I've finally started my wine. The wife was tired of rhubarb accumulating in
her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb
(which I was surprised to learn resulted in lots of juice and only 8 lb of
pulp after squeezing). Don't let your rhubarb thaw in, say, a laundry
basket. You might discover one or two of your decosonic packages has a leak
in it and you'll get juice all over your floor. Trust me.

I started following Jack's recipe, which I printed out awhile back and
modified to suit my quantity of rhubarb (about 5x multiplier). I had chucked
out the original recipe, so when I went back to Jack's site, I see he's
modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think maybe
the sugar amount changed, I'm not positive).

Since I got more juice from the rhubarb than I had figured (my batch is
exactly 7.5 imp gal instead of about 5 imp gal that I had guessed), my
addition of 10 lb of sugar gave me an SG of only 1.062. I used up all the
sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the
batch split between 2 glass carboys fitted with blow-off tubes. There's
enough room in them for head, so I shouldn't get any blow-off. I have an old
recipe book that says rhubarb should start at 1.095 to 1.100. I'm thinking
that after heavy fermentation has slowed, I can add more sugar. I'd like to
add more water too, to top up the carboys, but I think it might be a bit to
much water (about 3/4 of an imperial gallon per carboy.)

I used the lemon juice instead of acid blend as per Jack's original recipe,
since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about a
gallon of water at the start (when you let the rhubarb soak in water for 3
days prior to straining). I figured that it would be easier dissolving the
sugar in a gallon of boiling water then let it cool, rather than trying to
dissolve the sugar in the cold juice. I used 1/2 tsp pot. met. instead of
the campdens too. After the first night, ALL of the red in the rhubarb was
gone. So rather than getting a rose, it'll be a white.

Oh, and I have to buy another pack of yeast today since I had to split the
batches.

I'll let y'all know if anything exciting happens!

Keep us posted. I do like to hear how others are making their wine. I'm on
my third batch of rhubarb wine. This time, I used my leftover frozen
rhubarb, plus a quart of leftover blueberries and a quart of strawberries,
so it will be an interesting gallon of wine. My batch fermented to dry very
quickly, and I've already transferred to my secondary. Good-luck.
Darlene

"Dan" > wrote in message
...
> I've finally started my wine. The wife was tired of rhubarb accumulating
in
> her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb
> (which I was surprised to learn resulted in lots of juice and only 8 lb of
> pulp after squeezing). Don't let your rhubarb thaw in, say, a laundry
> basket. You might discover one or two of your decosonic packages has a
leak
> in it and you'll get juice all over your floor. Trust me.
>
> I started following Jack's recipe, which I printed out awhile back and
> modified to suit my quantity of rhubarb (about 5x multiplier). I had
chucked
> out the original recipe, so when I went back to Jack's site, I see he's
> modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think
maybe
> the sugar amount changed, I'm not positive).
>
> Since I got more juice from the rhubarb than I had figured (my batch is
> exactly 7.5 imp gal instead of about 5 imp gal that I had guessed), my
> addition of 10 lb of sugar gave me an SG of only 1.062. I used up all the
> sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the
> batch split between 2 glass carboys fitted with blow-off tubes. There's
> enough room in them for head, so I shouldn't get any blow-off. I have an
old
> recipe book that says rhubarb should start at 1.095 to 1.100. I'm thinking
> that after heavy fermentation has slowed, I can add more sugar. I'd like
to
> add more water too, to top up the carboys, but I think it might be a bit
to
> much water (about 3/4 of an imperial gallon per carboy.)
>
> I used the lemon juice instead of acid blend as per Jack's original
recipe,
> since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about a
> gallon of water at the start (when you let the rhubarb soak in water for 3
> days prior to straining). I figured that it would be easier dissolving the
> sugar in a gallon of boiling water then let it cool, rather than trying to
> dissolve the sugar in the cold juice. I used 1/2 tsp pot. met. instead of
> the campdens too. After the first night, ALL of the red in the rhubarb was
> gone. So rather than getting a rose, it'll be a white.
>
> Oh, and I have to buy another pack of yeast today since I had to split the
> batches.
>
> I'll let y'all know if anything exciting happens!
>
>

In article >, "Dan" >
wrote:

