been researching recipies for plum wine which i'll be making in the
fall and have come up with some odd differences I hope somone can
explain.

all 6(except one) recipies i've found have plums, water, sugar, acid
blend, peptic, yeast nutrient, and yeast. half have yeast energizer
and tannin. some apear to omit camden, maybe as they dont consider it
part of the recipe, but the process.

aside from that, the ammounts of some materials vary quite a bit some
nearly double the others.

Campden Tablets / Sulfites - Some older recipes may omit this because
it wasn't readily available years ago. Others, like you indicate,
consider this part of the process and assume that you will add it at
the right time.
Sugar - Recipes differ because of different assumptions they make on
the sugar content of the fruit in question, and also due to the
desired outcome (sweet, semi-sweet, off-dry, and dry wines).
Yeast Energizer/Nutrient - Differences may be due to preferences of
the wine maker (recipe maker), recommended yeast, or simply what was
available when the recipe maker was working on the recipe.

Generally, it's best to understand the chemistry and biology of
winemaking, and have the tools in hand to test for acid, pH, and
gravity (sugar). I consider a recipe as a starting point.

Greg

Another difference may be the fruit that is grown in the area where the
recipe was developed. Not all fruit is the same with regards to sugar or
acid content or even flavor. You may need to adjust for your fruit.
Consider the recipe a sugestion but adjust for your fruit using a hydrometer
and an acid test kit.

Ray

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>
>
> Campden Tablets / Sulfites - Some older recipes may omit this because
> it wasn't readily available years ago. Others, like you indicate,
> consider this part of the process and assume that you will add it at
> the right time.
> Sugar - Recipes differ because of different assumptions they make on
> the sugar content of the fruit in question, and also due to the
> desired outcome (sweet, semi-sweet, off-dry, and dry wines).
> Yeast Energizer/Nutrient - Differences may be due to preferences of
> the wine maker (recipe maker), recommended yeast, or simply what was
> available when the recipe maker was working on the recipe.
>
> Generally, it's best to understand the chemistry and biology of
> winemaking, and have the tools in hand to test for acid, pH, and
> gravity (sugar). I consider a recipe as a starting point.
>
> Greg
>
>
>

On Mar 19, 12:03 pm, "Ray Calvert" > wrote:
> Another difference may be the fruit that is grown in the area where the
> recipe was developed. Not all fruit is the same with regards to sugar or
> acid content or even flavor. You may need to adjust for your fruit.
> Consider the recipe a sugestion but adjust for your fruit using a hydrometer
> and an acid test kit.
>
so I should ignore the fine points untill i have the fruit, do a SG
and pH test and adjust to suit? I'll explore this in other topics, but
i think i get the gist.....

> so I should ignore the fine points until i have the fruit, do a SG
> and pH test and adjust to suit? I'll explore this in other topics, but
> i think i get the gist.....

That would be the best approach. You could also throw caution to the
wind and skip the testing. I made several batches of assorted wines
and meads before I started testing pH and SG. I still don't test for
acidity. pH and acidity are generally closely (inversely) related,
however, in some cases you can end up with a high acid and high pH.
Jack Keller's web site (http://winemaking.jackkeller.net) has more
information on this. If you haven't already, I suggest you read his
articles on this and other wine making subjects.

Greg G.

Yes, that is about it. One thing that I sometimes do is check the acidity
of the fruit and then just add enough water to dilute it down to the level
of acidity I want in the final batch. That is a way to determine how much
fruit per gallon to use and you do not need to add extra acid. It give you
the maximum fruit flavor. Of course with some fruit you might find that you
get more flavor than you want but that is a personal thing.

Ray

"Tater" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Mar 19, 12:03 pm, "Ray Calvert" > wrote:
>> Another difference may be the fruit that is grown in the area where the
>> recipe was developed. Not all fruit is the same with regards to sugar or
>> acid content or even flavor. You may need to adjust for your fruit.
>> Consider the recipe a sugestion but adjust for your fruit using a
>> hydrometer
>> and an acid test kit.
>>
> so I should ignore the fine points untill i have the fruit, do a SG
> and pH test and adjust to suit? I'll explore this in other topics, but
> i think i get the gist.....
>

On Mar 20, 2:00 pm, "Ray Calvert" > wrote:
> Yes, that is about it. One thing that I sometimes do is check the acidity
> of the fruit and then just add enough water to dilute it down to the level
> of acidity I want in the final batch. That is a way to determine how much
> fruit per gallon to use and you do not need to add extra acid. It give you
> the maximum fruit flavor. Of course with some fruit you might find that you
> get more flavor than you want but that is a personal thing.
>

hmmm i was wondering about the fruit/water ratio. I'll keep this in
mind.

On Mar 18, 7:57 pm, "Tater" > wrote:


ok, so lets see if I understand the basics

fruit, as much as i can get(rid of)
water, enough to match acidity
sugar, enought to get desired SG

yeast, 1 package per five gallons

other ingredients i'll do some re-reading in my books, i am sure they
explain them in detail enough fo rme to de some more estimates.

BTW, for fruit, the intent is to get rid of it, so I am planning on
going fruit heavy on my batches. comments?

On Mar 20, 6:13 pm, "Tater" > wrote:
> On Mar 18, 7:57 pm, "Tater" > wrote:
>
> ok, so lets see if I understand the basics
>
> fruit, as much as i can get(rid of)
> water, enough to match acidity
> sugar, enought to get desired SG
>
> yeast, 1 package per five gallons
>
> other ingredients i'll do some re-reading in my books, i am sure they
> explain them in detail enough fo rme to de some more estimates.
>
> BTW, for fruit, the intent is to get rid of it, so I am planning on
> going fruit heavy on my batches. comments?

did some reading, hoepfully someone will clear me up if I got
something wrong

fruit, as much as i can get(rid of)
water, enough to drop acidity
sugar, enought to get desired SG
acid blend, to raise acidity
peptic enzyme, to clear wine
yeast nutrient, yeast food
campden, to kill off any "bad" yeast
yeast energizer, super yeast food
Tannin, to add "zest"

those last two are left off on some recipies, and i think i can see
why. I'd assume that some think the energizer shoud only be used on
hard-to-ferment stuff or for stuck fermemntations, and the tannin is a
matter of taste.

Now you are getting into developing your own recipies. Much more fun. And
if it turns out you really have reason to brag. And it will turn out good.
Always think positive.

Ray

"Tater" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Mar 18, 7:57 pm, "Tater" > wrote:
>
>
> ok, so lets see if I understand the basics
>
> fruit, as much as i can get(rid of)
> water, enough to match acidity
> sugar, enought to get desired SG
>
> yeast, 1 package per five gallons
>
> other ingredients i'll do some re-reading in my books, i am sure they
> explain them in detail enough fo rme to de some more estimates.
>
> BTW, for fruit, the intent is to get rid of it, so I am planning on
> going fruit heavy on my batches. comments?
>