Pineapple wine

[mauijoe]

Hi MauiJoe,
I'm too using the juice, extracted from the pinneaple and canned juice as well, but not sure about the measurement for the recipe.
Can you help me with that? Using a 6Gl bottle.
Thank you,
Mani-VA

First thing I would consider if this is your first time on Pineapple, I would make a lesser volume like 3-gallons. I personally back in the day started with only 1-gal. units of a variety of fruits, etc. Once you get that balance down, multiplying the recipe is easier.

Consider however to use more of the natural fruit juices vs. water and sugar. The natural juice contains sugars already so do a gallon experiment first..test/measure...then you can double, triple or what have you for a larger run (6GL) How much juice really depends on how good the juice is and always remember that in the following steps you will be racking and tossing the muck out...then you gotta replace the loss...here we go, more water....topping up later,...again more water. So you see each time you add more water, you get volume replacement but you sacrifice quality and taste...bottom line, I would use as much of the juice as possible in the initial. If you have a lot of extra juice you can always freeze it along with the fresh pineapple pulp that you can enhance the juice. Fruit contains cells that hold juice...,freezing/chilling the fruit expands those cells and you're able to extract more juice....hope this helps?

 

[VitruvianMan]

Worried and Curious

SO I am a newbie and have made a few batches of the "Dragon Blood" which have turned out well and now Id like to venture to other types of fruit. The pineapple sounded great until I noticed people mentioning it blowing up? Is this a regular thing or whats the deal as I live in an apartment and dont think having to worry about my wine blowing up is a good idea, in any setting for that matter.

I too will only be using a 1 gallon recipe to make this to start and go from there, anyone have a quick link to a one gallon recipe I could use and follow by chance? Thanks for your time this forum is great and people hav been quite welcoming.

 

[VitruvianMan]

One other question also is, That I believe our store doesnt sell plain white grape concentrate 100% juice, it only has it mixed wpeach or raspberry if Im not mistaken and even so those arent 100% theyre 10% if mixed correctly i think, do I still use one of those for the white grape concentrate?

 

[mauijoe]

Aloha!
Some of our stores here don't carry really good products like pure juice concentrate both ready to drink or frozen. Then there is always a chance that you may find what you need in a "health food store" that focus on organic or pure concentrates that require additions, such as a good mineral water/high filtered water that eliminates the bad. If you can find a Costco outlet you may be lucky to find organic frozen fruit and juices as well. I personally have found a few items that they occasionally carry for awhile to test the market. Organic sliced peaches, frozrn strawberries, white grapes, apricots, etc....
If you find a grape w/peach no big deal....add some dried raisins to the bucket. You may want to fast boil ( one minute dip) them a few minutes or soak and rinse them being that they are mostly likely preserved but they will work for you. Hope this helps some.

 

[mauijoe]

SO I am a newbie and have made a few batches of the "Dragon Blood" which have turned out well and now Id like to venture to other types of fruit. The pineapple sounded great until I noticed people mentioning it blowing up? Is this a regular thing or whats the deal as I live in an apartment and dont think having to worry about my wine blowing up is a good idea, in any setting for that matter.

I too will only be using a 1 gallon recipe to make this to start and go from there, anyone have a quick link to a one gallon recipe I could use and follow by chance? Thanks for your time this forum is great and people hav been quite welcoming.

Well I personally don't know about any blowing up, made quite a few pineapple in the day. You might wonder around and check Jack's recipes:http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp

He has quite and extensive collection. Read carefully on the recipe choices.

 

[VitruvianMan]

I found at walmart, they have the 100% white grape juice. Thanks for the info, I should have checked walmart before posting I mean really, what cant you find at walmart.

