# Fruit Jam wine



## txlbbguy (Mar 27, 2012)

Has anyone made a batch of the fruit jam wine with any flavor? It sounds really good, and I would think it would taste alot like a regular fruit wine, but was curious if anyone had finished out one...any flavor...and liked it?


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## GTS (Mar 27, 2012)

I have used Smucker's Red Plum, Seedless Red Raspberry, Seedless Blackberry and Mango (hard to find) to make some 1 gallon batches. They all turned out fairly well with the Mango being my favorite. I think the fact that the fruit is already in a concentrated state lends itself to the wine finishing with a good bit of flavor. If I were doing more 1 gallon jam wines, I would probably use an extra jar and reduce it for an F-pac to add more flavor.


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## Winegirl (Mar 27, 2012)

txlbbguy said:


> Has anyone made a batch of the fruit jam wine with any flavor? It sounds really good, and I would think it would taste alot like a regular fruit wine, but was curious if anyone had finished out one...any flavor...and liked it?


 
I had a successful Strawberry one, I think it has lots of flavour, but I did use an fpac of raspberry jam for it. I really wish I had enough jam to make a bigger batch. I'm currently working on an all Raspberry batch, just trying to get it to finish fermenting. I think I put it to the carboy too soon and it got stuck.


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## stujol (Mar 27, 2012)

I've made a great blackberry and a not so great apricot. I have a blackberry and a raspberry in the carboys right now.


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## Luc (Mar 28, 2012)

I made a raspberry from Jam and it was really awesome !!!

See my recipe and method here:

http://www.wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/wijn-van-jam-wine-made-from-jam.html

Raspberries are very expensive over here and I wanted to make a raspberry wine so this was the only option. Now I am sure I am going to do it more often. Peach is next !!!!

Luc


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## mmadmikes1 (Mar 28, 2012)

I think we should ship a raspberry bush to Luc.


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## txlbbguy (Mar 28, 2012)

Luc, I would love to try your recipe, but I am afraid I dont read German!! Any chance you have it translated into English somewhere? Glad to know that the blackberry works well...that is going to be my first attempt, followed by Peach, Strawberry, then Raspberry.


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## Deezil (Mar 28, 2012)

mmadmikes1 said:


> I think we should ship a raspberry bush to Luc.


 
Lol, i like the idea


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## Deezil (Mar 28, 2012)

txlbbguy said:


> Luc, I would love to try your recipe, but I am afraid I dont read German!! Any chance you have it translated into English somewhere?


 Scroll down, theres an english translation of the whole deal, below the first run-through


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## txlbbguy (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks! Thats what i get for being impatient! Really anxious to get this one started.


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## txlbbguy (Mar 28, 2012)

stujol said:


> I've made a great blackberry and a not so great apricot. I have a blackberry and a raspberry in the carboys right now.



Do you mind sharing the recipe for your blackberry?


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## Auburn-Bob (Mar 29, 2012)

Last weekend, I bottled a gallon batch I made from Smuckers strawberry jam. It tasted pretty good before bottling. We will see what a little age does to it.


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## Luc (Mar 30, 2012)

txlbbguy said:


> Do you mind sharing the recipe for your blackberry?




Follow my method in the post described above in this thread and you will be able to make wine from any jam.

Luc


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## txlbbguy (Mar 30, 2012)

Thanks Luc...I am trying to make sure my conversions are close. You use all metric measurements and I am not very good at converting them to US measurements, so I will give it a shot. I was hoping some good winemaker had done that already and written down the amounts in U.S. measurements I will follow your method using amounts from a conversion chart and try to get it close!


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## Cabernut (Mar 30, 2012)

One of my bookmarks I find VERY easy and VERY useful:
www.onlineconversion.com
It really does convert anything to just about anything else.

For example, in the cooking section I calculated 10 lbs blueberries equals 7.246 liters.


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## GreginND (Mar 30, 2012)

Just make sure you use pectinase. A friend of mine once made a very nice raspberry wine using raspberry jelly (or jam?). I have always had a thought to collect all those little jam packs from diners and combine them to make a wine. I could see doing a whole Route 66 Jam wine. That would be fun.


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## txlbbguy (Mar 30, 2012)

I was planning on using the pectin enzyme for sure...and I am assuming it is the same thing as pectinase. I played with the conversions on Luc's method, and then found two recipes for jam wine that were similar, but very different methods. I like Luc's method, so I am using the recipes I found from Jack Keller and one other posting...merged them...and will use Luc's method. 

So...I have formulated a recipe for a 6 gallon batch since that is the carboy size I have available. Here is what I will start with and will keep a posting going on this thread of the progress, along with some pictures:

For 6 Gallons.

