Plum Wine Recipe
I was very lucky this year to have a neighbour whose plum trees had a bumper crop. So much so they were giving them away by the carrier bag load. How could I refuse? Our neighbour had recently bought the house and was in the middle of renovations and they renamed the house.
These plums were juicy. Full of sugar and flavour.
Stoning the fruit is a faff, use a very sharp knife, be careful not to slice your fingers and you'll find it weirdly relaxing and rewarding. And as an extra benefit, you get really soft finger tips after too.
We made 12 bottles and gave some to the neighbours. I decided to name the wine from the names of both the new and old houses. So "40 HaHa's" was made.
Served chilled, on a warm summers evening in their new back garden, this white wine hit the spot. Slight sweetness from the supermarket sugar was balanced with the dry tannins from the skins and a acidity that made the mouth water. Perfectly clear, smooth but with a kick from the alcohol and acids.
So I made this wine with Victoria Plums, but can use any type of plum from a juicy Victoria to a really purple Czar, even Damsons or even a mix. Remember if using the red skin varieties this will turn into a red wine, so use the red wine yeast instead.
As these plums were so sweet, I could have reduced the sugars to 500g each to make a wine around 12%. But what the hell, this is a country wine and it's meant to be strong.
If you want to be precise and hit a specific ABV, then once you have squished your plums (no that is not a euphemism!) add your boiling water. then leave to cool to 20C and take a hydrometer reading. Add the required sugar to get to your desired ABV - just split it 50/50 brewing / supermarket sugar.
Just to clarify, when I say supermarket sugar, I mean granulated sugar. The sort that you would add to a cup of tea or coffee.
Anyway, here is recipe I use to make my Plum Wine.
Happy Brewing
Davin
Ingredients for 4.5litres (6 bottles)
1.5kg (3lb) Ripe Plums
750g (1 1/2lb) Brewing Sugar
750g (1 1/2lb) Supermarket Sugar
6 Pints Boiling Water
Campden Tablets
1 tsp Pectolase
1 tsp Yeast
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
Fermentation Stopper
Finings
Method
Remember to sterilise all equipment before use.
1 - De-stone your plums and pop them in your bucket.
2 - Squish the plums with your hands or a potato masher.
3 - Pour on the sugar
4 - Pour on the boiling water and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
5 - Leave to cool to 20°C
6 - Add the pectic enzyme, rohapect enzyme and 1 crushed campden tablet and stir.
7 - Pop the lid on and leave for 24 hours at 20°C
8 - Take a Specific Gravity reading with a hydrometer and keep the reading safe.
9 - Add the yeast nutrient & yeast and stir.
10 - Pop the lid on loosely, and ferment for 7 days, stirring daily.
11 - Strain off the plums and give the pulp a squeeze to extract any remaining juice.
12 - Pop the wine into a demi-john and fit an airlock.
13 - Leave for 2 more weeks at 20°C to finish fermenting.
14 - Check the wine with a hydrometer to make sure the specific gravity is below 1.000. If not leave for another couple of weeks.
15 - Rack the wine off the sediment into a clean sterilised demi-john.
16 - Add the fermentation stopper and swirl the wine for 30 seconds. This will knock out any CO2 dissolved in the beer.
17 - Swirl the wine around again for 3 more times leaving 5 mins in between each swirling.
18 - Leave for 2 days giving a 30 second swirl each day.
19 - Add the finings and swirl.
20 - Leave for two weeks to clear.
21 - Once clear rack the wine off the sediment and then bottle.
22 - Store for 3 months to condition.
If you want to just see the recipe, you can find it on our website - https://www.brewbitz.com/pages/plum-wine-recipe
Or watch me make it on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4lApeC58w
