Rhubarb Brew

[geoffclifton]

I want to make a very simple tester of rhubarb brew. If it works as I expect I'll add fruit (strawberries) and spice to #2.
Are there any obvious mistakes in this planned recipe and if you could help with the 3 questions please.

2Kg Rhubarb
2Kg white sugar
1/2 pkg Wine Yeast

Finely slice rhubarb. Freeze if preferred.
Place in large boiler and cover with sugar.
Cover pot with a clean towel and stand for 24 hours.

1?? Most recipes seem to want to murder wild yeast with campden. Why not bring to boiling point which will sterilise and release juice.

Add 1 liter of water to pot and just bring to the boil.
Transfer through a fine mesh sieve into a second pot
Clean original (larger) pot, pour in strained juice.
Place sieve with pulp over pot and rinse pulp with another 2 liters of boiled water.

Strain liquid via a finer filter into a 5 liter demijohn.

SG should be 1.090 - 1.110 @ 22 deg C. Check and adjust (if necessary).

2?? Assuming the temp will be more likely 80 deg C what is the temp correction for SG? Best to be hot if needing more sugar.

Cool to below 25 deg and pitch yeast

2?? Start yeast before pitching?

Top up demijohn with boiled water if req.
Bung with airlock and ferment.

If fermentation continues more than 10 days @ 22 deg and there is significant sediment then rack to a clean demijohn, top up with boiled water and continue fermentation until activity has stopped and SG is 0.990 - 0.995.

3?? Bottling. Should I kill the wine with a campden (note that 1 campden = 1/2 gram of sodium metabisulfide) or just bottle and allow a little carbonizing ferment. Should I even prime with dex for carbonization.


Cheers, Geoff

[geoffclifton]

Update.

13/11/06
I finely sliced 2Kg rhubarb in a food processor, covered with 2Kg white sugar and left for 24 hours. Added 1 liter water and bought to the boil.

Straining into a 5 liter demijohn was painfully slow using a big funnel, coffee filter, stocking and mesh colander on top. Rinsed another 4 liters of boiling water through the stew.

Cooled overnight, removed 50mL to start a pack of AP wine yeast and pitched at 25*. OG 1110.

For a day and a half the ferment produced detergent like foam which pushed through the airlock. It then settled and is now bubbling steadily 5 days into what I anticpate being a 10 day ferment. It is very cloudy and a beaut dark burgundy colour.

I intend to then filter to a clean demijohn killing the ferment with a pinch of sod-met, then bottle into stubbies.

Isn't anyone who's done a fruit ferment before going to tell me if I'm doing it wrong or is it just the rhubarb turning people off

Cheers, Geoff.

[blandy]

Hi geoff,

this sounds like a great idea, and I'd like to hear how it goes so I can try it if it works .

Anyway, I know I've sort of come in here a bit too late for this, but I had some thoughts on your recipe which might be worth trying if you want to give it another go later and improve on the first batch.

I'm not too sure how much yeast nutrient there is in rhubarb, if the yeast gives up on you, put some yeast nutrient in (available at any good HBS).

If it turns out to be a hangover brew, try using dextrose or malt (malt is also a yeast nutrient) in stead of sugar. They ferment much more cleanly into ethanol (the good alcohol), and hardly produce any methanol, propanol at all.

As for other ideas with rhubarb, I reckon a cider would go well. maybe something like a can of Black Rock and 2kg rhubarb, then add dex/malt to suit for alcohol (although my last cider with quinces got to a near perfect 5.2% with just the can and 2kg of fruit, if it's delicious, why add more?)

[chris.]

I'd like to hear how it goes too Geoff.
Your right that the boiling of the Rhubarb will kill wild yeast. I think the main reason most people choose the sodium/potassium met route is that the boiling sets (?) the pectin in the fruit & causes haze in the finished product.

Blandy, I think your on the money with the suggestion of a yeast nutrient. & the Cider comment too, but instead of using the kit (which would be overkill in a 5L experimental batch IMO) I'd be inclined to try a few litres of apple juice.

I think your on a winner of an idea using Rhubarb Geoff. I'd like to try this myself.

& it seems as though there is a commercial version in the US http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3753/22446

[Chris]

I recon some apple juice would be a good idea too.

I'd also consider boiling the rhubarb and adding a pectinase.

[geoffclifton]

Thanks for the input, I don't feel so alone The suggestions for changes to the brew are taken well onboard but we'll see this first experiment through first. #2 may well be on dex and ldme with cloves and cinnamon.

The demijohn is still bubbling away quite vigorously. The foam (still a krausen with wine?) almost disappeared off the top but has come back just enough to cover.

My anticipated 10 days to ferment just got rescheduled to NFI when I saw some notes today that said a fruit wine can keep going for months so opinions welcome please. Should I wait till ferment stops or should I stop it at a set SG?

Regarding stopping ferment and the use of Campden tablets. The recipes vary on how many should be used. I've read that Campden tabs contain 0.5 gram of sod met. Can anyone confirm this, is there anything else in them, can I just use a pinch of sod met and how much would be appropiate to 5 litres of wild wine?

Cheers, Geoff.

[rwh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campden_tablets

[geoffclifton]

Thanks rwh.

In your opininion would 0.5g (the equivilant of 1 tab) be what I need to stop the ferment and would you think it should go into the active fermenter or into the racking botle?

Cheers, Geoff.

[rwh]

Hi geoff,

Uh, I'm probably not the right person to ask, seeing as I've never done a wine or cider. I've got a recipe on my blog though, and that would seem to indicate you should use this rate:

To each 5 litres of juice, add two crushed campden tablets and let stand for 12 hours to kill the wild yeasts.

so that would be the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of Sodium Metabisulfite per 25L of juice. You then let stand for 12 hours, which is long enough for the Sodium Met to react with chlorine and chloramine, and with aldehydes. But if you're doing this just before bottling, just go ahead and bottle it.

I'd probably do it in the racking vessel, but only because the trub is absent there, not for any reason based on experience.

[geoffclifton]

Update 27/11/06

The ferment was still giving off a bubble a minute but I decided to go to stage two. I sterilized a clean demijohn and put in a quarter of a teaspoon of sod met then tried to pour via a paper coffee filter. It would barely drip through so I changed to a stocking.

SG was 1058 (from OG 1110) so there is heaps of residual sugar. It has an unpleasant dregs of the keg smell and is sweet to taste. I definately don't feel this is going to be any prize winner but when I'm sure it's settled I'll bottle and see.

WHat to adjust on the next one? Less sugar, dex instead, less yeast, let it ferment right out?

On a successful note we cracked brew one on Saturday. Coopers Draught ferment and prime on dex, 16 days in the bottle. It was good. None of that yesteryear homebrew sweetness, creamy head and lots of fine bubbles. Passed the taste test with a dedicated VB drinker and another home brewer who thought it a good but green beer.

Cheers, Geoff.


Cheers, Geoff.