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Robin Somes

05-09-2004 12:49 PM

Fig wine and redcurrants...

Hi all,

I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
make room.

So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
for the acid blend?

cheers,
robin
--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Dar V

05-09-2004 04:01 PM

If I remember correctly, you can add the juice of a lemon or the juice of an
orange for the acid requirement. It sound like your wine needs a lot of
acid though, so I'm not sure if you should use one or two. When I make
Rhubarb wine, I use the juice of an 1 orange, although Jack's recipe calls
for 1 lemon. Why don't you check Jack's site and look at some other
recipes. Or wait just a bit, maybe a more experienced winemaker will have a
suggestion.
Darlene

"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
> recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
> Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
> to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
> do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
> for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
> make room.
>
> So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
> figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
> for the acid blend?
>
> cheers,
> robin
> --
> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Dar V

05-09-2004 04:01 PM

Dar V

05-09-2004 04:01 PM

Jon Gilliam

06-09-2004 02:13 PM

During fermentation, the yeast and CO2 will protect your wine from
oxidation and other infestations, so I don't see why you couldn't start your
fermentation prior to making your upward acid adjustment. You could
adjust acidity and SO2 after the secondary fermentation.

I've never tried a fig/currant combination ... it sounds like an interesting
experiment, who knows. As Darlene points out, you can use citrus fruit
for a source of acid, but there is the problem of the citric acid being
prone
to acetic acid (vinegar) production during fermentation. If you're making a
sweeter wine, the acetic acid probably won't be a problem.

Myself, I probably would pop the fresh figs into the freezer until I could
make that trip to the brew shop.
Jon

"Dar V" > wrote in message
...
> If I remember correctly, you can add the juice of a lemon or the juice of
> an orange for the acid requirement. It sound like your wine needs a lot
> of acid though, so I'm not sure if you should use one or two. When I make
> Rhubarb wine, I use the juice of an 1 orange, although Jack's recipe calls
> for 1 lemon. Why don't you check Jack's site and look at some other
> recipes. Or wait just a bit, maybe a more experienced winemaker will have
> a suggestion.
> Darlene
>
> "Robin Somes" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
>> recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
>> Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
>> to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
>> do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
>> for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
>> make room.
>>
>> So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
>> figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
>> for the acid blend?
>>
>> cheers,
>> robin
>> --
>> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
>> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
>> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
>> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
>> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...
>
>

Jon Gilliam

06-09-2004 02:13 PM

Robin Somes

06-09-2004 06:59 PM

In message >, Dar V
> writes
>If I remember correctly, you can add the juice of a lemon or the juice of an
>orange for the acid requirement. It sound like your wine needs a lot of
>acid though, so I'm not sure if you should use one or two. When I make
>Rhubarb wine, I use the juice of an 1 orange, although Jack's recipe calls
>for 1 lemon. Why don't you check Jack's site and look at some other
>recipes. Or wait just a bit, maybe a more experienced winemaker will have a
>suggestion.
>Darlene
>

Thanks; I may go with the orange/lemon juice suggestion. But I was
really curious to see whether anyone had an opinion on using redcurrant
juice to provide acid. There's not enough of it to make a batch of wine
on its own, and having had to unfreeze it, it's a shame to let it go to
waste!

cheers,
robin

>"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
>> recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
>> Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
>> to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
>> do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
>> for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
>> make room.
>>
>> So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
>> figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
>> for the acid blend?
>>
>> cheers,
>> robin
>> --
>> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
>> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
>> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
>> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
>> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...
>
>

--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Robin Somes

06-09-2004 06:59 PM

Dar V

06-09-2004 07:24 PM

I don't know - I'm not real familiar with redcurrant juice or if it could be
used as the acid requirement. I'd be interested as well to see what someone
else might think.
Darlene

"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
...
> In message >, Dar V
> > writes
>>If I remember correctly, you can add the juice of a lemon or the juice of
>>an
>>orange for the acid requirement. It sound like your wine needs a lot of
>>acid though, so I'm not sure if you should use one or two. When I make
>>Rhubarb wine, I use the juice of an 1 orange, although Jack's recipe calls
>>for 1 lemon. Why don't you check Jack's site and look at some other
>>recipes. Or wait just a bit, maybe a more experienced winemaker will have
>>a
>>suggestion.
>>Darlene
>>
>
> Thanks; I may go with the orange/lemon juice suggestion. But I was really
> curious to see whether anyone had an opinion on using redcurrant juice to
> provide acid. There's not enough of it to make a batch of wine on its own,
> and having had to unfreeze it, it's a shame to let it go to waste!
>
> cheers,
> robin
>
>>"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
.. .
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
>>> recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
>>> Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
>>> to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
>>> do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
>>> for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
>>> make room.
>>>
>>> So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
>>> figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
>>> for the acid blend?
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>> robin
>>> --
>>> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
>>> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
>>> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
>>> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
>>> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...
>>
>>
>
> --
> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Dar V

