Plum Wine Recipe

[dianet]

I found this recipe and, after my Maple Syrup Mead is done, I thought I'd try it. But first, I thought I'd get suggestions and ideas from everyone here.

www.grapestomper.com/recplum.html

Ideas? Alternatives? please, input is encouraged.

[Imagawa Tadamori]

I would suggest that it would be a good idea to submit that mead and your plum wine for "quality control testing". I'll PM you my home address.... hehehehehehehe.

Let me preface my actual input by stating that I am not a brewer, but I have some knowledge (beginner's level) pertaining to the subject... that being said:

The main thing that comes to mind is that when the recipe gives you the choice of sugar or honey, I would use sugar. You are showcasing the plum, and I would think that the flavor of the honey may take away from the pure plum flavor you are trying to capture.

Also, by not using honey, you can eliminate the possibility that it is carrying stray bacteria, etc that the author of the recipes seems so concerned with eradicating (which is what I thought that good sanitation prior to using your equipment was for). I would be more inclined to go this route to remove contaminants from the picture; that way you're not dumping so much of the Campden tablets and sulfites in it while you make it. Some folks are mighty sensitive to that sort of thing...

That's my two yen.

- Imagawa

[dianet]

I was actually looking at the one that didn't use any chemicals... the middle one *?*

I would love to do that and take it to an event one time in a glorious purple frosted bottle

[roninpenguin]

I wouldn't worry about stray bacteria in using Honey in your concoctions. Nothing grows well in honey, and actually has been used to pack wounds to keep them from getting infected, so as long as it is heated to get rid of any surface hangers on, it should be as good as sugar.

Of course depending on the type of honey, it will change the tastes of what ever you are making. For most brewing I have preferred Orange blossom honey, but that is just my personal taste.

[inume]

I am a brewer, and I'm glad that you decided to avoid the use of Campden tablets (they can add an off flavour, I'm not sure about their use in period and some folks are sensitive to sulfites - it's what gives you a "red wine hangover").

The middle recipe does look great - simple is usually better.

As a side note/for argument's sake - honey does have anti-bacterial properties, so I wouldn't be so worried about that. And, because of the chemical structure of honey, it ferments almost totally away leaving none of it's delicious flavor (www.byo.com/feature/924.html). So using honey for period recipes is perfectly alright (sorry Imagawa-dono! ). However, I'm not sure why the first recipe uses champagne yeast when wine yeast would suffice, and lessen the need for the Campden tabs to halt fermentation. Fermentation can be naturally stopped by cold (ice plum wine, anyone?) or by fortifying the brew with liquor (I recommend Everclear or overproof vodka - that way you don't have to add as much and the spirits are neutral in flavour).

...how much alcohol to add? I'm not sure, I've been looking and I can't find an example from a recipe or any solid measurements. But, I do know that this is a favourite technique of mead makers. Again, not Japanese, probably not period, but very tasty and potent.

[dianet]

*shudder*

Everclear *runs away screaming* Oh heck no... Keep that infernal stuff away from me.

Personally, my stuff already packs a punch when I bottle it. I just prefer not to use chemicals and let nature do it's thing. Though the granulated sugar thing is far cheaper than honey down here inh Ansteorra, I wonder if there were any recipes out there involving honey.

Everclear and Rumplemintz are two vile items that should never be mentioned in the same post as such tasty and wonderful stuff as Mead and Wine.

[Saionji Shonagon]

So is this recipe actually going to use ume?

[dianet]

Well, Makiwara-hime, I am open to suggestions. I don't know how expensive the plums will be and I prefer having a sweet wine instead of a tart one.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated

[takadainotora]

I don't know how common ume are in the Great State of Texas anyway. They're hard enough to find in southern California and we have a significant Japanese population AND ume can be grown in the Central Valley.
harumph! I want to get some ume.

[dianet]

Have faith, Takadainotora-hime, When I get things together and am able to bottle some Ume wine, one will be set aside with your name on it.

[inume]

May 8, 2008 17:11:05 GMT -5 dianet said:

*shudder*

Everclear *runs away screaming* Oh heck no... Keep that infernal stuff away from me.

Personally, my stuff already packs a punch when I bottle it. I just prefer not to use chemicals and let nature do it's thing. Though the granulated sugar thing is far cheaper than honey down here inh Ansteorra, I wonder if there were any recipes out there involving honey.

Everclear and Rumplemintz are two vile items that should never be mentioned in the same post as such tasty and wonderful stuff as Mead and Wine.

