Anybody with Loquat wine experience ?

[FlamingoEmporium]

Maybe add some fresh pineapple to my loquat wine…..

 

[Scooter68]

Just remember Pineapple is a very dominant flavor and it will take over the taste profile probably at around 25% - That's just a guess but knowing that loquat flavor is not very strong and pineapple is quite strong - you might want to ferment separately and blend afterwards.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Just remember Pineapple is a very dominant flavor and it will take over the taste profile probably at around 25% - That's just a guess but knowing that loquat flavor is not very strong and pineapple is quite strong - you might want to ferment separately and blend afterwards.

Yeah I was looking at the tree loaded with loquats today and thinking what else I might want to flavor with. I ate two yummy sweet warm loquats, so they DO have some flavor when fully ripe. I’ve got mango in the freezer, passion fruit juice in the freezer, lime juice in the freezer, but I was thinkng today, maybe just a little raspberry. I think blending might be a good idea. Decisions Decisions.

It’s just that I wouldn’t have enough pineapple to do a separate batch. I don’t suppose you would back sweeten with raw juice ?

 

[Rice_Guy]

I would back sweeten with a juice concentrate from the freezer case and might even do five variables out of a five gallon carboy, BUT pineapple usually has some pulp so it might need a month to settle and then get racked. Canned juice might be possible to siphon, haven’t tried it since I aim for highest sugar/ lowest water. Raw juice I would pasteurize or sorbate first.
Loquat is fairly fast to clear out of the mouth. I like longer flavor notes as grapefruit or cranberry or apricot or tannic crab apple and then use a threshold level like 5%. Lime juice is powerful and 1% might overpower the mix. I use 5% black raspberry as my standard to make rhubarb wine pink and don’t think I taste it out of the mix.

Yeah I was looking at the tree loaded with loquats today and thinking what else I might want to flavor with. I ate two yummy sweet warm loquats, so they DO have some flavor when fully ripe. I’ve got mango in the freezer, passion fruit juice in the freezer, lime juice in the freezer, but I was thinkng today, maybe just a little raspberry. I think blending might be a good idea. Decisions Decisions.

It’s just that I wouldn’t have enough pineapple to do a separate batch. I don’t suppose you would back sweeten with raw juice ?

 

[Ohio Bob]

I had the same thought, that adding raw red raspberry juice to my wild blackberry port would be a good idea. Raw juice needs pectin enzyme in order to break down. So my blackberry port got instantly more cloudy, more sediment, took a few months of aging to get it to clear.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

So it sounds like I could ferment either a small batch of pineapple or maybe raspberry (high fruit content to water ? ) then stabilize it with sorbate and use small amounts to flavor the loquat batch early in the aging process ?

 

[Ohio Bob]

It doesn’t need to be sorbated before blending, you can if you want. It just needs to be clear enough not to give haze to the blend.

 

[winemaker81]

So it sounds like I could ferment either a small batch of pineapple or maybe raspberry (high fruit content to water ? ) then stabilize it with sorbate and use small amounts to flavor the loquat batch early in the aging process ?

Sorbate is only necessary when you add sugar or any other fermentable substance, e.g., honey, juice, etc.

I'd keep all blending wines dry, sweeten after blending. This avoids accidentally adding too much sorbate.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Got it.
Add juice etc. = sorbate
Add/blend wine = no sorbate

thanks for being so helpful.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

First batch of loquats picked and in the freezer just over 1 1/2 lb. About 80% are peeled. Plenty more to pick and freeze in the next few weeks.
if I can do that 3 more times should be about right.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

5 pounds of loquats in the freezer so far. Peeled and pitted. A bunch in the fridge for fresh eating (good in oatmeal for breakfast)
looking at maybe 3 weeks or so to start that batch. I might get enough to do one later this year as well.

gotta get the passion fruit bottled and out of the way first. I know now I could have gone a little heavier on the passion fruit juice and mango pulp that were my first ever 2 batches, but I just wasn’t sure back then.
there is so much good info here.

 

[Scooter68]

5 pounds of loquats in the freezer so far. Peeled and pitted. A bunch in the fridge for fresh eating (good in oatmeal for breakfast)
looking at maybe 3 weeks or so to start that batch. I might get enough to do one later this year as well.

gotta get the passion fruit bottled and out of the way first. I know now I could have gone a little heavier on the passion fruit juice and mango pulp that were my first ever 2 batches, but I just wasn’t sure back then.
there is so much good info here.

It's a learning experience And if the flavor isn't as strong as you'd like. (weak) Then when you serve to friends or family you can describe to friends: "It's a wine that is light on the palate, it doesn't over power your taste buds."

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

OK. I picked a crapload(technical term) today and sat out on the lanai (85°) peeling and pitting loquats. ive decided to do a 2 gallon batch.
Question 1. Normal sugar when doing a gallon batch is 2 pounds Give or take depending on how sweet / sugar content of fruit.
so if I’m doing 2 gal. Batch I’m thinking 4 lbs. BUT I’m using 10 lbs of fruit. Adding 1/2 pound of mango as well. So is4 lbs. too much ?
or do I go by SG ? Add more sugar to get a good SG reading ?

Question 2 What should that starting SG be ?

 

[winemaker81]

or do I go by SG ? Add more sugar to get a good SG reading ?

Always go by SG. Every other measure is situational, e.g., you're guessing if you don't use a hydrometer.

Question 2 What should that starting SG be ?

Completely useless but equally valid answer of the day: What do you want it to be?

What ABV are you targeting? I prefer fruits in the 11% to 12% range, so an SG of 1.080 to 1.090 works. If I'm adding much sugar, I target the high end of the range. If you want a higher ABV, 1.095 to 1.100 works.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Looking for around 12% so I’ll shoot for 1.090

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Wow. Had too add a bunch more sugar to get it to 1.086 or 1.088 finally. I think it’s time to consider growing sugar cane again. I thought with the 10 lbs of loquats and one pound of mango there would have been a little more natural sugar.

does anyone have a nice template for keeping notes on my computer ?

 

[winemaker81]

does anyone have a nice template for keeping notes on my computer ?

I keep my notes on my blog site (see my sig). Notes on paper, then transcribed to my site.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

And…. It’s working. Fermentation pushing the must up nicely.
All that picking seeding and peeling is paying off (hopefully)

 

[Scooter68]

Wondering why you didn't keep the skins on? Skins in many fruits really add color and a lot of flavor and more.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Wondering why you didn't keep the skins on? Skins in many fruits really add color and a lot of flavor and more.

they all have the little black blossom end that has to be cut or rubbed off, some have rough or scab patches, etc. when I eat them I usually eat most of the skin but there isn’t really any flavor that I can tell, other than a slightly bitter taste. About 10 % had skins on them. Not too sure how much color It would add since they browned a little anyhow but I’m thinking skin or no skin color wouldn’t change much.

some fruits like mango you wouldn’t use Skins but I figured loquats was a toss up. Made it easier to mash them Without. Next time I will try a small batch WITH skins. I should have enough to freeze a bag for a one gallon batch this fall.