[UglyBhamGuy]

i have gathered up all the ingredients for Jack Keller's Canned Pineapple wine.
i did buy double the pineapple (from listening in these forums)
Anyone think of any other tweaks i might wanna make?

CANNED PINEAPPLE WINE

* 2 16-oz cans crushed pineapple
* 2 lbs granulated sugar
* 1 11.5 oz can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice frozen concentrate
* 7 pts water
* 1 tsp acid blend
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* ½ tsp pectic enzyme
* ¼ tsp tannin
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* 1 pkt Champagne wine yeast

Drain juice from fruit and add juice to water. Stir sugar into water until dissolved. Pour pineapple into nylon straining bag and tie closed. Put bag in primary and add all ingredients except pectic enzyme and yeast. Stir well, cover primary, and set aside for 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme, recover and set aside another 12 hours. Add activated yeast and ferment 5 days, stirring daily. Remove nylon straining bag and allow to drip drain without squeezing. Discard pulp and continue fermenting until specific gravity falls to 1.025. Rack into secondary and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 60 days for 6 months. Stabilize and sweeten to taste if desired. Wait 10 days and, if stable, rack into bottles. May taste after 6 months. [Recipe adapted from Terry Garey's The Joy of Home Winemaking]

[St Allie]

off the top of my head ..

I'd not let the initial SG be higher than 1.080..

Jacks recipes are often too high in sugar.

edited to add..

I'd just put the juice, bagged pineapple, campden tablet, water, tannin, nutrient, concentrate and pectin together in the primary. leave for 24 hours..take the unsugared must SG.. just for curiosity sake..( I'd actually like to know what the natural SG is anyway) ..

then dissolve in the sugars to required SG.

and pitch yeast/starter.

that way you get 24 hours of the enzyme working before the active yeast interferes with it.

Allie

[St Allie]

meant to ask..

Curiosity again..

are you using pineapple in natural juice or syrup?

Allie

[UglyBhamGuy]

Natural Juice. Two 20oz rings in own juice (Del Monte) & two 20oz crushed in its own juice (Great Value/WalMart). i was worried about the 2 cans of Del Monte not being enough and then i noticed they were rings so i bought something comparably priced in crushed. The Del Monte was only available in rings for $1 a can. Both brands list ingredients of only Pineapple and Pineapple Juice.

Sorry, i go off on tangents sometimes... (Ex: First trip to the homebrew store for father and son.)
So take the initial SG after the 24 hours?

i have read several different recipes from across the Interwebs, and noted alot of similarities with what may be tweaks done to each one.

2 tsp of acid blend (as opposed to above 1 tsp) - http://www.crfg.org/
.5 tsp pectic enzyme (.25 tsp -above) - http://honeycreek.us/
.5 tsp tannin (.25 - above) - http://www.crfg.org/

Would it hurt to make each of these changes? You know, just going with the higher amount of each of those. Any that i should other than these? Do you suggest more on any of these, or other?


There i go again.
Douglas.

EDIT: The external recipe links now go straight to the recipe.

[St Allie]

recipe tweaks are a personal thing, you will naturally start to tweak your wines through experience.. this is the first time you have made this particular recipe.. when you make it a second time.. you will start to play with additions.. keep good notes, it really helps..

.. I don't know what you prefer in a wine..

if it was mine.. I'd up the pectin to a teaspoon.. I just use a teaspoon per gallon of wine as a standard measure anyway..

for tannin I'd add a cup of strong black tea, two bags in a cupful of hot water does the trick ( I don't have any powdered and a good strong ceylon tea works fine)

again I don't use acid blend or an acid tester for fruit wines..

my thoughts for this particular recipe, is that pineapple is naturally acidic.. so I wouldn't add anything there. Taste it though and add a bit of lemon juice if you like.. that's basically a natural citric acid with a bit of flavour to add to the mix.

hope this helps.

Allie

[St Allie]

you could take the initial SG and also take it again after 24 hours, before adding the sugar.. I do like to mess about taking readings..

just to see what is happening..
(that may not be of interest to you lol)

Allie

[winemaker_3352]

I would suggest getting/using a hydrometer for SG readings - this will help you in the sugar addition - as allie indicated keep the starting SG no higher than 1.085.

Note: I use the hydrometer that has the thermometer as well - that way you can accurately measure the SG at the given temp of the must.

I would also suggest getting/using an Acid Test Kit - this will allow you to measure the must's acidity - and you can add Acid Blend accordingly.

A fruits sugar and acidity levels can very.

[St Allie]

hehehehe..

Yes, I tend to 'wing it' a bit and go by taste, not the most scientific way to do it.

An acid testing kit is something that is very useful and I should really buy one next time I have a bit of spare cash.

Allie

[winemaker_3352]

Well i suppose if one has been doing it long enough - you can get away with winging it. I know I am not at that stage yet. I rely on my readings still.

[UglyBhamGuy]

i have 2 hydrometers (someone said i should have at least 2 of anything that is breakable, lol) and an acid titration kit the latter i didn't like the first time i used it (red wine, hard to notice change), but this is a light colored wine and may be easier to see the change.