Question on Orginal Gravity

[ed71]

Guys, Is there some website that gives rough estimates on the orginal gravities of different forms of fruits? So far, I only know of 3. Oranges and wine grapes seem to be the highest. (from what I what read online)

Ed

 

[Julie]

I don't know of any but just curious, why don't you just take a reading? There is no way that a fruit will have the same gravity reading year after year and by different areas. The weather and region will dictate gravity readings.

 

[seth8530]

Careful buddy, make sure you are not being told the density of the fruit instead of how much the sugar in it would raise your gravity. ( specific gravity is actually a measure of the density of the fluid in g/cm^ 3)

If I was doing what you were trying to do I would look up the BRIX or sugar content of each fruit you plan on fermenting and use that to calculate what that would do to my gravity. I would then verify the calculations once the fruit had some time to sit in the must prior to fermentation.

 

[BernardSmith]

Guys, Is there some website that gives rough estimates on the orginal gravities of different forms of fruits? So far, I only know of 3. Oranges and wine grapes seem to be the highest. (from what I what read online)

Ed

Hi ed, I agree with Julie, from one batch to the next the sugar content of fruit varies, but I guess my question is what are you hoping to know? A ball park idea of the likely sugar content? There is a USDA published index of the food values for all kinds of fruits and vegetables - from apples to zucchini. You can use that (I think) to estimate the sugar content of produce. Presumably these are the average (?) or minimum (?) expectations for foods bought and sold in the USA.

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/food-composition

 

[jamesngalveston]

thanks for the link mr smith.....
btw...you freezing up there.

 

[GreginND]

Brix numbers for fruits varies a lot depending on the growing conditions and ripeness at harvest. This site does a pretty good job of trying to get average brix levels for many fruits. I would just it as a very rough guideline and always measure yourself.

http://www.honeycreek.us/brix.php

 

[Pumpkinman]

Greg, nice resource, thanks!

 

[ed71]

Was just wondering what fruit is near or above the regular wine grape. Since the wine grape is the best balanced fruit with enough sugar to ferment without that much addition or not at all of sugar. (and the other reasons) And since I don't have access to the wine grapes. Was just curious if there are other fruits with the same sugar level or higher as the wine grape (Even though I know it wouldn't compare successfully as the wine grape)That site you provided Greg looks interesting, now to learn and figure out how to read brix.

Ed

 

[GreginND]

Ed, what do you need to know about brix? It is simply the percent sugar. It is measured in a liquid based on density using a hydrometer. Or it can be measured based on the refractive index using a refractometer. By far the easiest tool for a wine maker us a hydrometer.

 

[ed71]

Im trying to read that chart you posted. Im trying to figure it out. Im guessing the "poor,average,good,excellent" are using the brix numbers? Am I right here?

 

[GreginND]

Ah! Yes, I presume they are talking about fruit quality and have somehow tabulated the brix for fruits of various "qualities". I don't think it means much to us and would go by the average number. Again, this would be a pretty rough guide as to how sugars vary in different fruits. The dominant acid information is pretty nice to have. I also see they have a little information on tannins near the bottom.

I know that the apples I picked this year came in right about spot on with the Average value from this chart of around 13 brix.

 

[ed71]

This is perfect then. Dont mind if its a rough estimate since I was just curious which fruit gave the highest Thanks Greg!

Ed.

 

[jensmith]

As far as I know only apples and
Pears can be juiced like a grape and the resulting juice is used as is to make wine. Some suger additions are needed to get a abv to wine standards. All other fruits generally are watered down to cut their acid levels and more suger is added. Some people just use pure juice from any fruit with good results.
Blueberry wine taste the closest to grape wine that I have made anyway.

 

[Zog]

As others have pointed out, your actual mileage may vary, but here's some basic info:

http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/FruitDat.htm

 

[ed71]

Yeah Zog, this ones even better. True its only rough estimation but its very interesting to check out some of the other fruits.

Ed