 
I had a comment to make but thought I should speed read through the discussions to be sure I wasn't being redundant. Now, I'm having a serious 'senior moment' and have forgotten the 'important' contribution I wanted to make.

I average 15 gallons of rhubarb wine per year. It is very popular and most of it is given away.

I made more than would fit in my 5 gal carboy last week. Part of the extra was used to make a rhubarb/jalapeno jelly - yum. Another half gallon was used to capture some wild yeast. It is happily bubbling away now and I am anxious to see what kind of wine it makes.

Has anybody else used their native indigenous yeast in their wine making?
 
Tried a 1g batch and swmbo and her friends told me they dont like fruit wines.
After aging for 18 months i have mone left and was told i need to do a 5g batch next time.
 
Well, this will be my next batch of wine. A couple of questions, if I may:

I've got 7 pounds of picked and cut rhubarb; would it be alright to use 3.5 pounds of rhubarb per gallon, or would I be better off sticking with the 3 pounds? Also, should I add any additional sugar, if I do end up using 3.5 pounds of rhubarb per gallon?

Other than that, I think I'm good to go. Advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I'd stick to Yooper's recipe regarding rhubarb and sugar content per gallon. It flat out works. Remember that Rhubarb wine is pretty acidic as it is (one of the reasons I like to back sweeten with a little sugar).

My 4th annual batch was made with black raspberries and rhubarb from our back yard is probably ready to bottle. Definitely darker this year but tasting pretty dang good at last racking.

Not sure what we're going to do this year. Might make a black raspberry wine on its own and then go back to peach/rhubarb for this years batch. Maybe something will come to me.
 

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