> I've finally started my wine. The wife was tired of rhubarb accumulating in
> her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb
> (which I was surprised to learn resulted in lots of juice and only 8 lb of
> pulp after squeezing). Don't let your rhubarb thaw in, say, a laundry
> basket. You might discover one or two of your decosonic packages has a leak
> in it and you'll get juice all over your floor. Trust me.
>
> I started following Jack's recipe, which I printed out awhile back and
> modified to suit my quantity of rhubarb (about 5x multiplier). I had chucked
> out the original recipe, so when I went back to Jack's site, I see he's
> modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think maybe
> the sugar amount changed, I'm not positive).
>
> Since I got more juice from the rhubarb than I had figured (my batch is
> exactly 7.5 imp gal instead of about 5 imp gal that I had guessed), my
> addition of 10 lb of sugar gave me an SG of only 1.062. I used up all the
> sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the
> batch split between 2 glass carboys fitted with blow-off tubes. There's
> enough room in them for head, so I shouldn't get any blow-off. I have an old
> recipe book that says rhubarb should start at 1.095 to 1.100. I'm thinking
> that after heavy fermentation has slowed, I can add more sugar. I'd like to
> add more water too, to top up the carboys, but I think it might be a bit to
> much water (about 3/4 of an imperial gallon per carboy.)
>
> I used the lemon juice instead of acid blend as per Jack's original recipe,
> since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about a
> gallon of water at the start (when you let the rhubarb soak in water for 3
> days prior to straining). I figured that it would be easier dissolving the
> sugar in a gallon of boiling water then let it cool, rather than trying to
> dissolve the sugar in the cold juice. I used 1/2 tsp pot. met. instead of
> the campdens too. After the first night, ALL of the red in the rhubarb was
> gone. So rather than getting a rose, it'll be a white.
>
> Oh, and I have to buy another pack of yeast today since I had to split the
> batches.
>
> I'll let y'all know if anything exciting happens!
>
>

Sounds like you're off to a good start. I would say an SG of 1.092 is
perfectly fine and will give a nice dry rhubarb wine with a good alcohol
level. I'm concerned about your comment that you "already bought" the
lemon juice. Are you talking about fresh squeezed lemon juice? I would
not recommend products like "RealLemon" as they just taste insipid. They
may really alter the taste of your wine. In the future I would use fresh
squeezed lemon juice or acid blend. Please let us know how it turns out.
My first wine was also a rhubarb and it was quite good.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email address)

Yes, I used bottled lemon juice. I've been making wines off and on for about
10 years, and have always used acid blend. I debated on whether I should use
the juice or blend. Wife suggested I do something different, so I did. We'll
see.

"Greg Cook" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "Dan" >
> wrote:
>
> > I've finally started my wine. The wife was tired of rhubarb accumulating
in
> > her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb
> > (which I was surprised to learn resulted in lots of juice and only 8 lb
of
> > pulp after squeezing). Don't let your rhubarb thaw in, say, a laundry
> > basket. You might discover one or two of your decosonic packages has a
leak
> > in it and you'll get juice all over your floor. Trust me.
> >
> > I started following Jack's recipe, which I printed out awhile back and
> > modified to suit my quantity of rhubarb (about 5x multiplier). I had
chucked
> > out the original recipe, so when I went back to Jack's site, I see he's
> > modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think
maybe
> > the sugar amount changed, I'm not positive).
> >
> > Since I got more juice from the rhubarb than I had figured (my batch is
> > exactly 7.5 imp gal instead of about 5 imp gal that I had guessed), my
> > addition of 10 lb of sugar gave me an SG of only 1.062. I used up all
the
> > sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the
> > batch split between 2 glass carboys fitted with blow-off tubes. There's
> > enough room in them for head, so I shouldn't get any blow-off. I have an
old
> > recipe book that says rhubarb should start at 1.095 to 1.100. I'm
thinking
> > that after heavy fermentation has slowed, I can add more sugar. I'd like
to
> > add more water too, to top up the carboys, but I think it might be a bit
to
> > much water (about 3/4 of an imperial gallon per carboy.)
> >
> > I used the lemon juice instead of acid blend as per Jack's original
recipe,
> > since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about
a
> > gallon of water at the start (when you let the rhubarb soak in water for
3
> > days prior to straining). I figured that it would be easier dissolving
the
> > sugar in a gallon of boiling water then let it cool, rather than trying
to
> > dissolve the sugar in the cold juice. I used 1/2 tsp pot. met. instead
of
> > the campdens too. After the first night, ALL of the red in the rhubarb
was
> > gone. So rather than getting a rose, it'll be a white.
> >
> > Oh, and I have to buy another pack of yeast today since I had to split
the
> > batches.
> >
> > I'll let y'all know if anything exciting happens!
> >
> >
>
> Sounds like you're off to a good start. I would say an SG of 1.092 is
> perfectly fine and will give a nice dry rhubarb wine with a good alcohol
> level. I'm concerned about your comment that you "already bought" the
> lemon juice. Are you talking about fresh squeezed lemon juice? I would
> not recommend products like "RealLemon" as they just taste insipid. They
> may really alter the taste of your wine. In the future I would use fresh
> squeezed lemon juice or acid blend. Please let us know how it turns out.
> My first wine was also a rhubarb and it was quite good.
>
> --
> Greg Cook
> http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
>
> (remove spamblocker from my email address)

