Dates wine (Medjool Dates.) ?

[RichardC]

Hi all. I received probably 50-60 lbs of expired Medjool dates, that seem to be in great condition. I opened a couple containers and they smelt, and tasted normal, with nothing growing inside the containers ( half pound and one pound containers.) [ahem.. opened a third container that had a living moth (1cm) and 'cobweb' inside. hahahah]

I haven't found as yet, any (proper) recipe that requires yeast nutrient, acid blend or tannins, but, the couple written and one on youtube, suggests half the weight of dates in sugar, black tea, and citric acid/ zest.

Sugars seem to account for 64% of the weight of the date, and no starches are present.
Dates, medjool Nutrition Facts & Calories (self.com)
medjool-specifications.pdf (agrifood-marketing.com)
According to packaging: servings (46g )per container=4 with 30g sugar per serving or 65% by weight sugar.

More specific info: Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.): An underutilized food seeking industrial valorization - ScienceDirect


1) Boiling seems to help extract more sugars, so that'll be done
2) Pectin is present, and is and indicator of high quality dates. Pectic enzymes will be added in suggested quantities.
3) Acidity: I don't have a PH meter and will not be getting one so, will have to add Acid blend according to suggestions on container.
4) Tannin? I have black tea and honestly don't feel that the tanning is very 'astringent'. Do I just boil the heck out of a tea bag to extract more tannins?


Given that I may end up with >40 lbs of fruit after deseeding; I figure at least a 10 gallon batch of wine is in order.
Recipes suggest adding about 20lbs sugar to this but, given the potential 30lbs sugar contained in the dates, 20 more may be a bit much. Yes, I have a hydrometer, (getting a refractometer next year,) so will use that as reference.

Recipe for a10 gallon batch:
40lbs, finely chopped, boiled dates, in coarse mesh bag.
~15lbs Sugar. (aiming for ~13%ABV)
black tea brewed from 10 bags.
ADD enough filtered water to equal ~12 gallons.
ADD Acid Blend
ADD Pectic Enzymes, wait at least 12 hrs.
ADD 6 TSP YN, then another 4TSP, a couple days after fermentation takes off.
Lalvin kv1116 yeast.
mix, watch, wait.

If this were your wine, would you add any spices? Cinnamon, Star Anise, nutmeg?
ANY suggestions? Comments?

Thanks all

 

[RichardC]

After 10 hrs of cutting up dates, boiling and straining, I've finally processed 67 lbs of dates!!
Currently, i have two barrels (plastic,) with ~9 gallons 'juice' each, and another barrel with wet pulp. I've added ~5TSP Pectic enzymes to each ( warm) juice barrel, but, not to wet pulp because I had to rush off to work. ( Pulp was separated because i have only one, coarsez mesh bag, and didn't want to ferment one barrel with no bag. )

I did a ratch measure of gravity of first barrel and got 1.060, which means almost nothing since temp was high, and pectic enzymes weren't used as yet.

 

[Khristyjeff]

Interesting process. Thanks for walking us through it.

 

[franc1969]

Hi all. I received probably 50-60 lbs of expired Medjool dates, that seem to be in great condition. I opened a couple containers and they smelt, and tasted normal, with nothing growing inside the containers ( half pound and one pound containers.) [ahem.. opened a third container that had a living moth (1cm) and 'cobweb' inside. hahahah]

I haven't found as yet, any (proper) recipe that requires yeast nutrient, acid blend or tannins, but, the couple written and one on youtube, suggests half the weight of dates in sugar, black tea, and citric acid/ zest.

Sugars seem to account for 64% of the weight of the date, and no starches are present.
Dates, medjool Nutrition Facts & Calories (self.com)
medjool-specifications.pdf (agrifood-marketing.com)
According to packaging: servings (46g )per container=4 with 30g sugar per serving or 65% by weight sugar.

More specific info: Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.): An underutilized food seeking industrial valorization - ScienceDirect


1) Boiling seems to help extract more sugars, so that'll be done
2) Pectin is present, and is and indicator of high quality dates. Pectic enzymes will be added in suggested quantities.
3) Acidity: I don't have a PH meter and will not be getting one so, will have to add Acid blend according to suggestions on container.
4) Tannin? I have black tea and honestly don't feel that the tanning is very 'astringent'. Do I just boil the heck out of a tea bag to extract more tannins?


Given that I may end up with >40 lbs of fruit after deseeding; I figure at least a 10 gallon batch of wine is in order.
Recipes suggest adding about 20lbs sugar to this but, given the potential 30lbs sugar contained in the dates, 20 more may be a bit much. Yes, I have a hydrometer, (getting a refractometer next year,) so will use that as reference.

Recipe for a10 gallon batch:
40lbs, finely chopped, boiled dates, in coarse mesh bag.
~15lbs Sugar. (aiming for ~13%ABV)
black tea brewed from 10 bags.
ADD enough filtered water to equal ~12 gallons.
ADD Acid Blend
ADD Pectic Enzymes, wait at least 12 hrs.
ADD 6 TSP YN, then another 4TSP, a couple days after fermentation takes off.
Lalvin kv1116 yeast.
mix, watch, wait.

If this were your wine, would you add any spices? Cinnamon, Star Anise, nutmeg?
ANY suggestions? Comments?

Thanks all

Date wine sounds great, they are mostly sugar. I doubt you will need any extra at all. HOWEVER you are definitely going to need some way of finding pH, dates are very very alkaline compared to grapes or ususl country wine fruits. A cheap meter is better than nothing, pH paper could be hard to read but not like grapes with purple juice. Either might not be very accurate, but will tell you if you are in safe acid territory. Mold and bacteria will grow fast on dates+water without lowering pH/ making acidic. Alone, the sugar concentration preserves them.

 

[RichardC]

Thanks franc.I would have preferred to limit acidity because the natural fruit has almost none (taste wise,) but, since this is something that'll probably age a year, added some Acid Blend.

 

[RichardC]

Well, on the evening of the 15th, I ratched a starter with 1/2 pack of lalvin 1116, that multiplied for maybe 3 hrs, before being distributed between 10 gallon jiuce and maybe 15 gallons mush.. I assumed fermentation would be slow for a while.

After 24 hrs, I'm mopping.. sigh Had to transfer barrels to the bathroom. The mush barrels ( 2/3 full) are overflowing more.. shrug

 

[RichardC]

WARNING! MUSH IS NOT A WINEMAKER'S FRIEND.

I'm a little high at the moment for wringing the mesh bag for almost an hour, trying to separate liquid from pulp.
Primary fermentation was done by Monday and i needed to do my wringing marathon asap . Lol. ( Feeling very noob atm )

 

[lilbaxter]

Hey Richard, how did those turn out?

 

[RichardC]

Hi Ilibaxter. Thanks for asking. I racked it a few months ago and only last week, tasted it.

Smell is very much Dates, and alcohol.
There is a slight sourness likely due to added acid blend. There seems to be no tannin and the body is pretty light. Dry, it wasn't all that great but, it improved significantly with some brown sugar ( what was available at the time.)

With the right sweetener and a little tannin, this has great potential. ABV seems high: it doesn't smell or taste strong, but definitely had an effect. Lol ( will check notes to see initial gravity)