# Guava Wine



## Boatboy24 (Apr 1, 2017)

Started a guava wine today. 3 gallon batch.

2.5 gallons of guava nectar, 1 gallon of organic white grape juice.
2g of FT Blanc Soft
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp Fermaid O
SG adjusted to 1.080
pH tested @ 3.38, so I left it alone
D47 yeast

We'll see how she goes...


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## AZMDTed (Apr 1, 2017)

Good luck, sounds interesting.


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## geek (Apr 2, 2017)

Where did you get the nectar in gallons?
How much sugar you needed to adjust the SG to 1.080?

I love guava but never thought about it in a wine.. [emoji4]


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 3, 2017)

geek said:


> Where did you get the nectar in gallons?
> How much sugar you needed to adjust the SG to 1.080?
> 
> I love guava but never thought about it in a wine.. [emoji4]



Bought it in ~33oz cartons. They were on sale for $0.99 a piece. Ten of those, along w/ two half gallons of organic white grape juice. 

Ended up adding a pound of corn sugar, and maybe another half pound of white table sugar.

The D47 took off slowly, but was cooking nicely as of last night. I couldn't believe it, but it smells even more guava-y than it did before pitching the yeast.


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## geek (Apr 3, 2017)

QA23 is a slow starter but once it starts it goes quiet and nice.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 3, 2017)

geek said:


> QA23 is a slow starter but once it starts it goes quiet and nice.



D47 for this one. Interestingly, I made a starter of QA23 for my Vermentino and it took right off.


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## geek (Apr 3, 2017)

Boatboy24 said:


> D47 for this one. Interestingly, I made a starter of QA23 for my Vermentino and it took right off.



Ah.....I was typing while on the phone so got the names mixed up.... ::

I saw your other post about Vermentino and may be the reason of the confusion.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 4, 2017)

Down to 1.060 tonight. Not flying through, but steady progress. Smells fantastic.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 7, 2017)

She's taking her sweet time. Not quite down to 1.050 as of last night. In contrast, the Vermentino I started with QA23 the same day was at 1.000 and an SG of 1.087. There is no sign of stress though - no off odors. In fact, it smells great. I'll just be patient and if I have to finish it off with EC-1118, I will.


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## geek (Apr 7, 2017)

Cool temp?


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 7, 2017)

geek said:


> Cool temp?



Estimating about 66 ambient.


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## geek (Apr 7, 2017)

I can smell that guava from here...


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## AkTom (Apr 7, 2017)

I'm wishing I was tasting it.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 7, 2017)

I gotta tell ya, it smells awesome. Down to 1.050 tonight. Slow and steady wins the race. In the meantime, I just racked the Vermentino to secondary at 0.997.


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## Stressbaby (Apr 8, 2017)

Sorry for the threadjack, but I thought I would share my other guava wine story as an FYI

I make my guava wines from fresh fruit. The guavas that are easiest for me to grow are strawberry guava and lemon guava. The last time I made guava wine I tried a straight strawberry guava. My thought with this batch was to try to capture the beautiful red color of a ripe strawberry guava. 5#/gallon. I simmered the fruit and gave it a 3 day cold soak.

Do not simmer and cold soak.

The color is a beautiful pink rosé, but this wine is irreparably, irredeemably bitter. Too much time on the seeds I believe. In retrospect I should have tried some Noblesse, it might have helped. As it stands, I pop open a bottle about once every 6 months, take a sip, try to convince myself the bitterness has subsided, take a second sip and learn otherwise, and dump it out.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 11, 2017)

Geez, still at 1.022 as of last night. Ten days in. No off odors or other signs of stress, but I'm getting anxious over here.


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## Boatboy24 (Apr 15, 2017)

OK, finally got to secondary tonight. 2 weeks after pitching the yeast, I was at 1.004. Its still smelling and tasting great. Think I'll have a winner here - just under $20 for 3 gallons.


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## Boatboy24 (Aug 8, 2017)

It's been a while since I updated this. My notes say I racked from secondary on 5/19, but I didn't write down the SG. As I recall, it still wasn't below 1.000, but hadn't moved in a while - notes say I added ~1/8tsp of KMETA. Today I racked and measured SG at 0.994. The nose is something to behold. A big old fist full of guava to the face. It sets you up thinking you're going to have a great big, sweet, fruity wine. On the tongue, it is not quite that - much more subdued with good guava, but a hint of bitterness that I think was coming from CO2 (I tasted prior to racking). Acid feels like it is right on. I've got a bit of haze, so added some pectic enzyme and will let it sit for a while. I'm thinking it needs just a little sugar. I'll test some samples at 0.998, 1.000 and maybe 1.002 (or 004), if needed. Bottom line: I think I'm going to have a really, really enjoyable 'white' wine here that will showcase the tropical flavors of guava that I just love. And at less than $20 for 3 gallons, who can complain?


