# prickly pear wine



## LittleLeroy (Aug 13, 2009)

Has anyone ever made a prickly pear wine? Or tried one? If you have made it will you share the recipe. Seams to me like it is the only fruit that I will be able to pick in Texas and thought it was worth a try. I think I will wear gloves


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## grapeman (Aug 14, 2009)

This question surfaces just about every year. Here is a batch jobe05 made.
http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4135&amp;KW=prickly&amp;PN=1


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## LittleLeroy (Aug 15, 2009)

Thanks appleman that was a great post that I did not see before. This really makes me want to try this. (it would be my first try at making my own fruit wine). Have you ever had this kind of wine? I do not have a steamer to get the juice out. Does boiling them in a little water work as well?


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## grapeman (Aug 15, 2009)

You will need to ask Jobe that question or some of the other guys. There aren't any prickly pears growing this far north.


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 10, 2009)

Well it has been a few weeks since i asked this question. I did go and pick about 100 pounds of prickly pears. I did take some picture and will post soon. (I know you will ask). I juiced about 65 pounds of them an got 3.5 gallons of juice. I tasted the juice and really did not care for it. It was not sweet and had a differant flavor



. I am guessing that when I add sugar (or honey) and some water it might taste like a juice to make wine. I decided to take the half gallon and make a one gallon batch. I just got my little one gallon carboy from George yesterday. And i will be using the recipe from this website. My question is this. The recipe calls for one campden tablet for the one gallon. Is campden the same as K meta? If so how much should I use in the one gallon? If not I guess i will be ordering campden tablets. Can anyone tell me what they use for a primary bucket for a one gallon batch? All i have is the 7.9 gallon. 


Thank you for your help


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## Wade E (Sep 10, 2009)

I dont make 1 gallon batches as its just as much work basically to make 1 gallon as it is 3 or 5 or 6 as long as the fruit is free. You can usually get 3 gallon containers at a donut or Ice cream shop for free or for a $1 or $2 and they are food grade. There are many fruits that dont taste good as fruits but very good as wine and even flowers.


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 10, 2009)

could i use the big bucket to ferment in? or should it be small?


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## Wade E (Sep 10, 2009)

You could use the big bucket to ferment in as the more air the merrier during fermentation and thats why most people dont even use tops on their fermenting buckets.


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 11, 2009)

Thanks Wade. What about Campden VS K meta? is it the same? And how much K meta in the one gallon if it is the same?


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 13, 2009)

Pictures of my prickly pears


















This looks more red then it really is. It realy is a bright purple. I started a oe gallon batch last night.


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## Goodfella (Sep 13, 2009)

Camden tablets are just k-meta in small amount. They also have fillers. They are the correct portion for 1 gallon batches.


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## peaches9324 (Sep 14, 2009)

very nice!


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 14, 2009)

I told you eariler that I did not like the taste of this juice when I juiced the prickly pears. Well I added the sugar and some of my brothers Texas honey and tasted it before I pitched the yeast and boy did it taste a lot better now that it is sweet. But it still does not smell that good.


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 14, 2009)

I may be worried for nothing, but can some one help me. I have never put K meta in the must before to make sure the yeast had a clean start. I added 1/8 tsp to one gallon saturday and then added the yeast 24 hours later. Now the yeast has been in the must for 24 hours and I do not see a thing. No foam or bubbles. Did I do some thing wrong? Or should I just wait another day a see if it is working?


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## Goodfella (Sep 14, 2009)

That may be a little higher dose then needed. (I may be wrong)


Did you use any nutrient or energizer?


Are your yeast fresh?


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 15, 2009)

Goodfella said:


> That may be a little higher dose then needed. (I may be wrong)
> 
> 
> Did you use any nutrient or energizer?
> ...




I did use yeast energizer. And I hope my yeast was frash I bought it from George last week. Should I get more yeast and try again? Do I have time to do that? How long before my juice spoils?


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## Goodfella (Sep 15, 2009)

I assume you have it in a good temp.


