Fresh pineapple wine question

[tradowsk]

I started a 2 gallon batch of pineapple wine at the beginning of July 2018 with ~15lbs of fresh pineapple (without rind). Added white sugar and pectic enzyme and let macerate for a day, then added water and Kmeta, let it sterilize for a day, then added BM 4x4 yeast.

Primary went fine, I racked to secondary after a week (SG = 1.018). I removed the pineapple chunks and squeezed the juice out of them with cheesecloth and added that to secondary (chunks were discarded).

My plan is to do 1 gallon semi-dry with just a little sugar added to bring out the fruitiness, and the other gallon will be a sweet porch-sipper.

But about 2 months secondary ended (SG=0.996), the wine is perfectly clear but is really light in color. Like if I put a sample in a glass, it almost looks like water.

Also, I know the wine is young right now, but it tastes like fermented pineapple and not like a "wine" if that makes any sense.

1) Would it be a good idea to use some brown sugar to backsweeten and add a bit of a caramel or grilled pineapple flavor?

2) Would a longer cold soak and/or extended maceration help with adding more color?

3) Anything I can do to bump up the color of this batch besides food coloring?

4) Would it be better to bulk age in the carboy (under an airlock) or should I bottle it for microoxygenation to happen?

Thanks!

 

[meadmaker1]

I would imbrace the color you have and let taste be the focus.
Perhaps a touch of orange juice would complement the pineapple without interfering with the flavor
Age should mellow this wine. Follow 3 month racking and kmeta protocol for a year.

 

[tradowsk]

Thanks for the advice @meadmaker1, just wanted to make sure I wasn't going after a lost cause since I've never done pineapple wine before.

 

[Gigglyanya]

I made Pineapple wine as my first attempt. I learned a lot from that first batch lol. Mine turned out very light as well and dry. It also was 18% because I didn't know how to stop fermentation lol I will also agree that aging will help. We opened the last bottle of the batch just last week and after 2 1/2 years it was a VERY smooth drink lol

 

[Steve Wargo]

I made Pineapple wine as my first attempt. I learned a lot from that first batch lol. Mine turned out very light as well and dry. It also was 18% because I didn't know how to stop fermentation lol I will also agree that aging will help. We opened the last bottle of the batch just last week and after 2 1/2 years it was a VERY smooth drink lol

It's amazing what time/ageing can do to cure a fault in a bottle of wine. I'm sure the alcohol effect was still felt. lol

 

[RolandD]

Be careful, my daughter and I didn't know we were allergic to pineapple until I made a pineapple cider. She almost when into anaphylaxis from a couple of sips. We both have a latex allergy. Turns out you can be allergic to a lot of different fruits, if you have a latex allergy.

 

[Mbar]

I'm about to do my first batch of pineapple wine. In pretty much every recipe i've seen, people tend to add a lot of water and sugar to there pineapple juice. Why is this? Would it not be better to just use 100% fresh pineapple juice, processed through a juicer to remove the fiber and then check for ph and brix and make the necessary adjustments, whilst adding as little water as possible? Surely this would produce a more flavourful and colourful final product? I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.

 

[Scooter68]

Next time around you might try a mix of pineapple and mango. The mango will help with the color and you certainly will not lose the pineapple flavor. I've done a "Mango-Pineapple" and a "Pineapple-Mango" in both wines the Pineapple is by far the dominant flavor. One thing along with what RolandD mentioned. A number of people find the mango skins give them a brief allergic reaction as the mango skin apparently has traces of the same oil that is in poison ivy. Fortunately most folk just have a very short term (in minutes) recovery time to that reaction but just to be aware. Seems hard to resist using your teeth to clean that last bit of sweet mango flavor from the skin. In our family I'm the one who can do that. My wife get little blisters on the skin around her lips - they are gone in a few minutes but the first time it happened....
In any case Mango and Pineapple make a great wine and I highly recommend you try that to boost the color and flavor of you wine.

 

[Mbar]

Thanks Scooter. Out of interest did adding mango increase the viscosity and make the wine less clear or did it turn out clear and thin like most pineapple wines i've seen?