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## Boatboy24 (Dec 6, 2017)

Took a taste tonight. WOW!! Awesome sauce. Great acidity, amazing - in your face - guava flavor. Awesome without any back sweetening, but I think a hint of additional sugar will bring it to 'sublime'. Haze is gone. I'll rack and bench test with a little additional sugar soon. Hoping the sorbate that I'll have to add doesn't throw the flavor off too much. This is insanely good.


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## skyfire322 (Dec 6, 2017)

I'm on my way.


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## ceeaton (Dec 6, 2017)

Boatboy24 said:


> Took a taste tonight. WOW!! Awesome sauce. Great acidity, amazing - in your face - guava flavor. Awesome without any back sweetening, but I think a hint of additional sugar will bring it to 'sublime'. Haze is gone. I'll rack and bench test with a little additional sugar soon. Hoping the sorbate that I'll have to add doesn't throw the flavor off too much. This is insanely good.


I have to admit, I'd never think of making a guava wine. Is there a commercial example that made you want to experiment with a batch?

Glad it is turning out well. Always nice to make a cheap wine and have it meet your highest expectations!


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## Boatboy24 (Dec 6, 2017)

No commercial example. I just love the flavors and aromas of guava and thought it would make a really good wine. Though I will admit, after I started this, I tried a passion fruit wine at Coopers Hawk and loved it. I guess I just like those tropical flavors.


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## AkTom (Dec 6, 2017)

I hope to find some gauva nectar. You are a stinking inspiration;-)
Cheers


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## Quin (Dec 7, 2017)

I made a strawberry guava wine and a yellow (pineapple) guava wine this year. The strawberry guava wine had no faults, but was not impressive. I am hoping that time in the bottle helps. It lacks the amazing aroma and flavor of the yellow guava wine.
I added 1 small hot pepper to 5 of the yellow guava wine bottles prior to corking. Those slightly spicy versions are my favorite.


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## Stressbaby (Dec 7, 2017)

I made strawberry guava wine a couple of years ago - cold soaked it and it came out bitter. Next batch is coming up here next month, going to try some different techniques with it. The fruit itself doesn't have the typical guava aroma so not surprising that the wine doesn't either.

But one of the best wines I've ever made was 1/3 regular guava, 1/3 strawberry guava, 1/3 lemon guava.


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## geek (Dec 7, 2017)

Boatboy24 said:


> No commercial example. I just love the flavors and aromas of guava and thought it would make a really good wine. Though I will admit, after I started this, I tried a passion fruit wine at Coopers Hawk and loved it. I guess I just like those tropical flavors.



There's a winery in the DR that makes a wine combo from passion fruit and mango, it was darn good...
I wish we could find passion fruit up here.
I was recently back to the DR and passion fruit is at its peak season I guess, you could buy a dozen for about a US$1 dollar. You cannot beat that price...


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## Stressbaby (Dec 9, 2017)

geek said:


> There's a winery in the DR that makes a wine combo from passion fruit and mango, it was darn good...
> I wish we could find passion fruit up here.
> I was recently back to the DR and passion fruit is at its peak season I guess, you could buy a dozen for about a US$1 dollar. You cannot beat that price...



You can grow passion fruit in a container here. It will fruit for you and you CAN get enough for wine: http://relatitude.blogspot.com/2017/04/2016-wines-chapter-13-passion-fruit.html


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 24, 2018)

Wow, its really been a while since I've updated this. Today, I racked this wine, back sweetened and added sulfite/sorbate. This wine ultimately fermented all the way to 0.990 and after several rounds of taste tests, I sweetened up to 1.000. I'll let it sit a few weeks, then rack and bottle.


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## geek (Nov 24, 2018)

How's the color and taste?


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 24, 2018)

geek said:


> How's the color and taste?



Both really good. Color is among the darker 'white' wines I've done. It's still huge on the nose. No doubt you're drinking guava.


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 21, 2019)

Bottled up and ready for summer! Good stuff, and a worthwhile experiment.


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## geek (Jan 21, 2019)

Hmmmm, can't wait to try it


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## MarcMaserati (Jan 26, 2019)

I can second the impact Guava can have on a fruit wine. I make a version of passion fruit wine with Guava and 1 banana per gallon for mouthfeel. It's a real favorite down here in Brazil where I can grow all this fruit within walking distance of my back porch. I began making 12-gallon batches 3 months ago to ensure there would be enough in stock for me to enjoy this coming winter (June-August).

The Guava really adds a strong fruity flavor that lasts well after bottling and adding 1/20th guava juice to passion fruit juice can really bring out the fruity flavors. Very impressive.

-Marc


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