We made a few experimental batches of wine with a tin of mango pulp plus one other juice. When we syphoned off the wine, there was a ton of sediment and the amount of wine bottled was about half the volume of the demijohn. They taste really strong. I like them, but let a friend taste it the other day, and I think it was a bit powerful in flavour for her, particularly as she's used to grape wines. Given that we have ended up with several particularly strong flavoured wines, and we don't drink on our own as a rule, would it be advisable to dilute them a bit to make them a bit more palatable for our grape drinking friends? And if so, should we aim for a particular gravity and PH count to ensure they won't spoil.
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How about blending them with some white wine from grapes? Then you wouldn't need to worry about the ABV or pH.
1d10t
stewbum
While science is involved, at the end of it all, wine making is a culinary art. Personal likes should be the goal. I don't know your current situation on packaging but do you HAVE to make all the same or can you have a separate guest offering?
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Dilution is fine, though I would say it is best to do so prior to fermentation. Many fruits are very strongly flavored and benefit from dilution (lemon, cranberry, etc...) For the more acidic fruits, the added benefit to dilution is the reduction in TA. Regardless, you'll want to measure the TA and adjust as needed. Sweet finished wines tolerate a higher TA (8-9 g/L) than those intended as dry wines (5-6 g/L). As a general rule, you'll want to keep the pH in a "good" range of say 3.2 to 3.65 where the yeast is happy for the fermentation and where sulfites can be effective afterwards. The SG has no effect on spoilage; good winemaking practices, sanitation and appropriate sulfite levels are what prevent spoilage. Happy brewing!
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
I agree with Sour_Grapes - For the existing batches blend the wine with a white wine.
For the future take good notes on the current batch.
Best thing you can do for yourself if you plan on doing more - Keep a log of each batch the recipe and how it progressed - you can't have too many notes. Record readings, what went on and OF course in the go back and log how that first bottle tasted including the date you opened it. That way you can remember how long it takes to age well.
Sometimes, after you have made a number of batches, it's hard to remember the differences in how things went. (My notes are not adequate to do all this but that's why I say this.)
If you plan on doing more fruit wines you might post questions on here to find out recommendations and then adjust as you see fit. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to get an excellent wine. Some folks hold to the concept of never adding any water to fruit wines - the idea being that the wine will have more flavor. (As your experience already demonstrated - that isn't to everyone's liking) Some like to blend different fruits into a wine, others perfer single variety wines or at least a primary/dominate variety with other fruit or grape juice that has a mild flavor. And the last idea I'll through out there is that some fruits are so potent (This is my personal opinion) that going with 100% juice from that fruit is 1) Overpowering and perhaps results in a juice that is difficult to ferment (Blueberries highly acidic nature is one that comes to mind) OR 2) May be a waste of that fruit - you can get a very solid flavor with a lot less fruit and yeah !!! Adding Water !!! My best example of this is Wild Black Raspberry wine. I've made 2 batches now 1st 4/5 lbs second with 5.5 lbs and they are VERY solid flavor.
So as others comment you will find a variety of ideas on the best ways to make a fruit wine - just find your own way and again I would totally agree with Sour_Grapes suggestion to use a White Wine to blend and lower the intensity of your current wine. It will still be 'All Wine' not watered down in any way other than reducing the strength of the Mango.
For the future take good notes on the current batch.
Best thing you can do for yourself if you plan on doing more - Keep a log of each batch the recipe and how it progressed - you can't have too many notes. Record readings, what went on and OF course in the go back and log how that first bottle tasted including the date you opened it. That way you can remember how long it takes to age well.
Sometimes, after you have made a number of batches, it's hard to remember the differences in how things went. (My notes are not adequate to do all this but that's why I say this.)
