Fig wine

[pip]

I've got about 10kg of ripe figs frozen and probably another 5-10kg still on the tree so i'm going to have a crack at fig wine this year.

I've read a lot of recipes on the net, my only question is in regard to adding an 'acid blend' but what acid exactly? and why?

Otherwise i'm just going to follow my tried and trusted processes for fruit wine and see how it goes but with so much fruit i could end up with 15 liters, it'd be good if it tasted nice. Does anyone have any tips on fig wine? To be honest, i dont think i've ever actually tasted fig wine before! Lol.

 

[robert81650]

I made fig wine this past summer and was pretty good. Added raisins to the must to give some body and additional flavor. Turned out well. Not one of my most favorites but ok. Follow recipes found on line and sort of combined them together. The acid will be necessary to enhance the flavor.

 

[Stressbaby]

I just sampled my fig wine started 1 Jan. It was great, I was pleasantly surprised. Not much "fig" but will make a nice dry white. The unadjusted pH was 6...no surprise, figs are a low-acid fruit...so you need the acid to balance the wine.

"Acid blend" is a standard blend of malic, citric, and tartaric acids. The relative amounts vary; sometimes it is 25/50/25, other times 50/40/10, I think I've also seen 40/20/40. I generally don't like malic in my fruit wines, so I almost never use acid blend any longer. I used 1.5t tartaric and 0.5t citric per gallon in my most recent fig wine. The effect on TA and pH differs between the different acids, but the difference is so slight that for the most part, you can substitute on a gram-for-gram or tsp-for-tsp basis.

Here is my ingredient list - I didn't follow any recipe - 1 gal

6.5# figs, fresh frozen, then thawed and chopped
Sugar 1kg
Water 7.5 pints
Tannin 1/2t
Pectic enzyme 1t
Lallzyme EX 0.2g
Citric acid 0.5t
Tartaric acid 1.5t
Opti White 2g
Booster Blanc 1.3g
Fermaid K 1/2t step fed
GoFerm 1t
Bentonite 1.5g day 3

 

[pip]

I saw one fig recipe that suggested using honey instead of sugar to get the sg up which would give the wine more body. Does honey do that?

Thanks for the info on the acid blend folks, and the recipe. I'll go down to the brewing shop tomorrow and see what's available. Cheers.

 

[Jericurl]

I saw one fig recipe that suggested using honey instead of sugar to get the sg up which would give the wine more body. Does honey do that?

I discovered mead not long into my winemaking and I really haven't looked back. Honey does seem to add a bit more to the mouthfeel than sugar, but I add 1 overripe frozen/thawed banana per gallon for even more. It won't add to the flavor, but it does add another layer and seems to fill out the corners.

I've got about 20 lbs of figs in the freezer and will be making a fig mead pretty soon. I'm just waiting on my bananas to turn black so I can freeze them, then I'll be giving it a go.

 

[pip]

Interesting. Might prepare a banana on thawing day just in case the must seems a bit thin. Thing is i love honey, i actually dont eat cane sugar in regular life, mainly to preserve my teeth. I get my sweet fix from honey. I'd be happy to use the golden stuff in all my wines but its just cost prohibitive. 1kg of honey in Australia costs $10 and thats just a standard low grade supermarket variety of raw honey. A kg of sugar is .99 cents!

Anyway, i think i'll have a crack at honey with the fig. It just seems like a natural compliment because really ripe figs have a certain honey quality to them in my opinion, - if that makes sense.

 

[Jericurl]

Yes, they are natural complements to each other. One of my favorite snacks are halved figs, drizzled with honey and then roasted (sometimes I add walnuts). I'm toying with the idea of roasting some of the figs for my mead.

 

[Tnuscan]

I keep hearing meads call my name, guess I'd better start hitting the recipes.

 

[pip]

I keep hearing meads call my name, guess I'd better start hitting the recipes.

As a honey lover, so do I!!

 

[pip]

I just sampled my fig wine started 1 Jan. It was great, I was pleasantly surprised. Not much "fig" but will make a nice dry white. The unadjusted pH was 6...no surprise, figs are a low-acid fruit...so you need the acid to balance the wine.

