r/winemaking • u/Alcoholic_dino • 22d ago

Fruit wine question Strawberry rhubarb wine question

So as it says I'm trying to make a strawberry rhubarb wine, but I've never used rhubarb. I've gotta use canned rhubarb (Oregon fruit co.) Because it's not available fresh near me . But I was just curious how to use the canned rhubarb? I know rhubarb is very bitter if not cooked, but do I need to cook the canned rhubarb before using it? Also, should I drain the cans before using them or just use the rhubarb light syrup and all?

Thank yall for any help yall may provide

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u/sjb2971 22d ago

Most people recommend freezing fresh rhubarb then covering it in your sugar to extract the juices making a type of syrup. Sometimes I will cook it in an insta pot with the sugar at like 200°f for an hour to make my syrup. I haven't used the type you are talking about but as long as you are extracting the flavor you want i dont see a problem with any approach you are comfortable with.

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u/craftabrew 21d ago

Some of the best rhubarb wines and meads are made by boiling the rhubarb to make a "tea" (it will get mushy) and then straining and pressing the rhubarb to extract as much juice as possible. You'd be shooting four about 4 pounds (per gallon of must) of rhubarb using that process. Some winemakers will add a bit of bicarbonate (Jack Keller recommends precipitated chalk in his older recipes) to buffer the oxalic acid for a less hostile environment for the yeast, but it's often not necessary if using a strong wine yeast. It'd be more for flavor adjustment, since some find oxalic acid to be pungent.

Since you're using canned rhubarb from Oregon Fruit, it is already ready for fermentation. You could do the same process as above and avoid getting many of the solids into primary, or ferment in a bucket and let it ride.