Skittle Wine

[CantDecideIT]

Hey everyone. I'm getting ready to start a 3 gallon batch tonight. Managed to pick up 3 pounds of Skittles at K-Mart for just under 9 bucks. 3 - 16.8 ounce packages for $2.99 each. After hearing everyone rave about this I figure I have to try it.

 

[DomR]

Hey, I have questions and I hope some are still following this thread. I just started a 6 gallon batch. First question is my primary has only about 2 inches left from the top so how much foam does this recipe create? I am worried it will foam over. So the question is will I have to apologize to my wife? Second question is I used 4 ¾ lbs. of Skittles and 9 lbs of sugar and my initial s.g. is 1.110 which seems high compared to everyone else’s. After reading about the gooey mess when it melts. I froze the skittles and put them through the food processor to make a skittles powder. It dissolved really easy or so I think, could this affect the s.g.?

 

[Runningwolf]

Hey, I have questions and I hope some are still following this thread. I just started a 6 gallon batch. First question is my primary has only about 2 inches left from the top so how much foam does this recipe create? I am worried it will foam over. So the question is will I have to apologize to my wife? Second question is I used 4 ¾ lbs. of Skittles and 9 lbs of sugar and my initial s.g. is 1.110 which seems high compared to everyone else’s. After reading about the gooey mess when it melts. I froze the skittles and put them through the food processor to make a skittles powder. It dissolved really easy or so I think, could this affect the s.g.?

I think you're going to be ok with the 2" of space. If you have a small tub or drum you could set the pail in that or even slip a garbage bag under it and lift the bag up a bit so if it did go over a bit you'll catch it instead of heck from the wife.
Interesting concept of freezing and grinding up the Skittles. Let us know how it works out. Was the wife home when you ran them through this. I can imagine the noise it made.LOL

I think this wine can handle the little bit extra of alcohol you might end up with. if it's too high you could add a bit of tonic water to your glass. The Skittle flavor definitely comes through.

 

[DomR]

My calculations say I should be around 1.090, but the hydrometer is at 1.110? I wonder if it's all the wax? I really like the idea of a garbage bag since I am having a strawberry wine foaming over as I type.

Wife is at work. But my son came around the corner as I fired up the processor and boy did he jump. Did make my daughters curious and they were upstairs. Can't find the cat.

 

[saramc]

I didn't get overflowing foam with my ferment, just orange foam layer that I scooped off/away. I would stir it back in, and if it settled right back I skimmed it away. I would be interested to know what yeast was used by the individuals who had foam-overflow going on with their ferment. I used EC-1118.

I also allowed my "melted" Skittles water to rest overnight in the refrigerator in a covered container. A lot of the waxy layer settled to the top and I just lifted it up and away.

Unfortunately my Skittles Wine developed an overwhelming case of oxidization, so I poured it out. I later discovered that our (really belongs to my oldest son, who "gave" us the dog when he enlisted in ARMY) German Shepherd got into the winery area and as my son (who had literally just gotten out of ARMY and was home for the first time since getting back from Iraq) was chasing him, the dog thought it was a game and his tail was wagging madly. The Skittles wine took a direct tail hit and the airlock popped loose. My son got his dog out but got sidetracked by a basement full of buddies, lovely ladies, and beer & food everywhere & never came back to the winery to secure the airlock. It wasn't until he saw me pouring it all out a week later--mumbling about a loose airlock that my son told me what and when it had happened. He came back home that evening with enough Skittles for a 5-gallon batch. [Now there are only enough left for a 3 gallon batch...DH and 15 year old son discovered them]

I may just try freezing and processing this time around!

 

[CantDecideIT]

Hey, I have questions and I hope some are still following this thread. I just started a 6 gallon batch. First question is my primary has only about 2 inches left from the top so how much foam does this recipe create? I am worried it will foam over. So the question is will I have to apologize to my wife? Second question is I used 4 ¾ lbs. of Skittles and 9 lbs of sugar and my initial s.g. is 1.110 which seems high compared to everyone else’s. After reading about the gooey mess when it melts. I froze the skittles and put them through the food processor to make a skittles powder. It dissolved really easy or so I think, could this affect the s.g.?

I'm thinking that the recipe on this site is off in regards to the amount of sugar needed. I started a 3 gallon batch and only used 4 pounds of sugar instead of the 6 3/4 pounds that was called for and I still ended up with an SG about the same as yours.

As for the gooey mess I chose to just boil the Skittles directly which worked out fine. They clump together at first but melt away quick enough.

 

[CantDecideIT]

I didn't get overflowing foam with my ferment, just orange foam layer that I scooped off/away. I would stir it back in, and if it settled right back I skimmed it away. I would be interested to know what yeast was used by the individuals who had foam-overflow going on with their ferment. I used EC-1118.

I also allowed my "melted" Skittles water to rest overnight in the refrigerator in a covered container. A lot of the waxy layer settled to the top and I just lifted it up and away.

