jam and jelly wine....

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So my stepmother gave me a couple of boxes of old jellies and jams....one had a date of 6-12-2010....it was the newer looking jar! About 12 jars in all, dumped in the bucket ...some of it was kinda funky looking, but smells and tasted OK....and started thinning it down with water...at 6 gallons, it was 25% pot. acl.

Poured 3 gallons into ziplocks and froze it. Started adding water again....six gallons came to 1.07. Added peptic enzyme, tannins, camden tablets and let it sit for 24 hours...pitched EC1118 this afternoon.

I don't know about this batch.....kinda sketchy. Should have used a paint strainer bag, I can tell it's gonna be a mess come racking time.
 
racked into a carboy today....ton of lees. I don't know. This stuff may make a dang good paint remover. It's brown, that kinda throws me into a tizzy...it just doesn't look right. Smell is not much better...kinda of an oil smell. But, when you close your eyes, hold your nose, and taste it...it's not terrible...for paint remover.

I was border line...keep or pitch it out...time and carboys I have, so the jury is still out. on this one.
 
I have done blackberry jam (smuckers) a couple of times, came out ok. Had trouble getting to low final s.g. 1.014.

Bill
 
I have done blackberry jam (smuckers) a couple of times, came out ok. Had trouble getting to low final s.g. 1.014.

Bill

I racked it off a ton of lees and right now there is a 3" layer of crud on the bottom of the carboy....but, it is chugging along like steam engine. I've always heard there is fine line between genius and dumbass....think I may be close to it!:h
 
This batch may turn out to be pure crap, but, I gotta give a big A for effort. Airlock is just ticking away and she's throwing off so much gas it looks like Coke in glass with all the bubbles. At least the yeast is happy!
 
I thought it tasted fairly good and left it at 1 .14 s.g. Did not back sweeten. I don't know if i will try
a third time !!

Bill
 
I racked again mid Sept. (lost my notes)....there was another 3" of lees and just crap from the jams...never had this many lees before...but never used jams and jellies before either. from 6 to 4 gallons now.

We snuck a glass last night...it looks like a dark ice tea...kinda reddish brown...very clear now...has some aroma, but I can't tell you what it smells like...it's dry...and it kinda grows on you after about 1/2 a glass...it is different. The flavor needs something...oak? It needs more taste...vanilla and a little cherry maybe? Drinkable, very drinkable...but it could be better. IDEAS??

Need to figure it out because I have 3 gallons frozen in the freezer which should make another 6 gallon batch. AND my stepmother gave me another batch of old jellies and jams TWICE as much as the first batch....that may be my first Brute trash can batch of wine!
 
well, i'm sending you a bill for drying out my computer, i guess i lived my life in a bubble, wine from home made jams an jellies hum, I've seen an heard much more then i let on but, well just but, one thing is for sure i would light privy to how this comes out,,,
Dawg
 
oh you have offended me more then you can ever imagine, ugh, my dad loves butter milk with either corn bread or biscuit in it, OMG,,,,
that just so THAT'S NOT RIGHT,,, LOL,
oh lord, butter milk, jeeze,,,,,,,,
lord almighty ,, man,,, man,,, man,,,
i still want to know how that cherry goes,
but whew you dang near spoiled that for me, what a evil mind both you an my dad have,,,,
but still best of luck and i'll still be hanging round to see how that cherry comes along,
Dawg



NA just some good buttermilk biscuits lol
 
well, I didn't think it was too strange using jams and jellies....I mean, they are made from fruit and tons of sugar...all I really added was yeast and water. It did ferment dry.

Dawg...your Daddy and mine musta grown up next door! Dad will make a meal outta cornbread or biscuits in milk. I like biscuits and will even drink milk if I have too, but I just can't stand them togather....in a glass togather. It just gags me...must be a texture thing.

So milk is out as a flavor addition. Any IDEAS??
 
You don't say where you are, what kind of fruit was in the jelly/jam, but here's what I can tell you from my many years of experience in jelly making. Jelly involves only 2 ingredients, fruit juice and sugar. Therefore:
1) you definitely lack acid. The only fruits I know that would have any significant acid at all would be citrus (that would be marmalade), pineapple, and rhubarb. You will have to add this by other juices or dried acid additives.
2) Unless one of the fruits is extremely high tannin, you need this too. Even my wild chokecherries (prunus Virginiana) are very ascerbic but still need a bit of grape tannin. Fruits like strawberries have zero tannins.
3) The sugar is there, because jelly usually uses a 1:1 ratio of juice to sugar. You would be wise to check this carefully at the outset and also along the way.
4) It's no surprise your jelly wine lacks body, because jelly with intense flavor has been cooked down significantly, and as you noticed you had to dilute it a lot to bring the SG in range. How about adding some raisins?
5) For combinations of flavorings, there's nothing better than reading a good dessert cookbook. If you have peach jam, for example, a common addition is vanilla, or raspberry. Blueberries go with citrus and/or cinnamon. Almost everything benefits from lemon. It all depends on the fruit. My guess though is that it would take a higher concentration of spices than what one would use in jelly. Not just more, but higher concentration per liter/quart of juice. I'm not sure about this last bit? It could be dependent on when you add it in the process.
6) Have you thought about using your "jelly juice" as a fruit substitute in the Skeeter Pee recipe? That recipe has all the acid you need (lemon juice) and good instructions.
7) Finally, it really helps to have fresh fruit to "recycle" jam or jelly. It makes all the difference in the world, and I would believe it would work for wine. I have recycled strawberry jam into strawberry pancake syrup and the fresh strawberries make it.
 