"Acid blend" is a standard blend of malic, citric, and tartaric acids. The relative amounts vary; sometimes it is 25/50/25, other times 50/40/10, I think I've also seen 40/20/40. I generally don't like malic in my fruit wines, so I almost never use acid blend any longer. I used 1.5t tartaric and 0.5t citric per gallon in my most recent fig wine. The effect on TA and pH differs between the different acids, but the difference is so slight that for the most part, you can substitute on a gram-for-gram or tsp-for-tsp basis.

Here is my ingredient list - I didn't follow any recipe - 1 gal

6.5# figs, fresh frozen, then thawed and chopped
Sugar 1kg
Water 7.5 pints
Tannin 1/2t
Pectic enzyme 1t
Lallzyme EX 0.2g
Citric acid 0.5t
Tartaric acid 1.5t
Opti White 2g
Booster Blanc 1.3g
Fermaid K 1/2t step fed
GoFerm 1t
Bentonite 1.5g day 3

Stressbaby, thanks for posting this recipe. Can i ask, do you mix all of the above ingredients at the same time? (other than Bentonite day 3) So this is the starting must?

 

[Stressbaby]

@pip
I mixed everything except for the GoFerm, Fermaid K, and bentonite. After 12 hours later I added Kmeta (I didn't list that). Then pitched yeast rehydrated with the GoFerm. The Fermaid is step fed and the bentonite is added day 3.

 

[pip]

Help!!!

So after diligently picking ripe figs and freezing them everyday for about 3-4 weeks i ended up with enough to fill a 25 liter (6 gallon) bucket. I then proceeded to mash them, it was fun. Too much fun i think because i mashed them to the consistency of mashed banana.

Anyway, ended up with about 17 liters (4.4 gallons) of this mash. To this i added about 10 gallons of water along with crushed and dissolved campden tablets.

I got up this morning to stir the must and it has turned to jelly. I suspect i shouldnt have mashed quite so vigorously. Anyhow, now what to do. My first thought is to just thin it out with more water. I'm planning on using honey for the sweetener so diluting the fig flavor wont be too problematic i hope. Is there another solution? I'm tempted to refreeze some of the mash in case thinning is out doesnt work, is it safe to re-freeze mashed fruit with sodium metabisulphate present?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on my gooey mess.

 

[Jericurl]

Oomph...no idea what to do here. Did you add any pectic enzyme? I would probably add more water and more pectic enzyme but without actually seeing it, it's hard to know what's going on.

 

[pip]

Thanks jericurl. I think that'll be the go, more water, more pectin enzyme.

 

[pip]

So just to follow up, i put it all through a straining bag and squeezed the liquid out, i think it'll be fine. The juice had a nice dark color and tasted strongly of fig. Live and learn, huh?

 

[Cxwgfamily]

I made a fig wine last summer. It did not turn out well. There was a strong unpleasant smell and off taste that is hard to explain. I read later that figs need time in the cellar to "smooth out." I put up the batch and I am waiting til this summer to taste. The recipe was: 6 lbs figs, 6 cups honey, 15 cups brown sugar, the juice from 3 lemons and added the rinds to the must, 3 tsp pectic Enzyme, 3 tsp yeast nutrients, 5 campden tablets, and yeast. it made 3 gallons. I realized wine making is as much process and technique as it is recipe, but does anyone see any holes???

 

[pip]

I made a fig wine last summer. It did not turn out well. There was a strong unpleasant smell and off taste that is hard to explain. I read later that figs need time in the cellar to "smooth out." I put up the batch and I am waiting til this summer to taste. The recipe was: 6 lbs figs, 6 cups honey, 15 cups brown sugar, the juice from 3 lemons and added the rinds to the must, 3 tsp pectic Enzyme, 3 tsp yeast nutrients, 5 campden tablets, and yeast. it made 3 gallons. I realized wine making is as much process and technique as it is recipe, but does anyone see any holes???

That recipe is pretty close to the one i developed, except i used an acid blend instead of lemons and chucked in a few bananas. I also used mostly honey instead of sugar.

I'll be very interested to hear how it tastes after the extra time.

I very much agree with your last sentence there. For me, it feels increasingly like a craft. You need the basic science down and there are several techniques to be mastered. It feels like a rabbit hole too, the further in you go the more there is to know and the best way to learn, i think, is practice.