Like strawberry wine and seventeen
The hot July moon saw everything
My first taste of love oh bittersweet
Green on the vine
Like strawberry wine
There is a song called strawberry wine that seemed appropriate to intro this post with however, I am making rhubarb wine, so same same but different.
Rhubarb! Established rhubarb grows from crowns, much the same concept as a bulb. A crown develops after the first year of planting and then continues to produce for up to 8 years on average. Our established rhubarb are about 6 feet in size and produce many pounds of rhubarb throughout the harvest period. The intent for the first batch harvested this spring is wine, while the later harvest will be pickled rhubarb and perhaps some experimental recipes.
Once you have copious amounts of rhubarb, cut it all into 1/4 inch slices. I chose to sterilize the jars in the oven first before putting my cut rhubarb into the jars. The screw top below are the jars I use, they come with cheesecloth and are perfect for the first few days of the rhubarb soaking in sugar. The right airlock jars are also a great option if you are looking to ferment in the jars with smaller amounts!
After the couple of days, strain the juice from the rhubarb then rinse the chunks in water, equal to the amount of juice collected. The water will then be added to the rhubarb juice along with your tannin and yeast nutrient. Yeast will also go in at this time after being added to 1 cup of lukewarm water and blooming. I chose a premier classique yeast (https://amzn.to/3omHXVL) and am going for a mid sweet, mid dry, mid alcohol content. Generally, the more sweet the less alcohol content and the less sweet the higher the alcohol content. Rack the wine to remove sediment at about 2 weeks and again just prior to bottling.
The majority of this wine will be going into our swing top bottles as it does not require a traditional bottle aging. Happy brewing!
Instructions
Cut rhubarb stalks into 1/4 inch slices.
Place rhubarb into jar and coat with sugar, 2-3 lbs per gallon of rhubarb.
Let rest for 3 days.
Strain rhubarb and juice into separate containers.
Measure amount of rhubarb juice and pour an equal amount of water
Rinse rhubarb in measured water.
Combine rhubarb juice and water in your fermentation container.
Empty yeast packet in 1 cup lukewarm water and allow to bloom.
Add tannin and yeast nutrient to fermentation container.
Add yeast water to fermentation container.
At 2 weeks rack wine.
Approximately 6 weeks, rack wine again prior to bottling.
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