12 Jars of fruit jam or preserves (18 oz jars)
6 Lbs sugar
12 teaspoons pectin enzyme
12 teaspoons acid blend (and will adjust for lower or higher acid fruit)
3/4 teaspoon liquid tannin
6 teaspoons yeast nutrient
Water to make six gallons.


Day 1:
Emptied all the jam into my primary fermenter. Heated half gallon of water just to boiling, then poured over the fruit jam to dissolve it. After letting it cool to room temperature, I added the pectin enzyme and stirred it in the juice. Then covered the primary and let it set for 24 hours. Also started a yeast starter in 1 quart apple juice with a packet of Lalvin 71B-1122 as it was recommended for country fruit wines.


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## txlbbguy (Apr 1, 2012)

Well, thanks again to Luc, as so far things are progressing as he said they would if I followed his method...

Day 2
The yeast starter was going full blast, so I added the rest of the water, sugar, and yeast nutrient to the must. Here is where I made my first mistake...added the sugar I calculated I would need instead of in portions and checking the SG. I actually started with a SG of 1.100, which is higher than the 1.090 I was shooting for. Will be more careful next time. After adding all of the rest of the ingredients, I took a cup of the must and added it to the yeast starter and let it set for an hour. By then it was still "boiling" so I added all the yeast starter to the must. Smells awesome...hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Day 3
The must is in full fermentation, so things have started off very well. I will say here that Luc's recommendation of using a yeast starter as opposed to dry yeast has worked wonders...the must was already starting to noticeably ferment before I went to bed on day 2. I plan to use yeast starters on all my wines from this point on.


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## saramc (May 5, 2012)

I know I am a bit late in posting, but my first jam wine was a CrabAppleQuince made from own jam/jelly, then from commercial products: boysenberry, chocolate strawberry, blackberry, black raspberry, another boysenberry. I finished the chocolate strawberry off as a port-style wine by fortifying with brandy and boy is it good. Oaking the blackberry. The interesting thing, I have not had to add much sugar, if any at all, to reach my target starting S.G., which is a nice thing since the price of sugar is always increasing, or so it seems. Not to mention, the jam wines tend to be ones you can drink as soon as they are clear and stabilized, if you choose to consume that soon, plus the lees from the transfer to carboy/airlock make a great starter for SkeeterPee.


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## txlbbguy (May 9, 2012)

Thanks for your update on the jam wine. My blackberry is now finishing out nicely and should be ready to filter and bottle within the next month or so. It smells awesome and I can't wait to try a little, but I am trying to be patient. 

Out of curiosity, how did you do the chocolate strawberry? Also, I have two quince trees and I am thinking about making a quince jam or some combination that could also be used for a jam wine later if I wanted. Did you follow the basic jam wine recipe for the Crabapple quince?


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## saramc (May 9, 2012)

txlbbguy said:


> Out of curiosity, how did you do the chocolate strawberry? Also, I have two quince trees and I am thinking about making a quince jam or some combination that could also be used for a jam wine later if I wanted. Did you follow the basic jam wine recipe for the Crabapple quince?


 
1. Chocolate Strawberry: I used this gallon recipe: 
48 ounces strawberry jam 
1 tsp acid blend (I did NOT use any acid because the acids in the chocolate provided enough balance for me)
1 1/2 tsp peptic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp tannin
4oz.(by weight) Hershey's Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
sugar syrup, as needed to adjust the starting SG before you pitch the yeast
Champagne yeast (have also used EC1118)
1 gallon water (not water to 1 gallon, you want to use 1 gallon of water on this)

Follow the normal steps for wine making. Add any additional sugar syrup to your must to reach your target SG prior to pitching the yeast. I started at 1.095 and actually had to add very little sugar since the jam was sugary sweet. (You could opt to use about 4# per gallon of fresh berries or use frozen strawberries as they are usually riper and sweeter than fresh). 

