Ferment Finale!
One week after opening my bottle of raisinette, it is still consumable, although it tastes very well aged. I would not drink it at this point, except that it is my child, so one last glass goes down...
It delivers an intense buzz and is quite probably poisonous, especially now. The overwhelming acid has left the elixir, leaving it with fruit galore, yet the raisin taste is nicely suppressed. The lees at the bottom of the bottle impart a nutty, bread-like aroma and a decidedly not-sweet flavor. At three dollars (well, maybe four, but who's counting) for one 750 mL bottle, this is definitely the bargain drink I was after. The good taste is a surprising bonus, one that I will try to emphasize in my next batch.
One change I'm trying next time is to fine with dolomite prior to a second transfer. This will (hopefully) remove the cloudiness and (possibly) reduce the acid through direct neutralization, as dolomite is made of calcium magnesium carbonate, a mild base. I have never fined before, so this will be a new experience. I will report on the result here, but I have no timetable for a new batch of raisinette because it is almost time for Beaujolais Nouveau.
That now famous French experimental wine is made by a rather curious process quite unlike the quick fermentation I did to the raisins. Gamay grapes are harvested and placed whole into wine vats without crushing. Some of the grapes break under the weight of the pile and the juice comes in contact with natural yeast on the skins of the grape. An envelope of carbon dioxide fills the vat causing a curious enzymatic reaction to take place. Sugars are broken down within the whole grapes under the carbon dioxide atmosphere without the assistance of a micro-organism, such as yeast. This can continue up to about seven percent alcohol - at this point the vinters usually crush the grapes and ferment the rest of the sugar in the normal way. This process, called carbonic maceration, seems to be the origin of Nouveau's bubblegum-like flavor that we seek. Well, that some of us seek anyway.
The entire story of Raisinette is published here in chronological order for easy reading. Follow the simple recipe and you too can be fizzing up cheap hooch!
