Getting back into wine making again

[Moonie]

Apple cider mead is on my first list to try once I get the equipment. recipe is super simple and from the results I've sampled equally delicious and potent.

I've made a mead like that, lots of cinnamon, tasted like apple pie, was one of my most requested ones.

[MaryB]

Wine yeasts are very different from bread yeast! Spend the $3.99 a packet and control the final flavor! Some yeasts produce a drier wine, some can add some fruity ester alcohol notes etc.

I have 8 different yeasts in the fridge for beer making!

[Blackwater]

I suspect you're right, Mary. All I know for sure is that using the natural yeasts on the hulls leaves the possibility that molds and funji might spoil the batch, and using the campden tablets to kill all that, and coming back with a good, known "safe" yeast tends, along with keeping everything sterile, tends to yield great results. All that's left is how much and how ripe the fruit is, and how much of it and the sugar we use. It's really not rocket science. It IS some work to git-r-done, though, but the anticipation, mystery and the "sweet taste of success" makes it all worth it, and then some!

I've never really tried to get into the science of it all, and just personally prefer the mystery and anticipation of doing it the simplest way possible. I admire those who really get into it deeply and work out the specifics. It's just not "my bag" these days, but hanging around you folks, that could change! It's hard to impossible to stay around here without learning a LOT of stuff!

[MaryB]

Made 10 gallons of beer today, will pitch the yeast starter tomorrow, the buckets are still a tad warm at 72 degrees... I sized the boil pot big enough but I do need a bigger sparge water pot(HLT tank in brewers terms). 10 gallons and I needed 10.75 to sparge with so I added some after starting the sparge, dropped the water temp a tiny bit but worked. Didn't hurt brew house efficiency at all, I came in at 84% today.

[EMC45]

Wine yeasts are very different from bread yeast! Spend the $3.99 a packet and control the final flavor! Some yeasts produce a drier wine, some can add some fruity ester alcohol notes etc.

I have 8 different yeasts in the fridge for beer making!

They are quite different, but the beauty of the "experiment" was that I could source everything from the local grocery.

[kens]

Why does dry wine age longer than sweet wine?

[Blackwater]

Good question! And one I don't know the answer to! Just speculation, but if they do, could it be because the sweeter the wine, the more we find it palatable, while the dryer wines need longer to age? I've found in my own little experience, that using fruit that's not fully and completely ripe gives them a "twang" from the slightly un-fully-ripened fruit, and that seems to dissipate with againg. Not entirely sure what this means, really, but .... FWIW?

Now maybe someone who REALLY knows the process better, technically, can give us all the real answer?

[MaryB]

The sugars in sweeter wines mask off flavors that may be present. Dry wines lack this so the yeast needs more time to clean up any residual higher alcohols and off flavors. Works the same way with beer brewing. Sweeter beers like stouts take less time to be ready, same for lower alcohol beers.

[Blackwater]

Ah! Thanks, Mary. I learned something!

[kens]

Why does dry wine age longer than sweet wine?

……because the sweet wine gets drink first…..!!!!!

[Blackwater]

Now THAT is a good explanation if I've ever heard one! And most seem to like the sweet ones best, in my experience. I like a bit of sweetness, but more of a subtle type, so that kind'a makes me a bit "different," I guess. But I've never met a bad wine. Some of the really cheap stuff sold that isn't really wine at all but juice with alcohol added to it, can be pretty un-satisfying, but barring that, it's all been pretty good in my experience. Can really add to a meal or a little quiet time, or a conversation with friends. Just seems to keep the focus on what's most relevant, and blocks out the cares of that day. Good stuff.

[kens]

Our local Kroger chain food store has some wines sold under their in-house brand, california wines.
They are as good @ $3 bottle as any other label for 3x the price.
There is wayyy too many wines grossly overpriced.

[Blackwater]

You're probably right, IMO, and it's hard to even make it for much less than that! Great buy! I think I'd load up on several cases before the competition makes them increase their prices!