Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 26th, 2009 | No Comments
The 35 plum varieties I've described are but a fraction of what are available, but all I have listed are suitable for making wine or mead. Some are better suited than others, but all can work well in field blends. Sugar content varies from 7 to 13% with 15% possible but rare, tannin is decent, and acid is generally a bit low and malic. The recipe I've selected is tried and true, but the final product's character is determined both by the plum[s] and the yeast used. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 26th, 2009 | No Comments
Continuing the list I started last weekend, here are some more Japanese-American hybrid plums. I have only indicated which cultivars make the best pollinator for the plum discussed in a few instances, but obviously pollen donors have to bloom the same time the pollen recipients are blooming. Also, pollen recipients are pollen donors to their pollinators. It's a closed cycle and very efficient if well planned. For the home, certain trees are very attractive and can be sited in the landscape to show them off. Others are less showy and might be grouped to make pollination more efficient. The usual practice is to plant at least a pair of early bloomers, mid-season bloomers and late season bloomers. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
Since writing about açai berries and juice a month ago (October 10, 2009), I was given a gallon of açai juice by a merchant who asked not to be identified. I bought some bulk honey from him and used the juice and honey to start a memomel. For this particular mead I selected Red Star Assmannshausen active dry yeast, of which I had a vial obtained from a commercial winery in the Texas Hill Country. Shortly after transferring the açai melomel to a secondary, I used the same glass primary to start a gallon of blueberry melomel, also using pure juice and Red Star Assmannshausen active dry yeast. I wrote about this in my last entry (November 11, 2009), but did not say anything about the yeast. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
Smoked Burgundy started out as a kit wine. I don't recall the brand (and that log is definitely boxed up in the garage) but it was still in a 5-gallon format, something I dearly wish they would return to. And it was, I'm quite sure, still called "Burgundy" rather than "Bourgeron," something else I wish they would return to but for treaty reasons will not. So, looking at the evidence, it might have been an older kit that was marked down for reasons I didn't really think about at the time. It had a mid-line label, a lower-line price, and I wanted to make a Burgundy. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
About six months ago I visited a health food supermarket in San Antonio and came across bulk honeybush ("Cyclopia intermedia") tea leaves. Later, on the tea aisle, I ran across TAZO brand Honeybush tea. Having made wine before with Tazo Passion Tea, an idea formed and I went back to the bulk tea. Not really knowing how much I might need, bought 4 ounces (which was a lot). The aroma of the leaves was slightly herbaceous, but reminiscent of spun honey. I decided to make a mead with it and picked up a 3-pound jar of honey. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
Many years ago I was asked if there is a substitute for pectic enzyme. Technically, yes there is, but if you cannot obtain a simple, inexpensive powder (or liquid) available at any homebrew shop, you almost certainly will not have the means to hydrolyze pectin molecules. However, there "is" a substitute for "commercial" pectic enzyme. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
I am often asked if one can substitute something else for one or another winemaking ingredient. The answer in most instances is simply of course you can. But you should only do so with the understanding that you are changing the outcome of the process. You will still end up with wine, but it almost certainly will not be what it could have been if substitutions were not made. A dozen or so years ago a couple wrote to me from Senegal, asking what could be used as a substitute for yeast nutrient. I am going to repeat here my advice then, for I think I answered exactly as I should have. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
You could make this wine with a mixture of pluot varieties, but I would not. Each variety posses its own unique flavor and I have always tried to capture that as purely as I can. I have made this wine using Dapple Dandy, Flavor Queen and Red Ray varieties. I had to ask the grocer to check his paperwork to get the name of the third, but he did so willingly. The first two are easily recognizable after you've studied the fruit a while. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
The Best of Show wine at the Home Wine Competition last Sunday in Victoria, Texas was a blueberry port. I do not know what recipe, if any, the winemaker used, but I know the recipe below makes an excellent blueberry port. This recipe differs slightly from another recipe appearing elsewhere on my site. This recipe calls for 6-8 pounds of blueberries. I have made it with both weights and can honestly say that the port does not suffer using the lesser amount. As for the red grape concentrate, I used Welch's frozen concentrate (Concord) one time and a Zinfandel concentrate the other time. They were both excellent. Read more....
Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherNov 17th, 2009 | No Comments
Due to recent rains, as I drove through sage country last Sunday I was greeted with a show of millions of purple flowers. Since my arrival at the wine competition could not be delayed, I drove past the showy display and promised to stop on the trip home, which I did. It took me about 25 minutes to pick two quarts of flowers. An hour later I was at home and prepared to make a wine. Read more....