 

[mauijoe]

Grab extra while you can. Just like Costco and other big stores...if you see it and walk past,....tomorrow it's all gone

 

[manibd04]

6 Gallon recipe
18 lbs – Cored, Skinned, and Diced Pineapples
8 lbs – White Table Sugar
¼ tsp – K-Meta
6 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp – Yeast Energizer
¼ tsp – Liquid Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp - Ascorbic Acid
1 - White Grape Concentrate
1 Sachet – Red Star Pasteur Red
4 ½ Gallons – Water
Pour 1 gallon of warm water in a 7.9 gallon primary bucket or bigger.
Add K-meta, Yeast Energizer, Yeast Nutrient, Grape Concentrate, and Ascorbic Acid and stir well. Put all fruit in fermenting bag and squeeze over primary to extract most of juices and then put bag in primary. Pour the 1 gallon of boiling water with all dissolved sugar over fruit. Fill the rest of the way with remainder of room temp water and check SG, it should have a SG of around 1.085 give or take a little, if more then add a little more water, if less then add a little more dissolved sugar in small amount of water as sugars from fruit can vary a little. Let sit for 12 hours with lid loose or with a cloth covering bucket with elastic band or string tied around so as that not to sag in must. After those 12 hours add your Pectic Enzyme and wait another 12 hours while also adjusting your must temp to around 75 degrees. After those twelve hours, pitch your yeast either by sprinkling yeast, dehydrating yeast per instructions on back of yeast Sachet, or by making a yeast starter a few hours prior to the 12 hour mark. At this point either leave primary lid off with the cloth again, place lid on loose or snap the lid shut with airlock. Punch down cap twice daily to get all fruit under the liquid level. When SG reaches 1.015, rack to 6 gallon carboy and let finish fermenting with bung and airlock attached. When wine is done fermenting, (check a few days in a row to make sure SG does not change and SG should be around .998 or less) you can stabilize by adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta and 3 tsps of Potassium Sorbate and degas your wine thoroughly. You can now sweeten your wine if you like by using simple syrup which consists of 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of boiling water or by using a juice or frozen concentrate. I typically take 2 quarts of an alike juice and simmer on stove at medium heat with lid off until its 1/3 its original size and let it cool to room temp and then add slowly to taste. Be careful not to over sweeten. At this point you can use a fining agent or let it clear naturally. Once clear, rack into clean vessel and bulk age more adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta at 3 month intervals or add ¼ tsp k-meta and bottle age for at least 3 months and enjoy. Longer aging will give you a better wine so save a few bottles till at least 1 year mark so you can truly see what this wine can aspire to.

I put my bash before I saw your recipe, thank you.
I'll use next time.
It's possible for the fermentation to ocur in 2-3 days? I mistakenly added 2pkg of Red Star yeast-yeah, I'm a newbie!
THank you.
mani-VA

 

[manibd04]

First thing I would consider if this is your first time on Pineapple, I would make a lesser volume like 3-gallons. I personally back in the day started with only 1-gal. units of a variety of fruits, etc. Once you get that balance down, multiplying the recipe is easier.

Consider however to use more of the natural fruit juices vs. water and sugar. The natural juice contains sugars already so do a gallon experiment first..test/measure...then you can double, triple or what have you for a larger run (6GL) How much juice really depends on how good the juice is and always remember that in the following steps you will be racking and tossing the muck out...then you gotta replace the loss...here we go, more water....topping up later,...again more water. So you see each time you add more water, you get volume replacement but you sacrifice quality and taste...bottom line, I would use as much of the juice as possible in the initial. If you have a lot of extra juice you can always freeze it along with the fresh pineapple pulp that you can enhance the juice. Fruit contains cells that hold juice...,freezing/chilling the fruit expands those cells and you're able to extract more juice....hope this helps?

Thank you Joe,
Overkilled by doubling the yeast amount- any way around that one?

Mani-VA

 

[mauijoe]

No big deal, you just got more hungry clients to eat . One bag is sufficient though. It won't hurt accept your wallet.

 

[mauijoe]

I put my bash before I saw your recipe, thank you.
I'll use next time.
It's possible for the fermentation to ocur in 2-3 days? I mistakenly added 2pkg of Red Star yeast-yeah, I'm a newbie!
THank you.
mani-VA

One packet can do a real good job on 5- gal. but many of us use one packet even for 6 gal. Now if you were doing say 5-different 1 gallon jugs of wine, you'll be able to split that packet and do all five, or six separately. It's a bit of stretching but it can be done, especially if you only have one packet left. BTW, keep all your packets of yeast in a sandwich bag in the fridge. It really helps to prolong the usuable life of the yeast. I have used a portion of one packet, tape sealed the opening, folded it good..into a sandwich baggy and into the butter dish area (or where you are permitted!) Hope this helps some.