Everclear is used because it won't mess with the flavours - and because of the high alcohol content you can use _less_. Today at lunch my wife pulled, from the dark recesses of her brain, that you only use a cup for a 5 gallon batch of mead to stop yeast production. And she also gave a resounding "ick!" to Campden tabs.

You could let the yeast eat ALL the sugar, then they'd naturally go dormant; but reason why stopping yeast production is so important is that you want the wine to still have a sweet flavor.

If the yeast didn't go dormant before bottling (from eating all the sugar as in beer), or were killed off by alcohol/chemicals/cold (as in wine/champagne) you can have a BAD SITUATION on your hands in the form of GLASS GRENADES. I've been on the receiving end of this situation with an apple spiced wheat beer that I made AND a cider. It's not fun.

I know this is a moot point since you're using the 2nd recipe, but it's hard to stop the flow of chatter from me when it comes to brewing. I've been making beer since 1998. ;D My wife's been making mead and cider for about that long as well.

[dianet]

LOL...

Yeah, I've been on the odd end of the Glass Grenades myself.. fortunately for me, they were still in the cooler when they went off and I was able to get it outside and the bottles submerged in water before there were any flying shards of glass.
No, the above beer wasn't mine.. it was given to me and my roomie by someone at a pagan event. Apparently it hadn't finished fermenting.

The reason I frown on Everclear is because, while trying to have an intelligent conversation *sigh* with a good friend, he says... after downing a couple shots... "Watch This" and he coats his arm with the stuff and lights his arm on fire. "Aint it cool?" And the next morning he couldn't figure out why he had burns all over his forearm. Fortunately I had the good sense to put out the flames before they got really serious. ... Hence my frowning on this stuff.

I just don't want to add anymore high alcohol content to a mix that is at just the right mix for a delicious brew.

[inume]

May 9, 2008 14:51:56 GMT -5 dianet said:

LOL...

The reason I frown on Everclear is because, while trying to have an intelligent conversation *sigh* with a good friend, he says... after downing a couple shots... "Watch This" and he coats his arm with the stuff and lights his arm on fire. "Aint it cool?" And the next morning he couldn't figure out why he had burns all over his forearm. Fortunately I had the good sense to put out the flames before they got really serious. ... Hence my frowning on this stuff.

I just don't want to add anymore high alcohol content to a mix that is at just the right mix for a delicious brew.

Ah! I wasn't sure of how much brewing experience you had, hence my long winded explanations (which probably bored to tears everyone else who *isn't* a brewer). I understand what you're saying about alcohol content, etc. I apologize for my excessive advice.

Everyone who comes in contact with Everclear has a story - it's usually a bad one - my patio table almost caught on fire because of a drunken friend.

[Imagawa Tadamori]

May 8, 2008 16:49:09 GMT -5 @inume said:

So using honey for period recipes is perfectly alright (sorry Imagawa-dono! ).

I knew it was a period sweetener; I was originally stating that it might throw the flavor off (as I was not aware the honey flavor would become neutral upon fermentation). That's why you all are the brewers and I'm not.

May 9, 2008 16:25:15 GMT -5 @inume said:

Ah! I wasn't sure of how much brewing experience you had, hence my long winded explanations (which probably bored to tears everyone else who *isn't* a brewer).

Nope, I'm not bored at all. I like this conversation.

May 9, 2008 16:25:15 GMT -5 @inume said:

Everyone who comes in contact with Everclear has a story - it's usually a bad one - my patio table almost caught on fire because of a drunken friend.

I knew a guy in the USAF that drank a 750ml bottle of vodka, about four inches worth out of a 750ml bottle of Everclear, and chased it with at least eight cans of Guiness... all in about four hours. What blew my mind is that he walked straight, talked clearly, and could still walk across the room on his hands.

- Imagawa

[bovil]

May 9, 2008 16:25:15 GMT -5 @inume said:

Everyone who comes in contact with Everclear has a story - it's usually a bad one - my patio table almost caught on fire because of a drunken friend.

So this one time at band camp Jubilee Olde English Faire...

There are these women I know, who shall remain nameless (mostly because it's been over a decade since I last saw them, and I'm spacing their names), who brought (bring?) Apricot Death: dried apricots rehydrated in everclear. It's impressive. Ask around Jaravellir about it, it may still be a tradition. A much better use of everclear than Strawberry Surprise (if that's still around).