Unfortunately my Skittles Wine developed an overwhelming case of oxidization, so I poured it out. I later discovered that our (really belongs to my oldest son, who "gave" us the dog when he enlisted in ARMY) German Shepherd got into the winery area and as my son (who had literally just gotten out of ARMY and was home for the first time since getting back from Iraq) was chasing him, the dog thought it was a game and his tail was wagging madly. The Skittles wine took a direct tail hit and the airlock popped loose. My son got his dog out but got sidetracked by a basement full of buddies, lovely ladies, and beer & food everywhere & never came back to the winery to secure the airlock. It wasn't until he saw me pouring it all out a week later--mumbling about a loose airlock that my son told me what and when it had happened. He came back home that evening with enough Skittles for a 5-gallon batch. [Now there are only enough left for a 3 gallon batch...DH and 15 year old son discovered them]

I may just try freezing and processing this time around!

I'm curious about this and hopefully someone with much more experience than me can answer. Would losing the airlock for a few days really cause that much oxidation? I am currently stirring everyday and let the bucket top just rest on the bucket without snapping it down. I though this was necessary to introduce some oxygen to aid in fermentation.

Did this happen to you after fermentation has slowed or stopped?

 

[saramc]

I'm curious about this and hopefully someone with much more experience than me can answer. Would losing the airlock for a few days really cause that much oxidation? I am currently stirring everyday and let the bucket top just rest on the bucket without snapping it down. I though this was necessary to introduce some oxygen to aid in fermentation.

Did this happen to you after fermentation has slowed or stopped?

Fermentation has ceased quite a while back and I literally had racked for what I thought was the last time. I had a very defined brown ring visible when I held a portion of the wine in a wine glass against a white background and tilted---brown, brown, brown. I was sad, sad, sad.

When you are in the early stages of fermentation, before you have transferred to carboy/airlock, the process of fermentation is usually enough to protect your must from oxidizing. My wine was so far past that stage that it had no longer had that fermentation-created protective layer. I was so excited, the wine smelled just like Skittles and early tastes had me picking out the flavors. CRAZY!

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

sounds like it's time to start another batch saramc. what did eeryone do for backsweetening? i was thinking about melting a big bag of skittles then freezing it to get the scummy wax layer off and adding it to the 5 gallon batch.

 

[saramc]

sounds like it's time to start another batch saramc. what did eeryone do for backsweetening? i was thinking about melting a big bag of skittles then freezing it to get the scummy wax layer off and adding it to the 5 gallon batch.

For backsweetening I was going to make some Skittles Vodka and then sweeten it up! So sad, we drank all the Skittles Vodka (guess I have to make more of that too!)

 

[CantDecideIT]

Some Advice Needed:
Like a number of others on this thread, my fermentation stalled out at around 1.050. With that said, the starting gravity was WAY up there over 1.100. Seems that where it sits now there is a decent amount of alcohol. Can I sorbate and be done with it or should I make another yeast starter and re-pitch?

 

[DomR]

I think that it depends on how sweet you like your wine. If my calculations are correct you should have a wine with about 7% alcohol, but on the sweet scale you are way above a dessert wine. Yesterday I checked the specific gravity of my wine and it is sluggish and possibly stuck at 1.042, so I added yeast energizer and stirred the heck out of it in an attemp to get it going. You might want to try the same. If that dosen't work I'll pitch a yeast good for restarting like champane or premier curvee.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

mine stuck around 1040 as well but my initial was higher, i figure i'm around 10% alcohol. tasted it last night and mine is definitely sweet. the smell has changed on it, it smells really strong, but the taste is great with a smooth sweet finish.

 

[CantDecideIT]

Here's an update. I added more yeast nutrient and yeast energizer. I also gave it a real good stir. That night I also made a new yeast starter. The next evening I added the yeast to my bucket. The following day I racked it to my carboy and warmed it up a bit with a heating pad. The following morning I could see a lot of bubbles coming up the sides. I plan to test the gravity today but it looks like its going full blast again.

 

[keena]

Just started 5 gal today! Very excited! I froze my skittle goo after boiling and adding sugar so I could remove most of the wax before hand. Also, I did the same exact recipe with starburst candy. I saw a bag of them at the store that was all red flavors. So it came out a nice pink color in the bucket, also the wax later came off alot easier on the star burst wine. I hope it works out cuz the star burst smells Sooo good and was a pain taking all them candies out of the rappers one by one.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

just racked this stuff again. i think i pissed my teeth off sampling this. It's definitely going to be a desert wine. next batch i'll be adding less sugar than the original recipe. still has a great smell and taste.

Keena what's the starburst recipe??

 

[keena]

Keena what's the starburst recipe??

I used exact same recipe as skittles but starburst candys instead of skittles. I'll be transferring to carboy tonight I hope, haven't been able to for the laSt 10 days

I'll post pics of both once I get them in carboy

 

[keena]

Here's a few pics, the pics are a lil darker than real life, sorry, bad camera on phone. That wine on the right looks black, haha










The starburst had alot of lil floaters in it everywhere that I strained out during racking, here's a pic of that left over in the bucket.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

those pictures look great!! makes me thirsty!

 

[goosen1]

My Skittle wine looks like mud water... What's with that!?!?!