# Rhubar wine, anyone?



## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

I'm looking for a few simple rhubarb wine recipes - the easiest and least complicated would be appreciated!

Last year, I came across one that called for raisins as part of the recipe and I thought it sounded pretty good but I just did a google search and can't find that particular one, or even something similar.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edited to add: Yikes! Could a mod please edit the title of my post by adding a 'b' to the end of "rhubarb?"


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Zilli, you didn't bookmark that web site I gave you, did you?


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## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

No! But I can find it.

I forgot all about it.

I'm heading off to look for it now. Thanks for the reminder (it sucks getting old).


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## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks for the reminder - I found it.

Their rhubarb wine recipe isn't exactly what I'm looking for but there are plenty of other wine recipes I'm going to check out.

I'm hoping that my young currant bushes will give me enough to do something with this year; the fact that the goats got into them last summer probably isn't going to help, though. So, I'm going to check out their red currant wine recipe.

The almond wine recipe caught my eye; I wonder if it ends up tasting similar to amaretto.

And I AM going to bookmark that site - thanks again.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

When making rhubarb wine, you need to add ground up precipitated chalk to the liquid before fermenting, to get rid of the poisonous oxalic acid in the rhubarb.

If you don't, you will be able to taste the oxalic acid as an off taste that is unpleasant. It won't kill you, but it isn't good for you and completely spoils the taste of the wine. 

The chalk will precipitate out of the wine when it is aging in the carboy and the resulting wine, in the end, will be nice and clear.

You want to age rhubarb wine for at least a year before drinking, for it to mellow.


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## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

IowaLez said:


> When making rhubarb wine, you need to add ground up precipitated chalk to the liquid before fermenting, to get rid of the poisonous oxalic acid in the rhubarb.
> 
> If you don't, you will be able to taste the oxalic acid as an off taste that is unpleasant. It won't kill you, but it isn't good for you and completely spoils the taste of the wine.
> 
> ...


Thanks.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Crayola chalkboard chalk is the same thing. Get a cheap plastic pencil sharpener and grind it up.


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## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

suitcase_sally said:


> Crayola chalkboard chalk is the same thing. Get a cheap plastic pencil sharpener and grind it up.


Sounds gross. LOL


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Price out the "prepared" stuff you can order from the wine supply store and then a box of chalk and suddenly it's not so "gross".


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## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

suitcase_sally said:


> Price out the "prepared" stuff you can order from the wine supply store and then a box of chalk and suddenly it's not so "gross".


I must have had a bad experience with eating chalk or something when I was a kid because the idea of ingesting chalk in any form seems gross to me. LOL

I understand that it's going to be necessary in some wine-making instances; I'll just pretend it's something else. :grin:


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

I have one last batch of rhubarb wine brewing from last year's crop, along with a few raspberries. Can't get it to clear so I siphoned it into a clean carbuoy again yesterday. I didn't know about the chalk either. Is it too late to add some?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Zilli said:


> I must have had a bad experience with eating chalk or something when I was a kid because the idea of ingesting chalk in any form seems gross to me. LOL .


Well, you don't really ingest it, Zilli. You add it to the "must" and it absorbs (or neutralizes) the oxalic acid that's present in the rhubarb stalks. Later, during the aging process you rack off the wine several times to irradicate the sediment that precipitates out in the bottom of the jug. After several months of aging/racking, all the chalk will be gone.

GrammasCabin, I don't know whether you should add chalk at this stage of the process. If you do, it will set you back awhile. Take a small amount of wine (1/2 cup or so) and add just a pinch of the chalk to it . If it fizzles, you have oxalic acid in the wine. You can check it with an acid test strip also. Oxalic acid is what makes rhubarb taste so sour. I would think that, unless you're a real wino and drink a gallon a day, that a little won't make too much difference.

I understand that oxalic acid crystals will settle in your joints (similar to the way uric acid does and causes gout) and can cause joint pain and kidney stones.


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## KEW_Farms (Nov 25, 2011)

Zilli said:


> Their rhubarb wine recipe isn't exactly what I'm looking for but there are plenty of other wine recipes I'm going to check out.


Can you share your website?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

The Winemaking Home Page


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

suitcase_sally said:


> The Winemaking Home Page



Thanks, Sally!


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## MuskovyMom (May 31, 2012)

Huh - never bothered with the chalk, and haven't noticed the bitter oxalates in our batches (yet!). Might try that next year... we just transplanted all our rhubarb this year so it needs a rest. I don't remember the quantities (will have to chat with my husband to confirm), but all we did was use pounds and pounds of chopped up rhubarb, pour over the sugar & let sit overnight to leech out the liquids, put it all through the press, and then added enough boiled (cooled down) water to the sugary rhubarb juice to make up a carbuoy to the primary fermenter, pitched a bubbly yeast (like Narbonne or Montpellier) and fermented. I just wish the gorgeous pinkish colour it starts with would stay - but it goes to a golden yellow (which is still pretty). It's a dry wine result.


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## AnnieinBC (Mar 23, 2007)

Here's the recipe we use to make Rhubarb Wine. I have never bothered with the chalk either.

This is the right time of year to get a batch of Rhubarb going!!

How to Make Rhubarb Wine


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