After the SG dropped by 2/3 rack and transfer to carboy/airlock. Be prepared to rack sooner than normal since this is a chocolate wine--you will have a decent layer of chocolate drop, I racked initially when it was about 1/2". You decide. It took about 6 months to clear with at least three rackings AFTER being put under airlock. Once cleared, I stabilized with k-meta plus sorbate and then added equal parts invert sugar syrup plus Monin strawberry syrup (think coffee syrups, there are other brands--read labels) to sweeten back to an SG of 1.010 or more to your taste. Put it back under airlock for at least 7-10 days to ensure it was not fermenting and racked off any other sediment that dropped. Some like to add the Strawberry Daquiri frozen concentrate to backsweeten, but if you do this--you will have chunks of berries, etc; this is where the Monin strawberry syrup worked wonders.
Note: I used basic Hershey's unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Just stirred it in RIGHT BEFORE pitching the yeast. It is easier to check SG without all the chocolate in there, it gets very dense. And make sure you are in an open container, like a bucket (you can cover with the lid or a towel--but you do NOT want airtight), that is at least three times as large because you will have ALOT of chocolate foam. Forms a thick chocolate cap, punch it down and stir once or twice a day. I have also used the Hershey's Special Dark powder in other wines. And many report that Dutch processed cocoa powder is the recommended form to use if working with powder. Jack Keller's blog has a good article on it (Dutch cocoa). It is a favorite wine that I like dry and sweet--very versatile. I enjoyed it as a table wine and fortified with brandy--so I have it bottled in several styles. Oh, and on another forum I am reading that many are using the "chocolate sludge" that is scooped off the top before your rack to secondary and put under airlock--to start another chocolate wine. This fudgy slurry is already enriched with yeast and will help your next chocolate wine take off. Just a thought. I started this in late February and we enjoyed it at Christmas.

2. The Crabapple Quince--did use the basic jam recipe, and used equal amounts of crabapple jelly, and quince jelly that I had canned myself. Note: this was JELLY not jam. And it made the most gorgeous crystal clear white. My starting SG was 1.090 and I had to add very little sugar to reach that target due to the sugar already in the jelly. (a great thing about jam/jelly wines). I ended up backsweetening to 1.006 and serve it chilled and also used some of it while it was dry to balance out a WAY TOO SWEET Concord, and made a Rose'.


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## SarahRides (May 10, 2012)

I've used jam to backsweeten skeeter, it worked very well! I've never made a batch of wine entirely with it though. I agree with Greg, use the pectinase/pectic enzyme (since it is pectin that is used to gel jams), also I would recommend getting seedless if available! It'll be easier than dealing with seeds while racking.


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## Sammyk (May 29, 2012)

I am curious why there is no yeast energizer or is an over sight?


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## Julie (May 29, 2012)

Sammyk said:


> I am curious why there is no yeast energizer or is an over sight?


 
Sammy, you don't need to use energizer for everything, normally if you have a wine that might go into a stuck fermentation you would use energizer to lessen that chance


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## Sammyk (May 29, 2012)

Ok so how does one know which wine will get stuck? My blackberry Jam stuck and stayed at 1.010, started at 1.085. It is mostly gone now, I was afraid to hold it for any length.


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## saramc (May 31, 2012)

Sammyk....time and experience will help you learn what fruits may have a tendency to get stuck. (would be an excellent thread). Blackberry, blueberry and cranberry are common offenders that I have worked with thus far. But with patience, skills, and using quality products (check out Scott Lab) you can usually work with them and get them back in order.


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## Sammyk (May 31, 2012)

My blackberry jam stuck and not matter what I tried it would not ferment out. More energizer and nutrient. Newly hydrated yeast. Nothing worked. It is mostly gone now at 2.5 months old and was not that bad tasting even with low alcohol. I will definitely try making it again.


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## BernardSmith (May 31, 2012)

Is it typical for jam-based wine to stick? The only time I had a ferment stick was when I was experimenting with jam. Original SG was 1.085 and it stuck at 1.040. I added more sugar to see if the problem was unfermentable sugars or something else and with the addition of sugar (raised the gallon to 1.050 ) the fermentation restarted and is now at about 1.010 after three weeks and is very slowly falling.


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## saramc (Jun 1, 2012)

BernardSmith said:


> Is it typical for jam-based wine to stick? The only time I had a ferment stick was when I was experimenting with jam. Original SG was 1.085 and it stuck at 1.040. I added more sugar to see if the problem was unfermentable sugars or something else and with the addition of sugar (raised the gallon to 1.050 ) the fermentation restarted and is now at about 1.010 after three weeks and is very slowly falling.


 
Of all the threads/posts that I have read to date on jam wines, most people complain that wine made from blackberry jam tends to get stuck. I don't know if it has to do with the brand they are using, or the sorbate/k-meta used in the jam inhibiting a full ferment, or if it is due to the blackberry itself (many people complain about blackberry wine getting stuck anyway). I've read that many who have experienced the stuck wine now make sure to make a great starter and step feed it to the must, and others have been able to rescue by following Jack Keller's steps for rescuing a stuck wine, http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/problems.asp

I have been fortunate, and have made several jam wines (using various brands of jams) and have not had one get stuck thus far.

If you do have one finish too sweet, can always consider finishing it off port style or blending it with a dry wine (blackberry and pear is amazing).


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