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| I have particularly high hopes for the Lychee Wine |
Showing posts with label carambola wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carambola wine. Show all posts
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Results are In!
Last year I threatened to enter the Kansas City Cellarmasters Wine Competition but didn't get around to it. This year I sent 4 wines. The wine I honestly expected to do the best did not medal. More on that in a later post. But I did win three medals, including First Place in the vegetable flavored wine category. The award is a $20 gift certificate to St Louis Beer and Wine Making which may or may not be the same as St. Louis Wine and Beermaking, I'll have to look into that.
I went to the cellar to get a bottle for a picture, and found that I had sent my last bottle of 2014 starfruit (carambola) wine. This wine was made with 7# fruit/gallon, ended at a final pH of 3.44, and was backsweetened with 70g sugar/gallon. As to color, two judges found it "excellent" and "great" while a third found it "inky, should be lighter." On taste, despite the 70g of sugar, judges found it "close to being dry" and "close to dry but OK." One taster thought the acid and sweetness were good, while another thought that the acid and tannin were too high and were distracting. I wonder if some of the judges weren't quite familiar with the taste of carambola. Overall score 13.83, a "sound wine." I think 5-6#/gallon is probably enough fruit for carambola wine; going forward, I'll be sure all seeds are out, and won't be shy about backsweetening this wine.
I honestly didn't have great hopes for the hibiscitrus wine. I may have mislabeled it as 2014, I'm pretty sure I sent the 2015. There's not much to this wine - hibiscus flowers and whatever citrus I had growing in the greenhouse. Used Booster Blanc and QA23. The acid addition was straight citric, no acid blend used. It cleared, I used a little grapefruit rind in the secondary, backsweetened with 40g/gal sugar. The color was rated as "nice" and "great." One judge thought it "sharp" while another thought that the acidity was not as prominent as expected. The finish was thought too short by two judges, while one thought the finish was "too grassy" and not floral enough. I'm not sure how to fix that. The overall score was 14.67, a "sound wine."
My third batch of lemongrass ginger wine saw further adjustments. The second batch was far to gingery because the crystallized ginger I used was so strong. So I dialed it back to only 80g of crystallized ginger. This turned out to be a little short, as I ended up tweaking with a small dose of ginger extract in the end. The lemongrass was upped to 500g for 3 gallons, and I added one Meyer lemon, along with white grape concentrate for body. Yeast was K1-V1116, acid additions 50/50 citric/tartaric, and it was backsweetened with only 25g/gallon sugar. Aroma was "aromotic, grassy, earthy;" one judge noted "slight lemon" and another "strong lemon." The acidity was "bright" with a
"nice lingering lemongrass" finish. Overall score was 16.5, a "very good wine" which placed first in the vegetable wine category.
I went to the cellar to get a bottle for a picture, and found that I had sent my last bottle of 2014 starfruit (carambola) wine. This wine was made with 7# fruit/gallon, ended at a final pH of 3.44, and was backsweetened with 70g sugar/gallon. As to color, two judges found it "excellent" and "great" while a third found it "inky, should be lighter." On taste, despite the 70g of sugar, judges found it "close to being dry" and "close to dry but OK." One taster thought the acid and sweetness were good, while another thought that the acid and tannin were too high and were distracting. I wonder if some of the judges weren't quite familiar with the taste of carambola. Overall score 13.83, a "sound wine." I think 5-6#/gallon is probably enough fruit for carambola wine; going forward, I'll be sure all seeds are out, and won't be shy about backsweetening this wine.
I honestly didn't have great hopes for the hibiscitrus wine. I may have mislabeled it as 2014, I'm pretty sure I sent the 2015. There's not much to this wine - hibiscus flowers and whatever citrus I had growing in the greenhouse. Used Booster Blanc and QA23. The acid addition was straight citric, no acid blend used. It cleared, I used a little grapefruit rind in the secondary, backsweetened with 40g/gal sugar. The color was rated as "nice" and "great." One judge thought it "sharp" while another thought that the acidity was not as prominent as expected. The finish was thought too short by two judges, while one thought the finish was "too grassy" and not floral enough. I'm not sure how to fix that. The overall score was 14.67, a "sound wine."
