Wine from Sea Grapes

[BettyJ]

This is the only recipe I can find online, but it may need tweaking a bit.... (especially the part where the camden tab is added with the yeast?). Any suggestions?

The flesh of the grape is very limited and there is a large seed in each grape, so boiling the grapes may be needed, but I was concerned that this could damage the integrity of the fruit. This recipe also calls for leaving the seeds in the must.....

How to Make Sea Grape Wine
By Jim Walrod, eHow Contributor
updated: January 15, 2010
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:
Sea grapes
Sugar
Yeast nutrient
Wine yeast
Camden tablet
Large bowls
Nylon mesh bag - 2
Carboy
Glass fermenter
Hydrometer
Air lock
Siphon
Wine bottles
Obtain from a local brew store or an online retailer the yeast nutrient, wine yeast, Camden tablet and other wine-making supplies.
Clean and stem 6 to 8 quarts of sea grapes. Remove any that are unripe. Place in a large pot and cover the sea grapes with water and bring to a light boil. Turn off burner and let the mixture to cool.
Place sea grapes in mesh bags, and using your hands, squeeze to extract the juice into one of the carboys. Yield should be close to a gallon of sea grape juice. Add two cups of the water from boiling the sea grapes. Slowly stir in 16 cups of sugar. Place mesh bags with sea grape pulp, seeds and skins in the carboy. Add the yeast nutrient. Cover the mixture and set aside for 24 hours in a warm area.
Stir sea grape must, a wine making term for the mixture, and squeeze the mesh bags to extract more juice. Continue squeezing the bags until all the juice is extracted. Discard the material left in the bags. To the mixture, add one crushed Camden tablet and the wine yeast. Cover and place the air lock on the carboy and put it in a warm place.
After five days of fermentation, you will need to check the sugar content. Following the manufacturer's directions for the hydrometer you have selected, check the sugar content of the must. If it is between 1.020 and 1.040, you can move to the second fermentation stage. If not, re-cover and test again in two days.
Transfer the wine from carboy siphoning it into the glass fermenter. Take care not to suck up the sediment from the bottom of the carboy. Let the wine stand for five weeks and take a hydrometer reading. It should be 1.000 or lower. You then proceed to funneling the wine into bottles. If the reading is higher and you like sweet wine, you can stop the fermentation by adding one more crushed Camden tablet and waiting two weeks before bottling.
Let the sea grape wine age for two months after bottling.


Read more: How to Make Sea Grape Wine | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/print/how_5873272_make-sea-grape-wine.html#ixzz0ydizy4eO

 

[myakkagldwngr]

I'm taking it you found some sea grapes?

 

[Tom]

What are Sea Grapes?

 

[BettyJ]

yes, I have about 5 lbs of fruit and juice so far - many of the grapes are still green, so hope I will be able to do a 5 gallon batch.

Tom, I can't recall the official name, but the trees are seagrape trees with seagrape leaves and grow in beach/coastal areas. It is common to make wine and jelly from them, just cannot find a recipe other than this one.

I think they taste like a cross between a grape and an elderberry - but I am using some partially ripe ones for tartness.

 

[Woodbee]

Very interesting looking critters. Do they change colors? Or do they look like a white grape?





From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coccoloba uvifera

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Coccoloba
Species: C. uvifera
Binomial name
Coccoloba uvifera
L.
Coccoloba uvifera is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda. Common names include Seagrape and Baygrape. It is a sprawling evergreen shrub or small tree that reaches a maximum height of 8 m (26 ft), but most specimens are little more than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall[citation needed]. It has large, round, leathery leaves (up to 25 cm/9.8 in in diameter) with a primary vein that has a red color extending from the base, and the entire leaf turns red as it ages. The bark is smooth and yellowish. In late summer it bears green fruit that gradually turns orange, to red, until there is a purplish fruit, about 2 cm (0.79 in) diameter, in large grape-like clusters[1]. The fruit also contains a large pit that takes up most of the fruit.


http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/Images/SeagrapeCU.jpg

 

[Lurker]

I think I have seen these near the Wildwood beaches. I thought they were berries.

 

[Antabb214]

Sea Grape wine

Hey all,
Has anyone made this? I live in Florida and have harvested 10 lbs of sea grapes today. I'm looking forward to making this but have not heard of anyone actually attempting to make this wine. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

-Anthony

 

[personalchefpr]

One of my favorite fruit. I freeze them and eat them straight from the freezer. If the grapes are very ripe I don't think there is any need to boil them. Once you put them in the mesh bag and squeeze them the juice will come out easily without the need to cook them