# Fresh Fig Wine



## Ron0126 (Jul 12, 2017)

Dad called me and said he had about 6lbs of brown turkey figs freshly picked from the tree in his backyard and wanted to know if I wanted to make some wine. 

So, I cut them all in half and put them in the freezer on Sunday let them freeze solid, and got started tonight. For a one gallon recipe I used:

6.75 lbs of fresh figs halved and put into a fine mesh fruit bag in my primary fermentation bucket, then mashed with a potato masher (most recipes called for no more than 4 lbs)
7 pints of warm water
1 tsp Bentonite dissolved in 1 cup warm water for 10 minutes and stirred until there were no lumps
1 Tbsp acid blend
1/2 tsp Pectic enzyme
3.75 cups of sugar
Starting SG = 1.08 but will check again before I pitch yeast and maybe adjust to 1.09

Tomorrow night, I'll check the SG again, then add:

1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 pkg Montrachet yeast

Rack a few times since figs are pretty notorious for lots of sediment from what I can tell, then hit it with some Sparkolloid, rack again, and bulk age for one year until the next batch of figs are ready to pick.


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## Stressbaby (Jul 12, 2017)

I made similar wine last year:

6.5# figs
Sugar 1kg
1/2t GoFerm
1t Fermaid K, divided
Tannin 1/2t
Pectic enzyme 1t
Citric acid 0.5t
Tartaric acid 1.5t
Water 7.5 pints
2g Opti White
1.3g Booster Blanc
Lallzyme EX 0.2g

1.088, pH adjusted from 6.06 to 3.64; EC-1118; no bentonite.
Cleared readily on it's own and bottled dry just a couple of weeks ago. Interesting wine we'll see how it develops.


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## Ron0126 (Jul 12, 2017)

Stressbaby said:


> I made similar wine last year:
> 
> 6.5# figs
> Sugar 1kg
> ...



NICE!
I wonder if I should add some tannin? What's your opinion?


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## Stressbaby (Jul 13, 2017)

I think it needed it, I would.


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## Ron0126 (Jul 13, 2017)

Stressbaby said:


> I think it needed it, I would.



Thanks. I will take your advice and add 1/2 tsp.


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## Jesse Brown (May 22, 2019)

So how did this work out?


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## Ron0126 (May 22, 2019)

Jesse Brown said:


> So how did this work out?



It’s still in the carboy. 
I sampled it at 6 & 12 months and it was terrible, I almost poured it out. At 18 months it had improved immensely. I’m going to wait three full years to see how it turns out.


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## Cxwgfamily (May 22, 2019)

I am glad to hear someone else's Fig Wine was bad at the 6 and 12 month mark. I made a batch three years ago and I to almost poured it out. I was just getting serious about wine making and the fig batch was a punch to the gut. I tasted it a 6 months and it was undrinkable. I could not even swallow it, I had to spit it out. I was about to dump it when I had the thought that wine is suppose to get better with aging. I racked it again and let it sit another 6 months. At 12 months it had gone from undrinkable to just terrible. An improvement, so I let it go another 6 months. Wow, it had continued to improve from terrible to bad. to shorten the story, at two years, it was OK to tolerable. But at two and a half years it was actually pretty good. I will taste again at 3 years (which is this July). I am looking forward to it and I hope I get enough figs this year to make another batch


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## Ron0126 (May 22, 2019)

Cxwgfamily said:


> I am glad to hear someone else's Fig Wine was bad at the 6 and 12 month mark. I made a batch three years ago and I to almost poured it out. I was just getting serious about wine making and the fig batch was a punch to the gut. I tasted it a 6 months and it was undrinkable. I could not even swallow it, I had to spit it out. I was about to dump it when I had the thought that wine is suppose to get better with aging. I racked it again and let it sit another 6 months. At 12 months it had gone from undrinkable to just terrible. An improvement, so I let it go another 6 months. Wow, it had continued to improve from terrible to bad. to shorten the story, at two years, it was OK to tolerable. But at two and a half years it was actually pretty good. I will taste again at 3 years (which is this July). I am looking forward to it and I hope I get enough figs this year to make another batch




This is definitely a hobby that tests your patience (and your resolve)!
Mine will be two years old in July but it's going to sit for at least another year. At least...


