Retsina

[guypettigrew]

Hi guys

Normally I'm in the Grain Brewing bit of the board, as ales are my staple brew.

However, I've wanted to make a Retsina for years. I love the stuff, when I'm in the mood for it!

My research so far has told me that adding 10g/L of Aleppo pine resin to the fermenting grape juice is the way to do it.

So, if anyone here has ever made a Retsina can you please advise me on;

Where you can get Aleppo pine resin

Do you have to filter the wine as you rack it from the demi john, or does the resin settle out?

Which wine kit would you buy to turn onto a retsina?

And anything else you can think of, please!

Thanks.

Guy

[far9410]

Diesel duty is staying down in the budget, get some of that instead!

[Twistedfinger]

Try Dettol !!

[Dr. Dextrin]

Would that resin be from Aleppo in Syria? They probably have other things to think about at the moment.

[jmc]

I love Retsina too. Sounds like a great project.

Have you any pine trees in your garden?
How to Tap a Pine Tree

Alternatively some people try to simulate oak aging by adding cubes of oak.
Could you try cubes of resinous pine?

[jonnyt]

I have a recipe for this, tried and tested many times.

Buy 1 Litre of ASDA home brand pine disinfectant, boil for 10 minutes to remove the harmful chemicals that would kill the yeast
Add 1KG of table sugar
Ferment with an high alcohol yeast such as from Gin kits etc

I think it's pretty damned close

Seriously this is the most disgusting drink on the Planet

[zgoda]

I cann't stand marmite, but I like a glass of ice cold retsina when in Greece. Prefer this over Greek lagers, like Mythos or Alfa, Amstel is not much better.

It doesn't taste that good here, though.

[guypettigrew]

Thanks for all the helpful (?) suggestions everyone!

Especially keen on the version using ASDA pine disinfectant.

Retsina is an excellent drink--honestly! Served very cold it compliments a range of dishes from pasta to fish.

Surely someone on here can help me--please!

Guy

[Dr. Dextrin]

I had some home-made red wine once in the Canary Islands and it had a weird taste that I've subsequently learned to recognise as pine resin. Apparently they use the Canary Pine to make barrels and this adds the "traditional" taste to their wine. So it's probably not essential to get hold of pine resin to get that taste. Perhaps maturing wine in contact with a small amount of fresh pine chips, as is often done with oak, would do something similar. I guess you might have to settle for the Scots Pine in the UK, though. The usual caveats about making sure the wood hasn't been treated with anything nasty would apply, of course.

[jmc]

Is this any good?

500g Natural Pine Resin - £6.85


see also Rosin

[guypettigrew]

Thanks for the info on the Colophony resin.

Perhaps it would be worth me asking for the safety data sheet the supplier says is available. I had found this earlier on ebay, but wasn't at all sure it would be safe to drop into fermenting grape juice. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again.

Has anyone on here ever tried it?

Guy

[Dr. Dextrin]

I use rosin on my fiddle bow. It doesn't smell at all of pine or any other type of tree. I can hardly believe I did this, but I've now tasted it too and it doesn't taste of tree either. So presumably all the tasty stuff has been processed out.

[guypettigrew]

You're a true explorer and risk taker, Dr Dextrin!

You may be the only fiddle player who has ever tried tasting their rosin.

Sorry to hear it doesn't taste of anything, though. A bit disapponting.

Guy

[jmc]

Shame about the resin has no odour. After looking at Wikipedia article
Rosin
It looks like volatile compounds are distilled and resin left. Problem in the volatiles are essentially turps which if you drank would give you kidney failure!

Maybe pine cubes / shavings are the best way to go?

[orlando]

Surely someone on here can help me--please!

Try the NHS advice line.