Plum coming along Nicely

[Scooter68]

Since

 

[wildhair]

???? What did I miss?

 

[Scooter68]

Settling after Fermentation SG .0095

 

[Slappy]

Really interesting color there. What color were the plums? I have plums growing on the street near my home that are small and have dark red skin with yellow or pale red flesh. I didn't pick any last summer but really wanted to. Will have to give it a try next summer.

 

[Scooter68]

The Juice was from Vintner's Harvest (96oz Plum Wine base) and had a light pink color. I added 6 plums from a bag I bought at Sam's club. They were dark purple skinned and deep red flesh inside. You can see that upped the color impact. This photo doesn't do it justice even though I adjusted it while I stood by the carboy to try and match the actual color. I'm going to have to put some of this in clear bottles to show off the color but I suppose the color will keep better in green or brown glass bottles. I can only imagine the color if ALL the plums were from that Sam's club bag, but that would have been pricey at $2.00 a lb.

 

[Slappy]

I'll definitely make a batch of plum wine when they come in around 5-6 months time. I try and forage as much fruit from my local area as I can. The Mrs went mad when I filled the freezer with 26kg of mulberries last summer so I got a bigger one now! Several plum trees are just up the road. And a heap of loquat trees too so I may as well try a batch of that. Free fruit is good fruit imo. If it turns out average I can run it through the still! You should be fine in clear bottles if you store them in the dark. I'd definitely be showing off the color of that batch it's really different.

 

[Scooter68]

Loquats !! We picked up some from our daughters house in Irvine CA last year. Beautiful wine. I only picked up enough for a light 1 gallon batch (4 lbs ) but the flavor is great. Unfortunately they moved so no more loquats. De-seeding them is a mess and really stains the hands but they are worth it. a few more weeks and I'll be looking at the local peach orchard to see how their prices are running on over-ripe and bruised peaches. Last year $34.00 for a bushel but the freeze hit here this year so it may change the outlook.

 

[drainsurgeon]

Nice color but I think you need to check your SG again. .0095? Mine never gets that dry

 

[Scooter68]

Ok let's try .995

That's what happens when you sample too much of the 'extra' wine. I filled the 3 gallon then I filled a 32oz Snap top bottle and still had some left over so....I tried it. Surprisingly good for a new wine.

 

[Farmside]

I know this is an older post, but has anyone tried making wine from dried plums? I was given 4lbs of them, made 1 gallon simple syrup with granulated sugar and 1.5 cups light brown sugar, dumped in 3lbs plums to start. Cooling now so I can get a hydrometer reading. Smells good. Thinking of saving the last pound to make another small batch of syrup to back sweeten ....... thoughts?

 

[Scooter68]

Were they dried with any preservatives? Many times fruit is treated before drying to prevent mold and bacteria.

 

[Farmside]

Were they dried with any preservatives? Many times fruit is treated before drying to prevent mold and bacteria.

Well crap! You can tell I’m a newbie, that never even crossed my mind. With juices it is the first thing I check, to answer your question yes, potassium sorbate ............ might as well add yeast and see what happens seeing I have it to this point ........ (Sigh)

 

[Scooter68]

Yup, Go for it. Yeast is cheap.

Don't ya hate those head slapper moments.

I really try to avoid having them when I'm out Cutting trees.
(Hurts too much.)

 

[Scooter68]

The plum wine is coming along nicely. I'm short on Carboys so I'm going to check this plum out and see if it's worthy of bottling now and let it finish aging in bottles. I always advocate strongly for bulk aging but this wine has cleared faster than anything I've made so far and the taste was excellent the last time I racked it. Just a few more weeks until next racking... might consider breaking my policy on this one.

 

[Johnd]

has anyone tried making wine from dried plums?

You mean prunes?

 

[Farmside]

You mean prunes?

No, bag says dried plums. I know prunes are a dried variety of a specific plum.

 

[meadmaker1]

Well crap! You can tell I’m a newbie, that never even crossed my mind. With juices it is the first thing I check, to answer your question yes, potassium sorbate ............ might as well add yeast and see what happens seeing I have it to this point ........ (Sigh)

If it doesnt start in a timely fashion, make a starter with same yeast. Hydrate the add sugar and fermaid k at least a qt 1t2 gallon would be better. When it gets frothy and clearly going to town add to your must.

 

[sour_grapes]

No, bag says dried plums. I know prunes are a dried variety of a specific plum.

I think prunes are any dried plum. The problem is that "prune" developed a poor PR image, and so they were rebranded with the retronym "dried plums."

 

[Farmside]

If it doesnt start in a timely fashion, make a starter with same yeast. Hydrate the add sugar and fermaid k at least a qt 1t2 gallon would be better. When it gets frothy and clearly going to town add to your must.

Thanks, I made a note of that (I like having back-up plans). What happened is I got side tracked being Halloween, came back inside after the trick or treaters were done, tested SG 1.110 (I kind of rocked back at that) I took a cup of the juice added 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient and what was left in an opened 5g pack of Red Star Premier Blanc yeast. After 20-25 minutes there was some activity, it’s been over an hour now and there is noticeable activity now. Going to dump everything into a wide mouth glass fermenter and pitch the starter ... I think it may just work.

Sour_grapes, I looked and found this “All prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes. Prune plum varieties have very high sugar contents that enable them to be dried without fermenting while still containing the pits.” mine do not have pits in them. Not positive that is true or not.

 

[sour_grapes]

Sour_grapes, I looked and found this “All prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes. Prune plum varieties have very high sugar contents that enable them to be dried without fermenting while still containing the pits.” mine do not have pits in them. Not positive that is true or not.

Regarding: "not all plums are prunes." Ummm, yes. The plums that have not yet been dried are not, of course, prunes. Those are the sweet, juicy ones you find on your grocer's fresh-fruit shelf.


From the source of all knowledge:

A prune is a dried plum of any cultivar, mostly Prunus domestica or European Plum.

From the very same non-disinterested source as your quote, we also find:

Why was the name prunes changed to dried plums?

Research conducted in the U.S. showed that our target audience, women ages 25 to 54, responded more favorably to the name dried plums. It is also more descriptive for people who don’t know that prunes are fresh plums that have been dried. Outside the U.S., the product is still called prunes.

Okaaaay, then. Women in the US aged 25 to 54 have spoken!