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## Jesse Brown (Jun 11, 2019)

So here's a tough question to answer...Do you think the terrible taste is from CO2 and the improvement is from slowly gassing off? I'm just wondering if you could speed up the aging process by doing some vacuum degassing. I know that if I have a relatively young wine, I can do a quick degass and notice an immediate improvement.


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## Ron0126 (Jun 11, 2019)

Jesse Brown said:


> So here's a tough question to answer...Do you think the terrible taste is from CO2 and the improvement is from slowly gassing off? I'm just wondering if you could speed up the aging process by doing some vacuum degassing. I know that if I have a relatively young wine, I can do a quick degass and notice an immediate improvement.



That is a tough question to answer ... but I'm not knowledgeable enough *to* answer. What I CAN tell you is that it was so bad in the beginning, it smelled like someone soaked their dirty gym socks in it. But today, it's improving steadily. Sill gonna give it another year though.

It's been two years so I'd have to assume that the CO2 has left and it's flat as a pancake. Plus I don't have a vacuum pump.

Maybe someone else knows the answer to your question but your hypothesis does make sense given your experience.


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## Jesse Brown (Jun 11, 2019)

gym socks......he he he


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## joeswine (Jun 12, 2019)

Vacuum degassing also can elements taste really not a good thing to do.
Spash racking is better.


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## Johnd (Jun 12, 2019)

joeswine said:


> Vacuum degassing also can elements taste really not a good thing to do.
> Spash racking is better.



@joeswine It's hard to determine what you are trying to get to, are you saying that: "vacuum degassing can eliminate taste and really isn't a good thing to do, and that splash racking is better?


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## Scooter68 (Jun 15, 2019)

By 12 months I would expect all CO2 to have left the scene. Other than some gasses generated by additions of k-Meta, wouldn't gassing off be long since over by 12 months? I've not found any evidence of CO2 in my wine once it's been aged 9 months or more and racked 4-5 times since fermentation ended. (I rack on a 3 months cycle after the first 4-6 weeks)


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## winemaker81 (Jun 17, 2019)

Ron, if you have a powered stirring rod, stir the fig wine (in an open fermenter) for a minute, then rack back into the carboy. While vacuum pumps certainly do the job, I have found that the vigorous stirring post-fermentation drives the CO2 out.

I'm looking to make fig wine this summer -- a co-worker's parents have 3 trees on their property and apparently far more goes to waste than is used. I assumed it would be like any other fruit, but it appears fig wine needs far longer aging than most fruit wines. If things work out, I'll take that into consideration.


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## Handy Andy (Nov 13, 2020)

Hi
I made some fig wine, a few weeks ago, it is drinkable already.
I am wondering what the difference is, between yours and mine?
I used Figs, Turbo Yeast, Sugar, and water. The figs came out of my freezer. The fermentation was over in 10 days, I punched the figs down every day.

I also made some very nice wine this year, and following advice from the forum I added nutrients to my yeast, to prevent the wine developing bad flavors from badly nourished yeast.

The Turbo yeast I used with my fig wine has nutrients. Perhaps this is why my fig wine is pleasantly drinkable already. The rest of my fig is in my cellar aging. I strongly suspect it might not last 18 months.

Could your bad flavour be due to lack of Nutrients?


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## NoQuarter (Nov 13, 2020)

Handy Andy said:


> Hi
> I made some fig wine, a few weeks ago, it is drinkable already.
> I am wondering what the difference is, between yours and mine?
> I used Figs, Turbo Yeast, Sugar, and water. The figs came out of my freezer. The fermentation was over in 10 days, I punched the figs down every day.
> ...