What is your SG?


Honestly, I am not excactly sure what advise to give you. If I was you, I would call George today.


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 15, 2009)

temp is 78 deg. and the SG was 1.11 
I will call today and see if George can help me.


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## Wayne1 (Sep 15, 2009)

well, 1/4 tsp k meta is used for 5-6 gallons so 1/8 for 1 gallon may have overshot it and is keeping your yeast down - I would think to pitch another pack of yeast if you have one and maybe by now the sulfite level will have dropped enough for the yeast to take off - others may have other thoughts on this


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## Goodfella (Sep 15, 2009)

Any updates????


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 16, 2009)

Yes I talked to George yesterday and he told me to still it hard twice a day and is should start up in a few days. When I went to stur it last night I noticed that is was bubbling like a soda does after the foam goes away. The top of the liquid was shimmering with tiny bubbles popping. So I sturred up the raisins and put back on the lid a happy wine maker. Thank you to all for the suport and help.


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## Goodfella (Sep 16, 2009)

Thats good news...... Good job.


Your not snapping the lid down yet are you?


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 16, 2009)

no the lid is not down and I will stir it every day until it goes into glass. But there is a lot of air in the bucket. A one gallon batch in my 7.9 gallon bucket.


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## Goodfella (Sep 16, 2009)

Should be OK. The gasses produced are heavier then air, So its like a blanket over the wine.


You can go to an ice cream shop and get a smaller bucket, they are food grade (wine approved). They will probably just give them to you.


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## gaudet (Sep 16, 2009)

1/8 a teaspoon is good for 3 gallons so you did use a little too much, but it seems like no harm as you sound like you are fermenting nicely. That looks like a nice wine. If you don't have campden tablets available you can dissolve 1/8 teaspoon into 3 ounces of water and then pour off 1 ounce into your must. That will give you the proper concentration. Just make sure you have a measuring device that will allow you to make this portion


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 17, 2009)

Gaudet that you for that advice. I was wondering how I would get that small of an amount into my must. But now I know. I was wondering if it would start fermenting or not so I had George send me some more yeast just in case. Well now that it is going nicely I would hate to waste the yeast. I guess I will have to start planning on the next batch!!!!!!!


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## intoxicating (Sep 27, 2009)

I have been making prickly pear jelly for decades, and my love of it is one of the things that got me into home wine making. My sister has a hand crank juicer, so we extract the juice with that.

Pick pears using long bbq tongs and leather gloves. Wash pears with a hose or in the sink, still using the gloves and tongs. Pour the drained pears into a pot and add a couple of inches of water and simmer till tender. The spines will be softer and less likely to sneak up and attack you. Then extract the juice in whatever method appeals to you. No need to burn or cut off stickers. No need to remove seeds unless you want to put the fruit in a fruit salad.

I used lemon juice instead of acid blend in my first batch. I like the lemon taste in the jelly. I still want to know how to keep the color from settling out. I ended up with white wine. If the fruit isn't quite ripe enough the wine will have a slight green bean taste. (Second batch, juice from a friend, not picked myself.)


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## LittleLeroy (Sep 28, 2009)

Intoxicating 
I am on my second week of the wine in the gallon carboy. The yeast is settling out now. How long before you see the color come out of the wine? At least right now it is a BRIGHT purple. I did notice that if you put a peice of fruit in a glass of water it turn white with in a few minutes.


On the batches that you have made did you back sweeten? I am thinking I should because I did not really care for the tast of the juice until I added sugar to it. Not sure if the wine will be the same way or not.


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## intoxicating (Sep 29, 2009)

I definitely agree about sweetening prickly pear juice for ingestion. I lost some of my color to the pectinaise, water, and sulfite when I started it. I also put TOO MUCH lemon juice in it and had to drop back and punt on the first batch. I didn't know to keep it in the dark back then. Used one gallon glass jugs for the secondaries. I lost most of the color after it was moved to the glass secondaries. The "yeast" that settled in the bottom was purple. I hope to do a batch this year, and am still determined to figure out how to keep that amazing purple/garnet/fuscha color. The jelly is beautiful. I have seen the white version at my sister's house, a gift from a friend. She insists that the late Veterinarian at the King Ranch made it and his was RED, so it must be possible. Keep me posted.


