What is a recommended fruit to use to transition from juice concentrate to a "whole f

[arcticsid]

As you know, I live in the middle of Alaska, and fresh fruit is not cheap. I have inquired about a couple different banana recipies. I have heard that melons(which sometimes can be found reasonable) is kinda touchy for a newbie.

So I ask of you, I am ready to make my first batch using fresh(whole) fruit. Is there a particular fruit that would be "easier" to start with to get the rest of my feet wet with?

Aples can usually be found reasonabbly cheap, although $1.79/pound for apples isn't all that reasonable.

I used to be a chef here and still have some connections with the produce distributors, so "reasonably" priced fruits may not be to far out of reach.

I don't want to buy $200 woth of fruit to make 5 gallons. Any suggestions on which way I should proceed?

As Always, Thank You

Troy

 

[arcticsid]

Just talked to the ditributor. $67.17 for 40 pounds of red delicious apples. YIKES! She told me they only warehouse apples and oranges and for any other fruits they usually get together with Sams Club to provide fruits for their clients. Too bad I can't make winne fron cat hair, this I have lots of. And if it were to be succesful, i could always say the next day, "give me a little bit of the hair of the cat that didn't bite me!!"
Your input is appreciated.
Troy

 

[Wade E]

I would stray from melons as you say as they tend to bad bad unlss you are very careful and very prepared like with a very good yeats starter and very good temps and the such. Apples are pretty easy but you need lots of them and will require 2 buckets if trying to make a 5 gallon batch or bigger. Why dont you find something cheap and remember that frozen fruit will work better then most grocery store fruit because most of the store fruit is shipped unripe and most of it stays that way and never truly developes the needed sugar and flavors to make a decent wine with.

 

[arcticsid]

I looked at some frozen strawberries Wade, not the ones in syrup, and they were like 8 dollars a pound. I may have to go with the bananas.
Troy

 

[mjdtexan]

I may have to go with the bananas.
Troy

Bananas. Hmmm, never even thought of banana wine. Let us know how that works for you.

 

[Wine4Me]

what I am wondering is, does this wine REALLY taste like bananas?
We love bananas here and this would be a GREAT wine as long as it really does taste like banana!!
???

 

[arcticsid]

Wine, as LUC pointed out a while back, "you taste the essence of the fruit(or vegetable) the wine was made from not the fruit" Have you ever drank wine from grapes, of course you have, did it taste like grape juice? They tell me banana wine is actually quite good, I have never made it but some of the others have and from what I understand it makes a fine wine. Does it taste like nanners, no idea, but I assure you I want to try, and I will.

I currently have my first batch of wine going with a fresh fruit (I have only made 3 batches so far using frozen concentrate). It is orange. I took an SG sample yesterday, and tasted, it resembles oranges but doesn't taste like orange juice. It is still in the primary so it is still VERY young and I am pretty sure I'll want to back sweeten it before it is bottled, but I never thought oranges would make a good wine but I have to admit, it looks like it's coming along pretty well.

I only brought that up to say that if this orange wine experiment works well, I may try the next one with some bananas mixed in.

The second batch I made I used a mixture of frozen concentrates including some mango/pineapple. I think using the mango/pineapple by itself would make a nice wine by itself.

So for now
Take Care
Troy

 

[arcticsid]

ps, I sort of asked the same question regarding fruit wines and I think the conclusion would be to add a fruit extract before bottling to enhance the "fruit" flavor. I personally like a sweet fruity wine with a good alcohol content and one of the first threads I ever started in here addressed that very question.

 

[twissty]

INstead of buying apples, why not buy juice or cider?

google "appfelwine" for an easy recipe using store-bought apple juice. YOU can add cranberries or blueberries for variety and colour. Frozen ones work well.


You're probably better off waiting for summer when things like peaches, plums and berries are in season. The quality and prices are so much better then.

 

[arcticsid]

Juice is my best option fruit isnt cheap here and I am quessing it isn't in your neck of the woods either. See my recent post about orange wine, I was able to find some nice oranges for .50 cents a pound, thats unheard of here, I don't think of anything I can by for that cheap, hell even salt is .39/lb.

Sometimes we'll see someone in here talking about living next to an orchard or have great availability to fresh fruit, makes me cringe!!

I'm thinking if we could find a way to make wine from snow....hell..we wouldn't need to make wine, we could just sit on a nice warm beach and order it.

Take Care
Troy

 

[non-grapenut]

Wine, as LUC pointed out a while back, "you taste the essence of the fruit(or vegetable) the wine was made from not the fruit" Have you ever drank wine from grapes, of course you have, did it taste like grape juice? They tell me banana wine is actually quite good, I have never made it but some of the others have and from what I understand it makes a fine wine. Does it taste like nanners, no idea, but I assure you I want to try, and I will.

I currently have my first batch of wine going with a fresh fruit (I have only made 3 batches so far using frozen concentrate). It is orange. I took an SG sample yesterday, and tasted, it resembles oranges but doesn't taste like orange juice. It is still in the primary so it is still VERY young and I am pretty sure I'll want to back sweeten it before it is bottled, but I never thought oranges would make a good wine but I have to admit, it looks like it's coming along pretty well.

I only brought that up to say that if this orange wine experiment works well, I may try the next one with some bananas mixed in.

The second batch I made I used a mixture of frozen concentrates including some mango/pineapple. I think using the mango/pineapple by itself would make a nice wine by itself.

So for now
Take Care
Troy

Troy, You are going to LOVE that Pineapple/Mango wine! So far, that is my favorite fruit wine..bcuz you have the essence of pineapple, the mango makes the lace of the wine beautiful, the color is a light yellow, and the aftertaste is a sweet pine due to the mango's piney scent. My batch had a slight bubbling to it, too--how fortunate. I used fresh pineapple (since it's cheap now) and canned sliced mango in it's juice with just a bit of lemon peel.

 

[arcticsid]

Cool thanks for your support and encouragement. It's been colder than snot here, and I am tired of winter. When can my cats and I move in? My momma cat is ready for a change. Between wine in the house and my Kim Chee she has threaten to leave me. Please provide your correct address and send me 3 tickets as soon as possible for the cats, I will follow shortly thereafter. I'll need to find some swim trunks, but after 30 yrs here, I'll have to admit, I don't think I have ever seen anyone wear swin trunks.
Troy
Come to think of it I had to use the spell check to make sure I spelled swim correctly.

 

[non-grapenut]

Cool thanks for your support and encouragement. It's been colder than snot here, and I am tired of winter. When can my cats and I move in? My momma cat is ready for a change. Between wine in the house and my Kim Chee she has threaten to leave me. Please provide your correct address and send me 3 tickets as soon as possible for the cats, I will follow shortly thereafter. I'll need to find some swim trunks, but after 30 yrs here, I'll have to admit, I don't think I have ever seen anyone wear swin trunks.
Troy
Come to think of it I had to use the spell check to make sure I spelled swim correctly.

Sorry, Troy...the house is full of indoor cats already...4 and we have 1 yard lion, too. Don't they have a polarbear swimming club up there? I can imagine if you had to spellcheck "swim" that your tan might need working on...You can, at least, enjoy the taste of the tropics with your pineapple/mango hooch.

 

[arcticsid]

Thanks anyway, I'll beg someone else. LOL My aunt lives in Phoenix and I asked here to send me some sand, I will heat it up and put my feet in it. Already seen the -50 a couple times this winter and may need more than sand to recover.
Troy

 

[jimpeterson]

Well...Why are you living there? Or, should I say, why are you still there?