Handy Andy, I have been through this posting several times and could never understand their results.
I make 6 gallons of fig wine every year and it is a favorite among my family and friends. I think it may have to do with the type figs. 
There are many varieties that taste very different and have varied brix levels. I use a basic recipe and it even clears on its own over 30 or so days in secondary. I think also time of harvest is important. many years ago I would pick when the color changed...still had latex sap dripping from stem. Now I wait to pick until they are nearly falling apart and all the bugs are starting to get in. Then i just cut stem end off and freeze till I get enough.


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## Cxwgfamily (Nov 13, 2020)

I went through this thread again this morning. I think the reason my wine was bad originally was my wine making skill and knowledge was lacking. The batch I made this year is 6 months old and drinkable now. I look forward to seeing if this wine continues to improve. With regard to CO2, I age my wine about a year and all [email protected] is gone at that time. I generally do not splash rack, I add the wine to the new carboy via subsurface addition. Just a measure I take to minimize air introduction into the wine. Getting back to the fig wine, I tend to use a blend of the Brown Turkey and the LSU fig variety.


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## Handy Andy (Nov 14, 2020)

Is it normal to add Bentonite before fermentation???

I waited until well after the fermentation was over when it became clear my wine was not going to clear.


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## winemaker81 (Nov 14, 2020)

Kits add bentonite before fermentation. It starts the clarification process earlier, and is part of why kit wines can be bottled so quickly. It's not a bad idea, but IMO there's no compelling reason to do it.

Edit: fixed what better proofreading would have caught.


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## Handy Andy (Nov 15, 2020)

I am assuming you meant Bentonite not wine, to aid clarification  
Could it affect the flavour to add bentonite before fermentation?


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## winemaker81 (Nov 15, 2020)

To the best of my knowledge, bentonite does not affect flavor, it removes proteins and strips color to some extent.


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## Fencepost (Jan 30, 2021)

Cxwgfamily said:


> I went through this thread again this morning. I think the reason my wine was bad originally was my wine making skill and knowledge was lacking. The batch I made this year is 6 months old and drinkable now. I look forward to seeing if this wine continues to improve. With regard to CO2, I age my wine about a year and all [email protected] is gone at that time. I generally do not splash rack, I add the wine to the new carboy via subsurface addition. Just a measure I take to minimize air introduction into the wine. Getting back to the fig wine, I tend to use a blend of the Brown Turkey and the LSU fig variety.


@NoQuarter, @Handy Andy, I am in the "stinky, not fit to drink" fig wine category... I made one batch and swore not to do it again, but from reading the forum, everyone said "wait and see", "have patience" and it has gotten better... now at 2 years if not good, it's ok. But I would like to do one that is good right out of the gate... or with a little less time waiting. I saw the tip about VERY well ripened figs, and I can try that (if birds don't get them first) but is that all you do? Can you share your recipe? other tips or tricks? I have a couple of big fig trees and thought it would be a good use of them... but only if I can get a good recipe. Thanks.


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## NoQuarter (Jan 30, 2021)

Fencepost said:


> @NoQuarter, @Handy Andy, I am in the "stinky, not fit to drink" fig wine category... I made one batch and swore not to do it again, but from reading the forum, everyone said "wait and see", "have patience" and it has gotten better... now at 2 years if not good, it's ok. But I would like to do one that is good right out of the gate... or with a little less time waiting. I saw the tip about VERY well ripened figs, and I can try that (if birds don't get them first) but is that all you do? Can you share your recipe? other tips or tricks? I have a couple of big fig trees and thought it would be a good use of them... but only if I can get a good recipe. Thanks.


I can get my recipe in a couple of days. I am currently putting up a new bluebird trail and have several miles to go. When I get back to the house I will post it.
Ripe figs was my big improvement. As last ng as the caustic sap is still in the stem the wine will not taste very good. 
When the little fig stem bends over and the skin wrikles up the brix gets very high. That's when they make a good wine.
I also grow 3 varieties and they all three taste very different.