If you plan on doing more fruit wines you might post questions on here to find out recommendations and then adjust as you see fit. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to get an excellent wine. Some folks hold to the concept of never adding any water to fruit wines - the idea being that the wine will have more flavor. (As your experience already demonstrated - that isn't to everyone's liking) Some like to blend different fruits into a wine, others perfer single variety wines or at least a primary/dominate variety with other fruit or grape juice that has a mild flavor. And the last idea I'll through out there is that some fruits are so potent (This is my personal opinion) that going with 100% juice from that fruit is 1) Overpowering and perhaps results in a juice that is difficult to ferment (Blueberries highly acidic nature is one that comes to mind) OR 2) May be a waste of that fruit - you can get a very solid flavor with a lot less fruit and yeah !!! Adding Water !!! My best example of this is Wild Black Raspberry wine. I've made 2 batches now 1st 4/5 lbs second with 5.5 lbs and they are VERY solid flavor.
So as others comment you will find a variety of ideas on the best ways to make a fruit wine - just find your own way and again I would totally agree with Sour_Grapes suggestion to use a White Wine to blend and lower the intensity of your current wine. It will still be 'All Wine' not watered down in any way other than reducing the strength of the Mango.
Gosh, what wonderful and helpful replies! Thank you all so much.
1d10T - you are right, but I would like most of the wine to be palatable for guests, as I don't drink much. :/
Scooter68, It is such a good idea to keep notes, so we can tweak subsequent attempts! I will definitely do that in future. It sounds as if the dilution issue will be a matter of personal taste. I tend to go with the way it tastes beforehand, which has worked quite well for me so far in terms of strength of flavour. Your black/raspberry sounds wonderful! I have lbs of rasps picked from the garden right now which I wish to make into wine. I just need another demijohn. I'm imagining that I might need around 2lb of sugar for the batch? Does that sound about right?
Thanks again for your advice.
jgmillr1 wrote:
Thanks so much for the reassurance regarding the SG with regard to spoilage. We're quite careful about sterilisation etc.. I don't use camden tablets, however. Do you think I should start to use them? What would be the minimum usage I could get away with?
many thanks again for the time everyone has taken to explain things to me. I've only ever made wine from kits, or just taken potluck with my garden elderberries, or whatever juice is in the cupboard, so I am a virtual beginner, really.
1d10T - you are right, but I would like most of the wine to be palatable for guests, as I don't drink much. :/
Scooter68, It is such a good idea to keep notes, so we can tweak subsequent attempts! I will definitely do that in future. It sounds as if the dilution issue will be a matter of personal taste. I tend to go with the way it tastes beforehand, which has worked quite well for me so far in terms of strength of flavour. Your black/raspberry sounds wonderful! I have lbs of rasps picked from the garden right now which I wish to make into wine. I just need another demijohn. I'm imagining that I might need around 2lb of sugar for the batch? Does that sound about right?
Thanks again for your advice.
jgmillr1 wrote:
Please excuse my ignorance... but when you say to measure the TA, do you mean that I should measure it after it has finished, so I can adjust it by back sweetening it?
Thanks so much for the reassurance regarding the SG with regard to spoilage. We're quite careful about sterilisation etc.. I don't use camden tablets, however. Do you think I should start to use them? What would be the minimum usage I could get away with?
many thanks again for the time everyone has taken to explain things to me. I've only ever made wine from kits, or just taken potluck with my garden elderberries, or whatever juice is in the cupboard, so I am a virtual beginner, really.
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Measuring TA is fairly advanced and most beginners don’t worry about it. The backsweetening is done by taste. A wine with high TA may require more sugar than one with normal TA, but you let your taste buds decide.
Campden (Kmeta) is recommended a day before pitching yeast when using home-grown fruit, but many don’t, and don’t have problems. You should add it during bulk aging, and with potassium sorbate (sorbate) before bottling.
RichardC
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Quaker. having tasted the murkey pulp after racking off the good stuff, I believe that the yeast itself has a 'STRONG' slightly bitter flavour, that gives the impression of a higher alcohol content. I also recently fermented about 3 gallons of mango fruit and water. out of that. about 2L was pulpy liquid that would not settle. (a lot more pulp than with all my other wines.) the plan is to mix in sugar and or yoghurt and hope for the best! Hahaha
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