 

[VitruvianMan]

I followed the recipe with juice, not fresh fruit out of the little purple book from the wine supply store. I dont understand why for a 1 gallon recipe it has you using a gallon of pineapple juice then adding an additional 5 pints to the primary. Unless with all the sediment its need to have extra water? I have it going now just added yeast last night so we will see what happens.

 

[manibd04]

One packet can do a real good job on 5- gal. but many of us use one packet even for 6 gal. Now if you were doing say 5-different 1 gallon jugs of wine, you'll be able to split that packet and do all five, or six separately. It's a bit of stretching but it can be done, especially if you only have one packet left. BTW, keep all your packets of yeast in a sandwich bag in the fridge. It really helps to prolong the usuable life of the yeast. I have used a portion of one packet, tape sealed the opening, folded it good..into a sandwich baggy and into the butter dish area (or where you are permitted!) Hope this helps some.

Thank you Joe,
So, you are saying that '2' pkg of yeast won't hurt the fermentation?
When should it start then? My batch is on its 5th day now.
thank you,
Mani-VA

 

[mauijoe]

Have you kept the temp consistent, do you have enough oxygen in your musk, your SG target? How are you setting up a primary....bucket with lid...open covered cloth?
Pineapple remember doesn't have a friendly base such as white grape...you're looking a a wide spectrum of ripeness, acidity, fruit quality/juice sugar content, etc. So if you're following a recipe as a "guide line" that has been proven to work, that's good but it should only be a guideline because everything batch you make will not be same ....on the money
So at this point, check the mentioned questions.....if all continues to no happen at doing the tests etc., monitor the odor if the musk because if it has been exposed to bad conditions and begin to get spoiled, you know what bad juice smells like. That's why I try to stress the practice of doing a 1-gal. experiment....if it goes bad (I had a few) then your loss is minimal....if you're doing a 1-gal next time, use only 1/3- of a packet of yeast and gently sprinkle on top of the musk without stirring. Prior to adding the yeast, you build up oxygen by agitating the juice and set a good foundation for the yeast. Use a good strong reliable yeast with narrow variables like a champagne yeast for the first time out. Hope this helps.

 

[manibd04]

Thank you Joe,
I'll measure everything again tonight, SG was 1.030.
Rule of thomb is to transfer to 2nd carboy when SG=1.020-1.030 correct?
I snaped the lid down and added an airlock, so I'll let it ferment in the primary (bucket) until SG reach 1.010, then transfer to 2nd carboy.
Must smells ok for now
Mani-VA

 

[mauijoe]

So you have good positive action going with the yeast? When you rack to the glass secondary, hold the hose high in the neck letting the juice thunder down to create a lot of air and bubbling to build up oxygen for the remaing yeast to do their job in a "healthy way." About 2/3rds of the carboy then ease off as you fill to allow the foaming etc. to settle down. You'll see that the yeast get busier now that they can breate....we all need good air! Good job!

 

[VitruvianMan]

What I dont understand is the recipe in the little purple wine book I got, it calls for a gallon of pineapple juice, and then 5 quarts of water and when I rack it over it make a gallon and a half? Any ideas or recommendations?

 

[mauijoe]

Well I would say that you have in the bucket, excluding what you'll probably dump out, is a blend of 2-gallons and 1 quart of fluid, also the (dry sugar) that you added to the bucket. You will end up with and extra amount of workable wine so you best get another 1 gallon jug preped and a santized small bottle to store the remainder in the fridge for when you rack again. Strange recipe.....in any case, you got extra!

 

[VitruvianMan]

Yeah my father and I think its a typo... I have a full gallon jug and the other is half full so tomorrow im gonna see what its doing and either leave it in jug til it calms down or let it go... I will probably leave it in jug and see what happens for a few days then siphon good stuff off top and use it for topping off if needed, thanks!

 

[mauijoe]

Save what you can even if you create a smaller carboy like a wine bottle or two. Carve down a cork, drill a hole, stick a vent tubing throught the hole and stick the other end into a jar of water. At least you will have good wine to use to top up vs. water. Nice to keep on the hunt for odd shaped glass containers or 1/2 gal. juice jugs...you'll be needing one someday. Good luck!