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Vintage Port Quickly

Started by Will_D, December 12, 2012, 04:28:12 PM

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Will_D

I brought some port along to last nights meet of the North County Brewers meet.

I was aked to post the recipe, so here it is:

1 5 gallon red wine kit ( the sort you add 4 kgs of sugar to)

Dont use any thing else in the kit. If it has a flavour sachet then its up to you! I save mine to beef up another red wine

6 Kgs of white sugar

1 can of Country Wine Elderberry ( the 1 gallon size )
1 can of Blackberry - as above

The yeast I am using is one of the Turbo yeast that can ferment out to 22%.

So make up the above to about 22 litres, wait for correct temp, about 22C and pitch the yeast and nutrients. Some turbo kits have separate bags for Y&N others just the one.

If you find a stachet of activated charcoal DONT USE it. (this is for pure sugar ferments)

The yeast/nutrient dose is massive! Just weighed the two bags 87gms of yeast and 185gms nutrients!

I am sure that is the secret of getting up to a really high percentage alcohol.

Have just put on the bext batch today.

Checked my OG today and its about 1.140 which if nothing else is added will give a 19.3% abv.

This is very close to commercial port (Cockburns Special Reserve is 20%)

However this is where the fun starts:

After 3 or 4 weeks ( it is slower than with pure sugar ) check the gravity and taste.

The alcohol will have "thinned down" the mouth feel and it may be a bit dry.

Commercial ports have a gravity of about 1.020 or so and a sweetness depending on style/manufacturer.

Now the port tasters and wine buffs find such flavours as Blackberries, Cherry, Black Currant, Elderberry in the port.

So taste the port, look for these flavours and pop in another can of country wine concentrate of your choice.

If you need a hit of Black currant then Ribena is great!

Leave a few more weeks and taste again.

If it needs more then add another can. Eventually the yeast will say "enough already" so then then rack it off and leave for as long as you want.

It is drinkable almost straight away but try to put away 6 or more bottles for aging.

I remenber drinking my last bottle of a 6 year old I'd made and thinking "this is brilliant :), but its going to take 6 years to make another batch :( "

Enjoy port reponsibly
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

Cheers will. This is definitely on my to brew lost. Was so nice.

Will_D

December 13, 2012, 08:43:22 PM #2 Last Edit: December 13, 2012, 08:44:30 PM by Will_D
QuoteWill, can you link to the things we'd need to get, as a lot of stuff I'm not sure what it means...

1 can of country wine elderberry, for example? Do you mean this?

Yes

I get my country wine stuff from here:
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/wine-kits-youngs-country-wines-6-bottles-c-103_152.html

The 5 gallon base red is here:

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/wine-kits-winebuddy-30-bottle-kit-c-103_129.html

The yeast is here:
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/alcoshot-kits-spirits-yeasts-c-163.html

NOW I have NO idea why so many of the above are sold out ::)

But that shows you what you need to get from an alternative supplier.

Will
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

All but the super crazy yeast is available in the home brew section from in Tesco.

Will_D

Indeed they are Nigel!! Appypologies to Clarehall Tesco's

The Turbo yeast is a bit scarce at the moment.

I have the strain in my bank but 'tis the sheer amout of the yeast and nutrients needed.

BTW: Yesterday when I checked the "separate" pouch of nutrients and it was obvious that it was not the simple inorganic mix of Ammonium Sulphate and diAmmonium Phosphate. There was also the organic nutrients present like the B vitamins. (detected by smell - the inorganics don't smell of 'owt but maybe just a hint of Ammonia, but the vitamin enriched ones have a slight yeasty/Marmitey smell)

So if all you have is the inorganic nurients a good dose of Marmite ( made in Burton-on-Trent from spent yeast ) gives all the nutrients that yeast need. After all its dead yeast

Will
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

Picked up my yeast during the week so planning to get a batch of this on the go over the weekend or early next week. Was well impressed by the taste we got in Swords before Christmas.

Will_D

Great news!

I'm just about to start testing the pre-Christmas batch for FG and body/taste and add the "tickling up ingredients" as required.

Must get round to laying down a few bottles for next christmas and even the future.

Will
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

I'm not really looking to do 23L but planning on doing 15L. So large kit  with 4kg of sugar to start with? Second addition or country wine later.

Will_D

Sounds good to me, it can always GROW!!

CU Tuesday hopefully

Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

Will_D

Have just ckecked my next batck of VPQ

Started at 1.140 and is now at 0.996! Thats an ABV of 19.5%

Woo Hoo!

Just added a can of Black Cherry and Elderberry ( both the Youngs 1 gallon country wine kits ).

This brought it back to about 1.020.

Its started to bubble again  :o

The typical gravity of a commercial port is of the order of 1.020 and typically 22% abv.

These yeasts are AWESOME

In the summer I must try a HUGE malt based barley wine  / imperial "be'jaysus'ed penguin" or the like for Chrimbo
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

Just checked my batch. Dropped down to 0.996 as well. Will pick up another can and back sweeten it on Monday. Sample is nice and tasty but looking forward to trying the finished product.

Will_D

Excellent news - one can may not be enough

My last one took 2 cans

At a real princh you can use Ribenna for that subltle hint of black currants:

Quote from some port person:

"
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Port

This wine is their basic, lowest level Tawny port, aged an average of 10 years in wood barrels.

Its nose has a smokey character to it, with fig and prune and hits of spice and even some nuttiness starting to show itself. It does have a hint of alcoholic heat that burns the nostril a bit like a spirit. In the mouth this still has youthful exuberance with bright, spicy red and black fruits, but it is softened and broadened a bit by its time in wood. Still intense though and quite young. While I tend to like the extra complexity you get in 20 year Tawnys, I also like that youthful, fruitiness of a 10. Overall a nice value. This is one of the old standby Tawny Port wine options that we can always rely on. Bring on the Stilton!
"

If only I could wait 10 years!!

Must start to laydown more bottles !!
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

nigel_c

I've added a can of country wine about 2 weeks ago so now it's back sweetening it now and getting those last few points out of the mighty yeast.

nigel_c

First sample of my batch of port. Yum yum. Have 22L to hide now. Looking forward to sampling in a few months.