Mesquite Bean Wine

[keena]

What are you using to cork these? Some corks are in past the top rim and some are sticking out. Are you doin it by hands? If so they make smaller corks that would be easier to use.

 

[snowgirl812001]

i have the double lever corker. i bottled a batch today but i put the bottles on the floor this time, worked so much better

 

[keena]

Lol, yea that makes it a bit easier. If you get into it and start making alot of wine I would recommend a floor corker, these things are sweet

 

[Dend78]

nice color it looks great!

 

[mrdillon5]

well, i sweetened with sugar and bottled last night, got 32 bottles

also, seemed to have an easier time with soaking corks for few mins prior. although, it's still a rough time... still can't do it by myself :/

I put a drop of glycerin where the cork travels through the corker. To me it makes it easier to get the cork into the bottle.

 

[snowgirl812001]

where would i be without this site?? lol, thanks for the help

 

[Haretip]

I made 6 gallons of mesquite about 4 years ago using Keller's recipe. The stuff was undrinkable when I finished vinting, but I think he recommends aging. I let it bulk age for a year in the carboy and man what a difference a year makes. It was great! Best wine I have ever made. It's all gone now and I am looking forward to making more. I do not have any mesquite trees on my property and I worry about trespassing or finding a friend with beans, so I actually bought South American beans already ground into meal. The meal smells somewhere between carob and chocolate and is available from Casa De Fruta if you want to make some out of season and you have no beans.

 

[snowgirl812001]

this is def one of my favorites so far. on another note.... all corking problems solved!! i got a floor corker for valentine's day!!

 

[Dend78]

now ima have to look up these mesquite beans i need to try some

 

[txlbbguy]

this is def one of my favorites so far. on another note.... all corking problems solved!! i got a floor corker for valentine's day!!

Robin,
I have been out of it for awhile so I havent been able to respond, but I finally got my new wine filter and am bottling the mesquite bean wine tonight. It has bulk aged for almost 6 months now (mostly because I have been out of pocket and needed to replace my wine filter!) but I was wondering how much you sweetened yours? I think I may just leave it as is, but havent decided completely yet. I know after I bottle I want to age it at least another 6 months for a good idea of how it would turn out...but since the new mesquite beans will be ready in about 4 months, I may not can wait that long to decide! Sure plan on trying this again this fall if the mequites have beans like last year! Let me know how yours is coming along after the bottling.

 

[snowgirl812001]

I added 8 c sugar to mine, but I like all my wines sweet. I am trying my hardest to save some till its a year lol

 

[txlbbguy]

I was tempted to sweeten it, but I decided that I wanted to try one that comes out dry and then one that i will sweeten this fall when I do it again. It had such a great flavor when I was ready to bottle already that I thought I would leave well enough alone! It was perfectly clear, but I still filtered it...and the color is a perfect golden. I cant wait for the beans to get red again this year so I can try one that I back sweeten before bottling. I will try and touch base with you back on here again in the fall after I open one that has aged for six months to see how it is coming along.

 

[snowgirl812001]

Sounds good! I will have to try one of mine here soon

 

[MarvinWilliam1]

Thanks a lot friends for sharing your useful tips and suggestions it would be very useful for newbies like me..

 

[Jericurl]

Any updates on the mesquite wine? I admit that I am very intrigued.

My dad has a little over 120 acres total. I know there are a few mesquite trees that regularly drop a ton of beans. His cattle love them, so I may ask him to put them in another pasture so they don't eat them all.

 

[snowgirl812001]

Any updates on the mesquite wine? I admit that I am very intrigued.

My dad has a little over 120 acres total. I know there are a few mesquite trees that regularly drop a ton of beans. His cattle love them, so I may ask him to put them in another pasture so they don't eat them all.

Sorry, mine is all packed away. Moving in two weeks. But I plan to bust some out when I get to the new house

 

[Jericurl]

Oh good, I can't wait to hear how it tastes after a bit of age.
Manthing is taking me foraging today so I'll be gathering these if I can find them. If not, I'll go out to dad's next weekend.

 

[Sacalait]

Just completed a batch of blackberry flavored with mesquite chips... A little too young to say yae or nae.

 

[snowgirl812001]

Oooohh, blackberry mesquite sounds good!

 

[benbeard]

mesquite bean 2013

I wanted a go at the mesquite bean wine. I collected in august before prickly pear season, roasted the beans in the oven, and kept them until November when I got bored. Two five gallon buckets of dried beans for a 6 gallon batch, racked down to 5 gallons.
I mashed the roasted beans down to smaller size using empty bottles in a bucket, then I split up the ground beans into water that I kept at about 150 degrees for about an hour. I filtered the mixture into the primary and let sit for a day to cool. It needed about 8 cups of sugar to get to 1.09. Added in the usual suspects and EC-1118 and it fermented well. Racked down to a 5 gallon carboy from 6 gallon carboy after about 1.5 months. Wine looks a clear yellow/brown at this point, very clear but still dark. My wife thinks it tastes and smells like beer. Still has wine taste to it, but with hints of beer because of the flavors from the roasting of the beans. Not sure if I am going to leave it be or maybe carbonate it.