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## LittleLeroy (Oct 3, 2009)

racked my prickly pear wine today and got it on some french med. toast oak. Do you have to put sorbate in the wine or wil time do the same thing? I would like to back sweeten this wine. any sugestion on what to make the F pack with? or should I just make a sugar syrup? I must say, I did not like this juice when I started. I did taste this wine when I racked and I thought it is tasting really good!!!!




Now that I thin I will like this wine I would like to make the rest of the juice I have into wine. I have three gallons of jucie made now (frozen). Do you think three gallons will mae a six gallon batch? I used 3 quarts in this one gallon batch. If I need to add some thing to get up to a six gallons what do you recomend? (I only have six gallon carboys that is why I am going with this size batch) Thank you for your input.


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## gaudet (Oct 3, 2009)

sorbate it if you are back sweetening..... It will prevent refermentation.


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## LittleLeroy (Jun 12, 2010)

I ended up adding a pound of honey to the six gallons. The final SG was 1.007. I bottled it today and it is a nice wine. It is a differant tasting wine. But it does still have the flavor of the prickly pear fruit. And the little bit of sweetness really helps the flavor of the fruit come thru. Being that this is from a catus and it is A LOT of work to make it so you can handle it, I am not sure if I will make this one again.


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## uavwmn (Jun 14, 2010)

LittleLeroy, I live in AZ where prickly pear cactus are everywhere!!!! I had thought about making this wine.......for about 4 1/2 minutes. haha
The process of skinning the meat of this cactus is short of torture. I decided there are things in life more enjoyable than cactus fur irritating my skin!!


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## LittleLeroy (Jun 14, 2010)

You really do need to be careful. We picked the pear with BBQ tonges and then after we got home with them we stabed each one with a metal rod and burned all the spines off. After that I cut them into four and boiled them and strained out the juice. I did not peal off the skin. Only had one the I missed all the spins and my brother was the one who found them



He was not happy with me.


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## LittleLeroy (Jun 14, 2010)

Oh and as I am sure you know, be carful picking them. There maybe some snakes under the catus that could be worse then the spins


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## intoxicating (Jun 14, 2010)

Use tongs and gloves to pick and wash, then simmer the fruit with a little water, piercing or cutting it open as it heats up, to let the juice out, you can avoid the spines. Mash it up a little with a potato masher or what-ever, then use a jelly bag, or 6 gallon paint strainer to separate the pieces from the juice, like making jelly. Before you pick it, be sure the fruit is almost black, and almost falls off the plant when you grip it with the tongs, if it is like the ones I saw in the beginning of this post. The ones in the picture looked less ripe than I pick them.

I talked to a farmer at a farmer's market that was handling his "tunas" (prickly pear fruit) with his hands, and after extensive questioning, he said he puts them in a sand pit and brushes the sand over them with a broom till he gets all the stickers off. I haven't tried that yet. I expect you would have to be really careful of the sand, it would be full of stickers.


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## LittleLeroy (Jun 14, 2010)

If I did this again I would burn of the stickers again. It seems to work well and it gets all the tiny ones that you can not see.


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## LittleLeroy (Feb 6, 2011)

I just opened up a bottle of this prickly pear wine. Has it changed a lot. It still has the flavor of the prickly pears. It also has smoothed out. It is starting to make me think that I might do this again some time. Just wish I could have made it keep its bright pink color. Now it is more of a blush wine.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm glad I found this thread. I too am going to try making this prickly pear wine. I make jelly and I have a TON of juice already frozen that I was looking for something to do with it. I am thinking of buying the 1 gallon fruit kit from Midwest. Any other comments or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


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