 

[Scooter68]

It's not the same as blackberry or other fruit wine but I would not call it thin by any means. Typically I like to hit somewhere between 6-8 lbs of fruit per gallon. That doesn't eliminate the need for ANY water but normally at 7-8 lbs/gallon the only water I add is in the simple syrup*. If you are using a Jack Keller recipe then, yes it might turn out thin. He preferred using lower amounts of fruit and using raisins to add body to the wine. I prefer to avoid adding other flavors (As raisins will add a flavor) and just increasing the quantity of fruit. Keep in mind the other key is that depending on the amount of pulp/ fruit matter left in your wine after fermentation, you will lose significant volume when you do the first 2-3 rackings. SOOO start with a higher volume. With pineapple-mango I'd be sure to start with at least 1 1/3 gallons for every gallon of finished wine you want. That means more fruit too to get that volume up.

Short answer my Pineapple-Mango wine is never lacking for flavor, never thin and typically looks like a white wine with a moderate to deeper golden straw color to it.

( * My simple syrup is 1cup water brought to a boil in the microwave, then 2 cups cane sugar stirred in. Often requiring 1 more minute of microwave time to finish disolving the sugar. )

 

[hounddawg]

use apple juice in leu of water, and as you seemed to find out pineapple hides high ABV very easily , for me anyway pineapple from the day you pitch it ,,,, till day it is ready for the Big day view, is 2 years minimum . i pitch pine apple with K1V-1116, you can reach 18-ABV to 20-ABV, that takes step feeding sugar, yeast energizer and yeast nutrient
Dawg

 

[Scooter68]

By the way - Opened a bottle of my Pineapple-Mango this week. As I mentioned the Mango is there in terms of flavor but really it just takes the sharpness out of the pineapple flavor. Pineapple is dominant by far but Mango is there and rounds out the taste. I guess a person could experiment taking fresh mango and pineapple and juicing them together to see how much of each to use. This wine of mine is a sweet wine, sweeter than I remember it at bottling time but that is just one of the things to watch for. Go easier on the sweetening and it will come forward as the wine ages. This particular wine is from a batch I started in July of 2019 so it's been in the bottle for about 18 months and there is no edge to it. ABV is 12.6%

 

[RichardC]

@Scooter68 post #10

Thanks for this. My pineapple only wine, with less fruit than you used, darkened to a whiskey type hue, over the year and a half it aged. I might have to age in a different manner. :/ The mango wine, remind as clear as my avatar!

 

[hounddawg]

It's not the same as blackberry or other fruit wine but I would not call it thin by any means. Typically I like to hit somewhere between 6-8 lbs of fruit per gallon. That doesn't eliminate the need for ANY water but normally at 7-8 lbs/gallon the only water I add is in the simple syrup*. If you are using a Jack Keller recipe then, yes it might turn out thin. He preferred using lower amounts of fruit and using raisins to add body to the wine. I prefer to avoid adding other flavors (As raisins will add a flavor) and just increasing the quantity of fruit. Keep in mind the other key is that depending on the amount of pulp/ fruit matter left in your wine after fermentation, you will lose significant volume when you do the first 2-3 rackings. SOOO start with a higher volume. With pineapple-mango I'd be sure to start with at least 1 1/3 gallons for every gallon of finished wine you want. That means more fruit too to get that volume up.

Short answer my Pineapple-Mango wine is never lacking for flavor, never thin and typically looks like a white wine with a moderate to deeper golden straw color to it.

( * My simple syrup is 1cup water brought to a boil in the microwave, then 2 cups cane sugar stirred in. Often requiring 1 more minute of microwave time to finish disolving the sugar. )

yawl didn't name ( simple ) syrup after me did ya,
DAWG

 

[Scooter68]

Naw Dawg. You might be living a "simple life" but we don't consider you a simple person. (most times)
Sides, most of those folks live a lot closer to me over here in the NW part of the state, some even work at that company next door with that Gold Starburst symbol.