Fruit Wines

[Applewineguy]

Pumpkinman: With this Dragons Blood wine how long do u age it for and how long before its able to bottle and drink providing clarity is there and such......

 

[Midwest Vintner]

It depends on the kind of fruit wine you want, if its a weak wine that you can drink in a couple weeks follow the posts already in this thread. If you want a fuller bodied wine you have to add more fruit, 3 pounds is just a start for some wines, we are not talking strawberry hill here, but really good fruit wine. Since there are 100s of fruits, what were you thinking about starting out with? We have been making fruit meads lately, like 4 gallons of pure juice and a gallon and a little more honey, depends on what you want. A little more specific would get you better advice. WVMJ

x2. I have never made a kit in the 9 years I've been making wine and either has my dad who's been making it for 10. His first batches turned out great. We also use more than 3 lbs per gallon for fruit. Even with strong flavored fruits, we go higher. If you like lighter wines, it might be ok.

Not knocking kits by any means, but you can even have problems with them. It just takes experience and patience.

 

[wineforfun]

Pumpkinman: With this Dragons Blood wine how long do u age it for and how long before its able to bottle and drink providing clarity is there and such......

It is ready to drink once you bottle it, however, if you let it sit for a couple of months, it gets even better. After a couple of months it will mellow out on some of the acidity from the lemon juice and the berry flavor becomes more pronounced.
It will be clear within a week of backsweetening, providing you follow the recipe. It is a great fruit wine.

 

[skyrat]

Applewineguy.

FWIW...Been making (whole berry) fruit based wines for 7 years or so. Started with 1 gallon batches. Most recipes : modifications of recipes from Jack Kellers Web site (loads of them for reference). when I get something where I like it then I'll step it up to a 3 or 5 gallon batch

FWIW2 You can't go wrong with a 1 gallon batch. If it doesn't work you are not out loosing that much in material expense.

I have built up a sizable arsenal of Very Good to Excellent recipes (IMHO) all playing with small batches. Of course there were duds along the way but it was a great way to learn what works and what doesn't without crying over loosing 3-5 gallons.

And concerning berries per gallon. IMHO2...3 is on the light side. 4-5 gets a full bodied wine for most. I also typically add a can of Welches Grape concentrate to Berry wines when crafting. Regular for Dark berries and White Grape for Lighter berries & fruits.

Enjoy... Have Fun....Good Luck

 

[Applewineguy]

i was not asking how long to drink after bottling i was asking how long before u can bottle what is the rough timeline kind of thing. its still in secondary and am dying to rack it but its still at 1.005 when it needs to wait till 1.000 before stabilizing degassing and adding fining agent. Then there is the clearing time added on top of that so was just wondering

 

[novalou]

i was not asking how long to drink after bottling i was asking how long before u can bottle what is the rough timeline kind of thing. its still in secondary and am dying to rack it but its still at 1.005 when it needs to wait till 1.000 before stabilizing degassing and adding fining agent. Then there is the clearing time added on top of that so was just wondering

Usually my wines clear for bottling in 3-4 months. Once in the bottle, I let it sit for a month before drinking.

 

[phoebeschipp52]

Hi Applewineguy, Most of my wines are made from fruits, and all are made naturally. I use as a guide a little book written by Ian Ball [ paperfronts] .Standard recipes says four and one half pounds of fruits to one gal. water.From my experience I always use more fruits than what is required I like my wines with 'body',the extra fruits gives that,as yeast nutrients I use Marmite or Pure malt extract for tannin I use strong tea,for citric acid I use lemons,In addition to the fruits I always use raisins or sultans. I prefer to use the fruits in small chunks as opposed to pressing, which gives a faster clearing wine. White or brown sugar also influences the color.