> her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb

That's a nice amount of fruit for the volume you have. I wouldn't
dilute with more water now if I were you.

> modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think maybe

The way to go IMO.

> sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the

SG 1.092 is fine if you're planning on fermenting this to dryness.

> since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about a

That's a little high for my liking but you could always sweeten it a
bit after fermentation if you find it tastes too acidic.

Ben
http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/Styles/Staples.htm

I've read so much about how straight rhubarb wine isn't the best, so I'm
thinking I might have to sweeten it in the end. Maybe I'll sweeten some and
let some go untouched. I have lots to work with, so experimentation will be
easy.

"Ben Rotter" > wrote in message
om...
> > her freezer over the past year or so. I've used 30 lb of frozen rhubarb
>
> That's a nice amount of fruit for the volume you have. I wouldn't
> dilute with more water now if I were you.
>
> > modified it. (No chalk, acid blend instead of lemon juice, and I think
maybe
>
> The way to go IMO.
>
> > sugar in the house (17 lb total) and have an SG of 1.092 now. I have the
>
> SG 1.092 is fine if you're planning on fermenting this to dryness.
>
> > since I had already bought it. My starting TA was 7.0. I held back about
a
>
> That's a little high for my liking but you could always sweeten it a
> bit after fermentation if you find it tastes too acidic.
>
> Ben
> http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/Styles/Staples.htm

In article >, "Dan" >
wrote:

> I've read so much about how straight rhubarb wine isn't the best, so I'm
> thinking I might have to sweeten it in the end. Maybe I'll sweeten some and
> let some go untouched. I have lots to work with, so experimentation will be
> easy.
>

Hmm, actually I like straight rhubarb -- dry or just a little off dry.
Sweet rhubarb does not do it for me. I have made tree vintages of dry
rhubarb now -- two of them I added raisins. I think the one I made with
nothing added turned out the best and next year I will go back to that
method. I have the details of two of my batches on my web page. The 2003
vintage will be put up soon I hope. Here are some recent tasting notes
on my rhubarb wines. I find that true to rhubarb wines, they adopt the
raisin flavor well, but this coveres up the rhubarb flavor. Good, but
different. The straight rhubarb does taste the best to me.

2000 Vintage -- with raisins -- Light amber color. The nose is somewhat
tropical with a citrus tang. Rhubarb is subdued. The wine is full bodied
on the tongue. Hard to recognizenthe rhubarb. Reminiscent of
anrhone-style dry white wine.

2001 Vintage -- without raisins -- Color is pale gold almost straw. The
rhubarb flavor really comes through - more so than the 2000 batch. The
wine is full bodied and well balanced with a nice rhubarb quality.

2003 Vintage -- with raisins -- color light amber, subdued nose * more
grape like and less rhubarb. Taste --- less rhubarb, more grape like
again. The raisins cover the rhubarb. Smooth fruit. Acidity develops and
carries through to the finish. Still young.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email address)

Just a note, I have never tried rhubarb on it's own, but will surely
do so next year after your comments. I have rhubab mixed with wild
rosehips in 2001 though, and that proved a very nice combination. I
must add, the vintage rosehip of the same year was awfull, I chucked a
dozen bottles only a few weeks ago.

Rene.