My third batch of lemongrass ginger wine saw further adjustments. The second batch was far to gingery because the crystallized ginger I used was so strong. So I dialed it back to only 80g of crystallized ginger. This turned out to be a little short, as I ended up tweaking with a small dose of ginger extract in the end. The lemongrass was upped to 500g for 3 gallons, and I added one Meyer lemon, along with white grape concentrate for body. Yeast was K1-V1116, acid additions 50/50 citric/tartaric, and it was backsweetened with only 25g/gallon sugar. Aroma was "aromotic, grassy, earthy;" one judge noted "slight lemon" and another "strong lemon." The acidity was "bright" with a
"nice lingering lemongrass" finish. Overall score was 16.5, a "very good wine" which placed first in the vegetable wine category.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Carambola Chips
If I had more starfruit, and carambola wine weren't so good, I'd make these all the time. Slice them thinly and liberally dose half of them with chili powder before putting them in the oven.
2 firm-ripe carambola
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Slice star fruit crosswise with slicer into 1/16-inch-thick slices.
Bring sugar and water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add star fruit, then remove from heat and let stand, uncovered, 15 minutes. Pour star fruit into a sieve set over a bowl and drain 15 minutes.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F. Put liner on a large (17- by 11-inch) baking sheet, then arrange star-fruit slices in 1 layer on liner (discard extra along with any broken slices). Bake until dry, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Immediately transfer chips to a rack to cool.
2 firm-ripe carambola
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Slice star fruit crosswise with slicer into 1/16-inch-thick slices.
Bring sugar and water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add star fruit, then remove from heat and let stand, uncovered, 15 minutes. Pour star fruit into a sieve set over a bowl and drain 15 minutes.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F. Put liner on a large (17- by 11-inch) baking sheet, then arrange star-fruit slices in 1 layer on liner (discard extra along with any broken slices). Bake until dry, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Immediately transfer chips to a rack to cool.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Fall Winemaking is Underway
The sauerkraut went into the fridge after 5 days of fermentation. It is chunky and crisp with enough acidity.
We are home for the first weekend in a couple of months. This provided the opportunity to catch up on some winemaking. I bottled the elderberry-persimmon wine. This wine is unique for the large dose of bentonite and heavy toast oak chips in the primary, then a secondary treatment of some black currants. I think it is very good at 8 months, and it is supposed to improve for a couple of years.
We racked the starfruit and lychee wine. The starfruit wine is not quite clear but will, once again, be fantastic. I think we have the starfruit wine recipe dialed in pretty well. Getting the pH low enough with mostly citric acid is the key. No malic acid for this wine, acid blend or otherwise. The lychee wine unfortunately blew off all of the lychee aromas during fermentation. I anticipated this, and kept back 15 large lychees from the greenhouse. These were thawed, destoned, chopped, treated for several hours with pectic enzyme, then added to the secondary. I expect a wine that is subtle but distinctly lychee.
We then kicked off the first of the fall batches. This one is blackberry. We are going with (almost) straight fruit. It is said that it normally takes about 11-12# for a gallon. I had 29.5#, just under 10# per gallon for the 3 gallon batch.
To make up the volume I did use about 4 pints of water. I have some of last year's blackberry wine to top off with if the volume is still short. The initial pH was 2.79 and it took 7t of calcium carbonate to get it to the desired 3.4. Sugar calculations were perfect, we're starting at 1.084. I let the pectic work a full 24 hours. 71B will hopefully tame some of the malic acid.
Shawn and Suzanne came over for supper. We had a nice veggie-based chili, then Suzanne make a delicious apple galette. I was a poor host.
Here is my recipe for 3 gal of carambola wine.
16# carambola
1 liter white grape concentrate
Sugar: 3# (SG 1.082)
Campden: 2 tab at start
Yeast nutrient: 3/4t Fermaid K divided
Yeast energizer: 1t GoFerm
Tannin: 1/2t
Pectic enzyme: 3t
Citric acid: 6t (starting pH was 3.27)
Tartaric acid: 3t
Opti white: 6g (dose 1-2g/gal)
Water: 2gal
Yeast: QA23
Add Campden tablets at fruit thaw. Bag the sliced fruit. Add bagged fruit, grape concentrate, sugar to primary. Boil water, pour over primary. When cool, add Optiwhite, pectic, acids, and wait 12-24 hours. Double check pH and adjust if needed. Rehydrate yeast with GoFerm and pitch. Step feed the Fermaid K. Stir twice a day. Bentonite on day 3. Drip drain bag and rack to primary when 1.010 or lower. Usual care thereafter.