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## Handy Andy (Feb 7, 2021)

Fencepost said:


> @NoQuarter, @Handy Andy, I am in the "stinky, not fit to drink" fig wine category... I made one batch and swore not to do it again, but from reading the forum, everyone said "wait and see", "have patience" and it has gotten better... now at 2 years if not good, it's ok. But I would like to do one that is good right out of the gate... or with a little less time waiting. I saw the tip about VERY well ripened figs, and I can try that (if birds don't get them first) but is that all you do? Can you share your recipe? other tips or tricks? I have a couple of big fig trees and thought it would be a good use of them... but only if I can get a good recipe. Thanks.



Sorry Ive been having boat problems and been away.

I did nothing special except follow instructions. I picked the figs as they came ripe, chopped them into quarters, stored them in the freezer until I had enough to ferment. Then I put them in the fermentation barrel, with by volume 50% figs and 50% water. I waited for the figs to thaw out. Then added sugar and yeast. With 25 litres (6.6US Gals) of both water and figs making a 50 litre mash. I added sugar and yeast, as per the instructions on my packet of Turbo Yeast, bought from alcotec which includes nutrients. I was aiming at a pudding wine, so added 9kg (20lb) of sugar to the fermenting barrel. Once the fermentation was over, I racked the wine into another barrel, added sulphates let it settle and bottled it. With the remaining mash in the barrel I added a little water and distilled it. Distillation isnt illegal in Portugal yet. for other purposes  

I have also had extremely good results with oranges, using exactly the same method.


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## NoQuarter (Feb 8, 2021)

Fencepost said:


> @NoQuarter, @Handy Andy, I am in the "stinky, not fit to drink" fig wine category... I made one batch and swore not to do it again, but from reading the forum, everyone said "wait and see", "have patience" and it has gotten better... now at 2 years if not good, it's ok. But I would like to do one that is good right out of the gate... or with a little less time waiting. I saw the tip about VERY well ripened figs, and I can try that (if birds don't get them first) but is that all you do? Can you share your recipe? other tips or tricks? I have a couple of big fig trees and thought it would be a good use of them... but only if I can get a good recipe. Thanks.


 Sorry, I forgot about this post till it popped up this morning.
I have been using about 21 lbs. of figs for 6 gallons. Like I said, I pick them very ripe and mushy then freeze them till I get enough. 
Thaw them in my bucket and smash them up with just a potato masher. add my water / sugar to get near 13.5-14%abv. 18-20 cups, depending on brix levels of figs .4-5 tbl of acid blend to get my PH right. Add 1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme and 1/2 tsp of wine tannin.
2 tbl yeast nutrient. I have used k1v1116 and ec1118, never noticed a difference. I use a straining bag until around 1.020 then strain out pulp.
nothing fancy. takes a while to clear it. I will sometimes use eggwhites to remove last of suspended sediment ,that is why I add the tannin. Eggwhites always remove some of the natural tannin in the fruit. Like I mentioned before, fig varieties are like mango in that the varieties can have a totally different flavor... Hope this helps. if not, figs make great preserves.


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## Handy Andy (Feb 8, 2021)

Figs, Ginger, and Chillies make a very nice chutney 

Sounds like you know more about wine making than me.


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## Fencepost (Mar 14, 2021)

@NoQuarter, thanks for the info, sounds pretty straight forward. ... what pH do you shoot for on your fig must? I'm thinking I will give it another shot.. with riper figs... I have some bird netting I can put over the tree which may help them get to the riper stage you mention. (will picking and holding for a few days work? will they continue to ripen?)

Also, what kind of figs do you use? I have a Brown Turkey... very sweet... but could possibly get some LSU Purple or LSU gold (if you know those varieties).

Thanks.


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