Rhubarb Wine

We've been making Rhubarb wine for a few years now. 

We use a recipe that is so simple we use it multiple times a year when we have a good yield of rhubarb. 

Ingredients

1.5kg rhubarb

1.3kg sugar

250ml white grape juice concentrate

1 sachet general purpose white wine yeast

Wash the rhubarb stalks and chop them finely into 3-5 mm (the thinner the better) lengths. Place in a sterlised food graded bucket, I use a fermenting bucket, and stir in the sugar. Cover with a lid or clean tea towel and leave for three days, stirring once a day, to create a syrup.

Strain the syrup that has formed into a fresh fermenting bucket. Return the rhubarb pieces back into the original bucket, stir in 2 litres of cold (previously boiled) water and continue to stir to wash the rhubarb pieces and to dissolve any remaining sugar. Leave this mix to stand for an hour and then strain again into the 2nd bucket. Repeat the washing/straining process with another 1.5 litres of cold (previously boiled) water.

Once the washing is complete, add the grape juice concentrate and make it up the total liquid volume to 5 litres with more cold (previously boiled) water. If you have a hygrometer, check the specific gravity and adjust if necessary so that the specific gravity reads 1095, if you don't have a hygrometer then just hope for the best. Add the wine yeast and give everything a good mix making the mixture as bubbly as you can.

Once mixing is complete, cover the vessel with a lid or clean tea towel and leave  to ferment for a week, stirring everyday but not the last. Siphon into a clean demijohn and add an air lock.

Once fermentation appears to have ceased (usually after 1-2 months ) 'rack off' into a second demijohn.

When wine is clear siphon into clean bottles and seal with a cork or screw top lid. 

We usually wait till the rhubarb is back in season to sample the bottle, the longer you can leave it the better and you will be rewarded for your patience.