Raspberry Wine 2

Started 14th April 2012

This is our second batch of wine, started 2 weeks ago, so a bit of catching up to do with the record keeping.
This is similar to batch 1, except using currants instead of grape concentrate. Currants are made from Corinth grapes and are a lot cheaper than the grape concentrate

Raspberry Wine Recipe 2

Raspberry wine 2

Step 1:
Crush 3lb raspberries in a 5 litre (1 gallon) bucket
Add 1 teaspoon of pectolase to break down the fruit and extract flavour and colour
Add 2.5lb sugar
Cover tightly, leave for 24 hours

Step 2:
Simmer 500g pack of Sainsburys Basics Greek Currants in 3 pints of water for 30 mins
Allow to cool and add to bucket
Then add:
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 teaspoon wine yeast
Top up bucket to 4.5 litres (1 gallon) with cold water
Test SG and add sugar to bring up to 1090*
Put in airing cupboard to ferment for 7 days**

* The hydrometer floated quite high, SG reading about 1130, so (from what I'd read) it didn't need any more sugar
** 5 days should have been enough, but it's a weekend thing for us, so we just left it for 7 days

Raspberry wines 1 & 2 - this one is on the right

Step 3:
Strain the liquid into a cleaned, sterilised demijohn
Top up with cold water to the "shoulder" of the demijohn
Fit bung and airlock to demijohn
Leave to ferment for a few weeks (maybe 6)

Result so far ....
It looks good, nice red colour, but I'd describe it as cloudy. The airlock is blipping nicely, but at half the rate of the first raspberry wine.



Step 4:
Rack off into clean, sterilised demijohn
Add 1 crushed campden tablet
Add 1tsp potassium sorbate to stop the ferment
Shake well
Fit airlock and leave for 2 or 3 weeks to degas, giving it a gentle shake every couple of days.

Results now ... A very strong raspberry flavour, and very sweet. Should have tested SG before stopping the ferment. SG after stopping the ferment was 1015, so it's quite sweet - it could have continued fermenting a bit longer, which would have made a stronger, dryer wine.

Step 5:
Bottle - Bottled 19th July 2012

Verdict:
This is a really nice, sweet wine - a dessert wine. The strong raspberry flavour has mellowed. Definitely one to make again.

The reason this is sweeter than Raspberry Wine 1 is that we used currants instead of grape juice. The currants have twice as much sugar as the grape juice. We could have either used a little bit less sugar, or left the wine to continue fermenting a bit longer.