Fig Wine

[Handy Andy]

I am trying a 5 litre batch of fig wine. It is fermenting nicely!

I am a complete newby to fruit wine making !

Is a fruit mash of figs treated the same as red wine grapes?
After the fermentation is over in a few days, is it normal to procede by straining the fermented juice from the mash? I am thinking straining through a muslin cloth rather than putting into my wine press is the right thing to do, am I wrong?
Should I use Pottasium metabisulphate on the juice after straining?
Does it need racking in the same way as wine?

 

[user 32114]

I am trying a 5 litre batch of fig wine. It is fermenting nicely!

I am a complete newby to fruit wine making !

Is a fruit mash of figs treated the same as red wine grapes?
After the fermentation is over in a few days, is it normal to procede by straining the fermented juice from the mash? I am thinking straining through a muslin cloth rather than putting into my wine press is the right thing to do, am I wrong?
Should I use Pottasium metabisulphate on the juice after straining?
Does it need racking in the same way as wine?

did you try that fig wine, how did it go?
Dawg

 

[Handy Andy]

did you try that fig wine, how did it go?
Dawg

It finished fermenting, and my friends advised me to distill it, as it would develop a fungus and go off in their experience. So I distilled it, it tasted OK before distillation and tastes OK now, it is aging in the container until new year. I have another fig wine on the go, and am a more confident on what I am doing now, so this time its becoming a fig wine, and I will be adding k-meta at the end of the fermentation to stop it going off.

My wine press is, I think, way too big for the amount of juice I am expecting, ie the juice would get the press wet with only a little getting to the collecting tank.

With it being a small batch I am going to pour it though a kitchen colander and then a muslin bag to drain the juice when it is done, then rack as per what I hope is normal with a siphone tube. I will be storing it in glass jars, which reminds me I havent pushed the cap down this morning yet.

My Red and white wines are coming along nicely, I am really getting into this wine making, and very encouraged so far. Thanks ALL for the advice and tips on making wines. I dont think that much of my wine will last through to next harvest, but what I am wanting to do is to prove to my friends that a little preservative k-meta, might stop their wines going bad after about 6 months.

 

[NoQuarter]

I make fig wine every year and it is one of our favorites. You will get a lot of lee's... I just lightly smash them in a straining bag. Then remove and drain the bag when transferring to secondary. Never had fig go 'off" never any fungus. i do add k-meta 24 hrs before adding yeast.
The main trick I have found to good fig wine is to pick them only when they are almost over ripe. no more latex from stem..like a bag of jelly almost. if they are just ripe or under, it will take 2-3 years to get delicious.

 

[user 32114]

It finished fermenting, and my friends advised me to distill it, as it would develop a fungus and go off in their experience. So I distilled it, it tasted OK before distillation and tastes OK now, it is aging in the container until new year. I have another fig wine on the go, and am a more confident on what I am doing now, so this time its becoming a fig wine, and I will be adding k-meta at the end of the fermentation to stop it going off.

My wine press is, I think, way too big for the amount of juice I am expecting, ie the juice would get the press wet with only a little getting to the collecting tank.

With it being a small batch I am going to pour it though a kitchen colander and then a muslin bag to drain the juice when it is done, then rack as per what I hope is normal with a siphone tube. I will be storing it in glass jars, which reminds me I havent pushed the cap down this morning yet.

My Red and white wines are coming along nicely, I am really getting into this wine making, and very encouraged so far. Thanks ALL for the advice and tips on making wines. I dont think that much of my wine will last through to next harvest, but what I am wanting to do is to prove to my friends that a little preservative k-meta, might stop their wines going bad after about 6 months.

yeah, i got wines that are several years old, the older the better they taste,
um, if you can edit, edit out the words distilled in your post, highly forbbiden on here as is any political speech, both can get you banned, if their wines go bad in months they're doing something very wrong, i bulk age some for 2 years, most for 1 year, my skeeter pee port for 6 months, before i bottle
Dawg

 

[Handy Andy]

I make fig wine every year and it is one of our favorites. You will get a lot of lee's... I just lightly smash them in a straining bag. Then remove and drain the bag when transferring to secondary. Never had fig go 'off" never any fungus. i do add k-meta 24 hrs before adding yeast.
The main trick I have found to good fig wine is to pick them only when they are almost over ripe. no more latex from stem..like a bag of jelly almost. if they are just ripe or under, it will take 2-3 years to get delicious.

I read also that freezing the figs helps them to ferment, once they are thawed. I dont know if this is correct, but I will no doubt find out in the next few days.

Do you also add k-meta after fermentation is complete?

I suspect what my friends have been doing wrong, is that they leave the figs in the fermentation tank until after the fermentation is complete and they do not use k-meta, on the finished juice. They do however use something called garfix on the figs before they add yeast.

Once my fermentation is over I intend to strain the figs from the juice, and add k-meta and wait. Should I also squash the juice out of the remains of the figs???

yeah, i got wines that are several years old, the older the better they taste,
if their wines go bad in months they're doing something very wrong, i bulk age some for 2 years, most for 1 year, my skeeter pee port for 6 months, before i bottle
Dawg

Oops!

Wines that are aging sounds very encouraging, thats what I am hoping for. I have a lot of big fermentation barrels, which I optimistically hoped to fill this year, perhaps next year.

The locals I have discovered mostly do not use k-meta on the wines. Most do a wild ferment without nutrients. The wine stays good till just after the new year then starts going down hill. I am hoping by adding k-meta and paying attention to cleaning my equipment my wine will last. I guess I will find out next spring/summer/autumn.

Next year I will not make the mistakes I have this year (ie way too late spraying for downy mildew), optimistically I hope to have a lot more wine. 5 to 10 times more This year is a learning year for me.

 

[NoQuarter]

I use K-meta up front for must and again after wine is still and clear.
I do freeze the figs, mostly because I let them get so ripe then only get a few lbs. every couple days.
i remove bag when I move to secondary, about 1.020.. I squeeze out as much juice as I can by wringing it out. It will drain for an hour or so sometimes. I put in sterilized bucket on top of overturned bowl with weighted plate on top.

 

[user 32114]

yes freezing breaks down your cell walls giving you more juice, in the USA, our native yeasts are some good some bad, yes a 1/4 teaspoon per 6 gallons of k-meta helps keep oxidation away, i rack every 2 to 3 months adding a 1/4 tsp of k-meta each time, , but i have made many kinds of of wine, but never figs, so @NoQuarter will knows worlds more on figs, i use only EC-1118 AND K1V-1116,, people say it stripes nose or taste, if so, it is only because enough fruits weren't used,
Dawg