Fruit Wines

[Applewineguy]

So another question....anytime I look up fruit wine recipes most of them give a weight of fruit pressed and juiced and then dilute with water to desired volume or batch size.....but then there is the few that for a 5 gal batch use who knows how many lbs of fruit and don't dilute at all so they are using pure fresh squeezed fruit juice not bottled canned or bought but pressed.....whats everyone's take on this subject?

I ask because I like the idea of making fruit wines and having to do all the work I feel that using kits is cheating cause you get everything already there for you and idk its like fake wine (not the right terminology) but its how I look at it if that makes sense. Any opinions are welcome

 

[joeswine]

question? how many fruit wines have you all ready made?question,how many kits have you made?question, have you used fresh juice?

The only reason i ask is by making a kit,first and I not sure but I haven't seen a fruit wine kit yet(i could be wrong)can juice doesn't count, kits help you connect the proper dots( the process)for what ever you chose to make after,if how ever you are seasoned in wine making then 5to6 lbs per gallon of fruit is what you should be looking at depending on the type of fruit your using.

fruit wine making takes understanding of all phases of wine making ,it can be rewarding and not so, at the same time what type of fruit wines do you like ,my favorite is the berry family ,black berry and raspberry especially,how about you?

unless your a purest wine maker (kits) have a place in the wine world, and a a large part of the market place.
GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Applewineguy, Check out the recipe for dragon blood, this is a perfect place to start for a fruit wine, it leads you step by step in creating a real good, fast to drink fruit wine. From there, you can manipulate the recipe to your taste.

I have to agree with Joeswine, I would start with a kit, get a batch or two under your belt, this way you feel comfortable with the process, Kits will assure you success, every time, that's a major plus in my book! I was resistant to kits as well, until I tried a few really amazing kits! You can learn the process, and which additives are used by making a few kits, plus, let's not forget, some kits are winning award after award!

Read these forums, ask a ton of questions, there are so many knowledgeable people here that are always happy to answer questions.
I would recommend Daniel Pambianchi's book Techniques In Home wine Making, this is a real good resource that I refer to over and over.

And remember - Patience is the most important part! If you rush through and make a ton of changes, it will be very hard to figure out which one helped, or which one caused an issue, making it much harder to fix.

 

[Applewineguy]

I have not made any I am just starting but wanted to try a fruit wine first. My whole family are wine lovers so have quite a taste for it. I suppose you are right about the kits. So with the fruit wines being pressed off the fruit are you diluting or using 5gal of pressed juice an no water for a 5 gal batch of wine sorry may have misunderstood you....

 

[joeswine]

ALL THE ABOVE,THE FRUIT BY IT SELF CAN BE OVER POWERING ,AND PROBLEMATIC, DILUTIONS USUALLY REQUIRED TO BALANCE OUT THE VOLUME AND THE BRIXS LEVELS AS WELL AS OVER ALL BALANCE.


If fruit wines are in your plans,then mite i suggest a peach /apricot Chardonnay kit excellent finish has what your looking for and is a taste treat at the same time.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Joeswine is 100% correct!

There are a few ways to approach it, as with a berry blend fruit wine, we have been using between 1-3 lbs of fruit per gallon of water depending on how pronounced you want it.

We add say for instance 10 lbs of fruit placed in nylon bags (makes for a easier clean up and racking), 5 gallons of water and at times lemon juice depending on the recipe, and various additives, (check out the link to the recipe by clicking on this link), we raise the SG to 1.075 - 1.090, using sugar or honey (once again, your choice), pitch the yeast, and monitor with a hydrometer.
Once the wine is fermented to dry, we stabilize, if you plan on back sweetening, you will need to add sorbate as well as meta.
Back sweetening is as much of a personal preference, as anything else that we do, how sweet, sugar? Honey?, yep, the choice is yours.

The key is to have a game plan and understand the process, make sure that you have everything you need to make the wine, and don't be afraid to ask a ton of questions.

 

[Applewineguy]

Pumpkinman: That's a great recipe I will for sure be trying it soon no undoubtedly !!!!!! thank you. yea i may try one when I get some extra cash.

Joeswine: Can you please check out my other post "2nd batch applewine please help" and give me your two cents as I am curious in your opinion!?

 

[Applewineguy]

Pumpkinman: is your dragons blood recipe in U.s. Gallons or????? as my 2 carboy's are 23L each

 

[Pumpkinman]

The Recipe is in US gallons, but I believe that it is for 6 gallons, Perfect for the 23 l carboy!
Start the dragon blood in a fermenting pail, then transfer to the carboy when fermented to dry. I'd start with one bottle of lemon juice, 2 may be too tart for you.

 

[Applewineguy]

so then my final water amount would be 6 U.S. Gallons correct? aka 5 Metric Gallons?

 

[Applewineguy]

calls for 48oz (guessing U.S.) lemon juice. my bottle is 945 ml which is equal to 1419ml..... :S

 

[Pumpkinman]

945 ml = 31.95 oz

 

[Applewineguy]

how did u get that conversion??? I googled it and the answer I wrote down is what they gave me on several pages....?

 

[Applewineguy]

o there we go so how would I know how much is 48oz to meet recipe requirements?

 

[Pumpkinman]

I goggled "945 ml is how many oz"

 

[Applewineguy]

now im really excited to try that one and its a cheap wine to make too way cheaper then my apple wine

 

[Pumpkinman]

Cheaper, faster to make, faster to drink.
Apple wine will need to be aged for up to a year.

 

[Applewineguy]

ah fair enough. I figured you were leaning towards a flavor pack with that comment. So you figure my flavor will still be good?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

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

So another question....anytime I look up fruit wine recipes most of them give a weight of fruit pressed and juiced and then dilute with water to desired volume or batch size.....but then there is the few that for a 5 gal batch use who knows how many lbs of fruit and don't dilute at all so they are using pure fresh squeezed fruit juice not bottled canned or bought but pressed.....whats everyone's take on this subject?

I ask because I like the idea of making fruit wines and having to do all the work I feel that using kits is cheating cause you get everything already there for you and idk its like fake wine (not the right terminology) but its how I look at it if that makes sense. Any opinions are welcome

 

[Applewineguy]

Well got the Dragons Blood recipe on the go in primary fermentation and man does she smell and look delicious! Used the specified yeast and yea..... the other yeast I used for my apple wine was way better for fermentation action wise. there are signs of fermentation as there is a froth that forms every time I go to check which of course once or twice a day I stir down but I started out with SG 1.080 and it is still at like 1.076 almost 72 hours later although it did have a 20hr lag time maybe a little less. Idk first red wine so maybe they ferment different? The Must is at a temp of 21 degrees Celsius but my white wine started out at the same temp so idk maybe its the yeast? (I didn't use a yeast energizer though as I didn't feel I needed one with my apple wine having a three day fermentation period in primary as re-hydrating the yeast seemed to have stupendous results) Now I'm almost wondering if I should have added it....