We are home for the first weekend in a couple of months. This provided the opportunity to catch up on some winemaking. I bottled the elderberry-persimmon wine. This wine is unique for the large dose of bentonite and heavy toast oak chips in the primary, then a secondary treatment of some black currants. I think it is very good at 8 months, and it is supposed to improve for a couple of years.
We racked the starfruit and lychee wine. The starfruit wine is not quite clear but will, once again, be fantastic. I think we have the starfruit wine recipe dialed in pretty well. Getting the pH low enough with mostly citric acid is the key. No malic acid for this wine, acid blend or otherwise. The lychee wine unfortunately blew off all of the lychee aromas during fermentation. I anticipated this, and kept back 15 large lychees from the greenhouse. These were thawed, destoned, chopped, treated for several hours with pectic enzyme, then added to the secondary. I expect a wine that is subtle but distinctly lychee.
We then kicked off the first of the fall batches. This one is blackberry. We are going with (almost) straight fruit. It is said that it normally takes about 11-12# for a gallon. I had 29.5#, just under 10# per gallon for the 3 gallon batch.
To make up the volume I did use about 4 pints of water. I have some of last year's blackberry wine to top off with if the volume is still short. The initial pH was 2.79 and it took 7t of calcium carbonate to get it to the desired 3.4. Sugar calculations were perfect, we're starting at 1.084. I let the pectic work a full 24 hours. 71B will hopefully tame some of the malic acid.
Shawn and Suzanne came over for supper. We had a nice veggie-based chili, then Suzanne make a delicious apple galette. I was a poor host.
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| Spot the veggies? |
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| Apple Galette. |
16# carambola
1 liter white grape concentrate
Sugar: 3# (SG 1.082)
Campden: 2 tab at start
Yeast nutrient: 3/4t Fermaid K divided
Yeast energizer: 1t GoFerm
Tannin: 1/2t
Pectic enzyme: 3t
Citric acid: 6t (starting pH was 3.27)
Tartaric acid: 3t
Opti white: 6g (dose 1-2g/gal)
Water: 2gal
Yeast: QA23
Add Campden tablets at fruit thaw. Bag the sliced fruit. Add bagged fruit, grape concentrate, sugar to primary. Boil water, pour over primary. When cool, add Optiwhite, pectic, acids, and wait 12-24 hours. Double check pH and adjust if needed. Rehydrate yeast with GoFerm and pitch. Step feed the Fermaid K. Stir twice a day. Bentonite on day 3. Drip drain bag and rack to primary when 1.010 or lower. Usual care thereafter.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Batting .750
Guava, my first batch of wine 2 years ago, came out quite good. It was a trick, designed to lure me into yet another hobby. I learned that with my second batch, carambola (starfruit). This batch required numerous tweaks, and eventually was uncorked twice to achieve something just drinkable.
In that next year I made some really bad wine. Some of it is still in the basement. Pumpkin, now almost 2 years along, refuses to release its overpowering vegetal character. Wild plum not only refuses to clear but remains bitter beyond belief. Others have already found their way to the drain or the still.
So it was with some pride last week that we bottled 4 separate small batches of novelty wines, 3 of which I would be willing to submit to friends. The lime-ginger wine is afflicted by that funny chemical aroma that all of my citrus wines seem to have. But the passionfruit, hibiscitrus (hibiscus-citrus), and most recent carambola wines were excellent. Passionfruit wine takes surprisingly little pulp (I helped it along by a secondary addition) which makes the developing crop even that more exciting. I learned a lot about what makes carambola wine tasty through the acid adjustments required with my first batch. The hibiscitrus required a little special something in the secondary, but with that, it when from completely unremarkable to perhaps the best of the three.
Last night, Lisa gave me a nice picture from bottling day, when we finished the leftovers on the back porch. I think if I can maintain this average, I will be quite happy.
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