Brewin_Bob
Well-Known Member
Ok, first, sorry for the long post.
Here's the write-up of the recipe I followed:
Lemstrac (Lemon/Strawberry/Blackberry) Wine Recipe
O.G. 1.085, F.G. 0.990
Ingredients:
12 ounces fresh strawberries
24 ounces fresh blackberries
2 small lemons
1 gallon water
1 campden tablet
½ teaspoon pectic enzyme
½ teaspoon yeast nutrient
¼ teaspoon Red Star Cote des Blancs wine yeast
2 ½ pounds of sugar
Thoroughly wash all fruit. Discard any pieces of fruit that look bad or rotten. Pretty much, if you wouldnt eat it, it shouldnt go into your must. Cut the lemons in small pieces. I cut my lemons in half and then each half into sixths. Place all fruit into primary fermenter and press. I used, and recommend, a straining bag for all of my fruit. In the meantime, bring one gallon of water to a boil. Once the water has cooled, add it, the pectic enzyme and the crushed campden tablet to the must. Cover with a clean towel or saran wrap and let the must sit for at least 24 hours before adding the yeast starter. The yeast starter consists of one teaspoon of sugar, the yeast nutrient, ¼ cup of room temperature water, a pinch of citric acid, and the yeast itself. Mix all 5 in container, cover, and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Add 1 pound of sugar to the must, stir well to dissolve sugar, and check the specific gravity. Continue to add sugar until a specific gravity of 1.085 is reached. Add yeast to the must, stir gently, and cover with saran wrap. Stir the must twice daily for 5 to 7 days. Once violent fermentation has stopped, and the must has a gravity of 1.035 to 1.030, strain out any pulp and squeeze any juice out of it. Siphon the must into a secondary fermentation container, leaving as much sediment as you can behind in the primary fermenter. Apply a stopper and airlock to your secondary and let it sit somewhere dark for 4 weeks to ferment to completion.
The must was racked from the primary to the secondary on 1-25-08 with a S.G. of 1.020 and it tasted quite nice and was still slightly sweet. I racked for the second time this past weekend (2-22-08) onto a cup of water that I microwaved then cooled with a crushed campden tablet disolved in it. I sampled a bit of the wine and it tasted quite bad. It was dry like I expected and it had an lemon-y aroma. But it tasted what I imagine lemon-fresh Ajax would taste like.
Lastly, the airlock showed activity yesterday and this morning. Shouldn't the campden tablet be killing off the yeast?
Ok, thanks for your patience. End of rant. No throwing of tomatoes. Sorry if this is in the wrong subforum.
Here's the write-up of the recipe I followed:
Lemstrac (Lemon/Strawberry/Blackberry) Wine Recipe
O.G. 1.085, F.G. 0.990
Ingredients:
12 ounces fresh strawberries
24 ounces fresh blackberries
2 small lemons
1 gallon water
1 campden tablet
½ teaspoon pectic enzyme
½ teaspoon yeast nutrient
¼ teaspoon Red Star Cote des Blancs wine yeast
2 ½ pounds of sugar
Thoroughly wash all fruit. Discard any pieces of fruit that look bad or rotten. Pretty much, if you wouldnt eat it, it shouldnt go into your must. Cut the lemons in small pieces. I cut my lemons in half and then each half into sixths. Place all fruit into primary fermenter and press. I used, and recommend, a straining bag for all of my fruit. In the meantime, bring one gallon of water to a boil. Once the water has cooled, add it, the pectic enzyme and the crushed campden tablet to the must. Cover with a clean towel or saran wrap and let the must sit for at least 24 hours before adding the yeast starter. The yeast starter consists of one teaspoon of sugar, the yeast nutrient, ¼ cup of room temperature water, a pinch of citric acid, and the yeast itself. Mix all 5 in container, cover, and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Add 1 pound of sugar to the must, stir well to dissolve sugar, and check the specific gravity. Continue to add sugar until a specific gravity of 1.085 is reached. Add yeast to the must, stir gently, and cover with saran wrap. Stir the must twice daily for 5 to 7 days. Once violent fermentation has stopped, and the must has a gravity of 1.035 to 1.030, strain out any pulp and squeeze any juice out of it. Siphon the must into a secondary fermentation container, leaving as much sediment as you can behind in the primary fermenter. Apply a stopper and airlock to your secondary and let it sit somewhere dark for 4 weeks to ferment to completion.
The must was racked from the primary to the secondary on 1-25-08 with a S.G. of 1.020 and it tasted quite nice and was still slightly sweet. I racked for the second time this past weekend (2-22-08) onto a cup of water that I microwaved then cooled with a crushed campden tablet disolved in it. I sampled a bit of the wine and it tasted quite bad. It was dry like I expected and it had an lemon-y aroma. But it tasted what I imagine lemon-fresh Ajax would taste like.
Lastly, the airlock showed activity yesterday and this morning. Shouldn't the campden tablet be killing off the yeast?
Ok, thanks for your patience. End of rant. No throwing of tomatoes. Sorry if this is in the wrong subforum.