06-09-2004 07:24 PM

Dar V

06-09-2004 07:24 PM

Oberon

07-09-2004 03:16 AM

"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm just about to make a little batch of fresh fig wine, as per the
> recipe on Jack K's site. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp of acid blend.
> Well, I don't have any, it's Sunday, and I'm unlikely to be able to get
> to the brew shop for a few days this coming week to get any. But what I
> do have is about a litre and a half of redcurrant juice, frozen, which
> for a number of unconnected reasons, I need to get out of my freezer, to
> make room.
>
> So, any opinions on whether it might make a welcome addition to the
> figs, and what sort of quantity I might need to throw in as a substitute
> for the acid blend?
>
> cheers,
> robin

Robin,

I would suggest not adding any acid blend until you've had a chance to taste
the finished product. I make a fig melomel each year, and only in my first
year did I add any acid blend to the recipe. I added the acid blend after
consulting a reference that said that figs were very low in acid. I believe
that reference was accurate, but I've determined that the fig melomel needs
no acid addition for balance.

--
Cheers,
Ken

Oberon

07-09-2004 03:16 AM

Jack Keller

08-09-2004 03:23 PM

Robin, sorry I didn't read your post earlier.

In developing the recipe for my fresh fig wine, I used an unknown fig
variety given to us in quantity by friends. This fig is very light
brown with yellow undertones and is very good but very low in acid.
We were recently given some other figs, purple in color, which seem to
have a different (higher) acidity than the others. I need to contact
my friends and find out the names of the fig varieties, because I
wouldn't add 3-1/2 teaspoons of acid blend to the purple figs. I may
be modifying the recipe on my site once I have learned more about fig
varieties and their sugars, acids and tannins.

But, to answer your question, I think the redcurrants would work well
with the figs. Certainly they would mitigate the need for some
(perhaps most) of the acid, but how much I cannot say. I would expect
them to dominate the flavor (even if only a pint of juice), but you
haven't mentioned how much you have.

Citric acid is perfectly acceptable to use, and I wouldn't worry about
it's often reported instability. I have been using it for many years
and have never had an acetic acid problem (let me just knock on some
wood....).

Make the wine. Use an orange or a lemon for acid (use one of each if
the amount of redcurrant juice is not too much). If the finished wine
tastes flat, it needs more acid (and possibly a pinch of tannin). You
can doctor it then.

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

Jack Keller

08-09-2004 03:23 PM

Robin Somes

08-09-2004 09:55 PM

In message >, Jack
Keller > writes

>In developing the recipe for my fresh fig wine, I used an unknown fig
>variety given to us in quantity by friends. This fig is very light
>brown with yellow undertones and is very good but very low in acid.
>We were recently given some other figs, purple in color, which seem to
>have a different (higher) acidity than the others. I need to contact
>my friends and find out the names of the fig varieties, because I
>wouldn't add 3-1/2 teaspoons of acid blend to the purple figs. I may
>be modifying the recipe on my site once I have learned more about fig
>varieties and their sugars, acids and tannins.

Jack, (and everyone else who have given their views), thanks for the
input. My figs are quite large, and not the dark purple-brown variety.
They're mostly green, and as they ripen, they get flushed with
reddish-purple, as they become squishier. They certainly don't taste
that acid.

Anyway, I've made the wine, last night. Added about 1 1/2 pints of
redcurrant juice to the gallon, and brought the SG up to 1090. As you
suggest, I'll worry about adding any extra acid later on. It surely has
an interesting aroma! By tonight, it's bubbling away quite merrily.

I'll report on how it goes!

thanks again, cheers,
robin

>
>But, to answer your question, I think the redcurrants would work well
>with the figs. Certainly they would mitigate the need for some
>(perhaps most) of the acid, but how much I cannot say. I would expect
>them to dominate the flavor (even if only a pint of juice), but you
>haven't mentioned how much you have.
>
>Citric acid is perfectly acceptable to use, and I wouldn't worry about
>it's often reported instability. I have been using it for many years
>and have never had an acetic acid problem (let me just knock on some
>wood....).
>
>Make the wine. Use an orange or a lemon for acid (use one of each if
>the amount of redcurrant juice is not too much). If the finished wine
>tastes flat, it needs more acid (and possibly a pinch of tannin). You
>can doctor it then.
>
>Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
>http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Robin Somes

08-09-2004 09:55 PM

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