first attempt at fruit wine, guidance asked for.

[gizmothing]

Hello all, I have decided to try a batch of wine that is not a kit, and from scratch. more than anything, just so I can say I have done it. I decided to try one I had never seen before, and went with Oranges. I researched a recipe and it is as follows:

8-9 Oranges
1/2 pint of white grape concentrate or 1lb light rasins
6 pints water
2.5 lbs sugar
1 tsp nutrient
1 campden crushed
1 pkg yeast.

I decided to make a bigger batch, so I tripled everything, with the exception of the yeast. For some added flavor, I also boiled 4 ripe whole bananas and added them as well. The must smells incredible right now.

Anyways, what has me concerned at this point, I took a SG reading just now, and it is sitting at 1.120, which to me seems really high. according the the hydrometer, it gives me a PA of like 19%...

I would like to have that a bit lower as I am trying to make wine, not moon shine. Should I just add more water to this to bring the SG down a bit, or what?

And advice you experts could give me would be appreciated right now.

Cheers!
Chris

 

[Minnesotamaker]

You could add water, but that will also lower your acidity and flavor profile. Or, you could go for a 5X batch and add more of everything except sugar.

 

[Julie]

I think Lon has the right idea, make a bigger batch but do not add anymore sugar.

 

[Tom]

Proves one thing NEVER add sugar blindly. Always use a hydrometer.
I would add more oranges and some water to get the gravity to 1.080

 

[bcwildthing]

I also boiled 4 ripe whole bananas and added them as well. The must smells incredible right now.

Anyways, what has me concerned at this point, I took a SG reading just now, and it is sitting at 1.120, which to me seems really high. according the the hydrometer, it gives me a PA of like 19%...

I would like to have that a bit lower as I am trying to make wine, not moon shine. Should I just add more water to this to bring the SG down a bit, or what?

And advice you experts could give me would be appreciated right now.

Cheers!
Chris

Funnily enough, I just boiled up 12 lbs of bannanas and added juice from 2 pineapples to make wine. I would be a little careful about adding too much more water as I'm convinced that the boiled water from the bannanas has a thickish texture that may obscure the specific gravity (just like suspended fruit I've had in pear wine). I ended up adding 5 more quarts of water than called for to get specific gravity of 1.1. My recipe for Bananna wine didn't even mention testing with the hydrometer. So...proceed carefully with adding water, perhaps orange juice will get you down a bit.

 

[ThreeWivesWine]

I just started making wine last summer and have yet to make one from a kit. I've got a peach (excellent) a grape peach mix (not good but used white concords off the fence out back, might age out ok I'm hoping) and a tomato-jalapeno (very good) going right now. If a rookie like me can pull it off you'll be fine. Follow the recipe but use a hydrometer. I brought all of my batches up to 1.08-1.09 with sugar and water.
IMHO, fruit wine is the way to go if you're brewing it yourself. Why spend all the time and money on a kit wine when you can go to the store and buy it from the experts. Original wines like orange or tomato will amaze your friends, just don't tell them what it is until after they've guessed

 

[Wade E]

Kits are good for the wines you just cant make as the grapes are just hardly ever available to us even when it is grape season. There are just some grapes they just dont sell and kits are a great place to learn some of the basics.