Thanks wyogal! I think most of the jelly was what we call mustang grape...just a wild very tart grape.
As this wine is finished, I am just looking to flavor it...to me it has a very nuetral flavor...vanilla peach actually sounds pretty good to me....but I think I will use a liquid flavoring vs fresh fruits as I don't want kickstart the fermentation back up again.

Also like the Skeeter Pee idea....I've been wanting to try that recipe.
 
well as twisted as milk with most anything in it is gaging to me as well, but i bet we both grew up with some mighty fine company ,
as for wine from jam/jelly/preserves yes your dead right, but that don't mean that i am smart enough to figure on that one, i hope you take this one all the way, hell call it jammed wine, i would be honored to know your taste opinion at both year one and then year two.
miss-small you cantankerous country-boy,
Dawg




well, I didn't think it was too strange using jams and jellies....I mean, they are made from fruit and tons of sugar...all I really added was yeast and water. It did ferment dry.

Dawg...your Daddy and mine musta grown up next door! Dad will make a meal outta cornbread or biscuits in milk. I like biscuits and will even drink milk if I have too, but I just can't stand them togather....in a glass togather. It just gags me...must be a texture thing.

So milk is out as a flavor addition. Any IDEAS??
 
tis the season to miss small...I drew an arrow on a nice little ten point yesterday morning. I still love the hunt and being that close, unseen. He was DRT...dead right there...but I didn't release. Just wasn't in the mood to peel a deer! He'll be better next year, like our wines....if they make it through the season.

He wasn't the one I was looking for....gotta Axis buck out there that'll go 40" tall and is even wider. I've seen better, heavier antler mass, but he is a real good one for my pasture....looks good, eats better! Had a chance the other day, in range, he was still on the place but over a fence...I would have had to cut to get him out. Grandaddy always advised me to never cut a good fence.
 
tis the season to miss small...I drew an arrow on a nice little ten point yesterday morning. I still love the hunt and being that close, unseen. He was DRT...dead right there...but I didn't release. Just wasn't in the mood to peel a deer! He'll be better next year, like our wines....if they make it through the season.

He wasn't the one I was looking for....gotta Axis buck out there that'll go 40" tall and is even wider. I've seen better, heavier antler mass, but he is a real good one for my pasture....looks good, eats better! Had a chance the other day, in range, he was still on the place but over a fence...I would have had to cut to get him out. Grandaddy always advised me to never cut a good fence.

Nothing better than being able to get close in on them in their world. I had a few nice bucks in bow range last weekend, they'll be better next year, managed to arrow a nice mature doe for the freezer. My favorite time(s) of the year are now, bow season and frozen must delivery season..........
 
I'm happy if I can come to full draw...I know I did my job. The fun stops right after that anyway! Show me a good 8-10 point buck with a fat slick doe standing beside him....I gonna bounce her off the ground first. Can't eat horns and she taste much better anyway!
 
here a few years back when i went to check a deer they were doing biologicals on the deer, pulling a tooth, taking a DNA sample, weighting, i walked over they were massive deer laying every where the game warden told me to hang on a minute and he'd help me unload my deer i turned around walked 30 yards to my truck reached in the bed gathered the feet like a suitcase and walked over and dropped my deer in line, everyone died laughing the warden turned his back to me his shoulders were shaking, I looked around and said i have no shame, when your chewing your asses off, I'll be eating mine with my fingers it will be so tender, i had not field dressed it,, when it was weighted it weighted 28lbs. and had faded spots on it, must of been born very late, we ate it all for several breakfasts, my dad's brothers came over every morning till it was gone, this year I've only been out once due to being in the hospital last couple weeks getting out this evening, i got 1 whole ham left, nephews are running me nuts to get it smoked on my off set stick smoker, it would of done well to weight 60 lbs. un-field dressed, i leave the adults to breed, and if i see twins i never kill both, since i eat farm fresh meats and wild game i always eat better then kings an queens do. and as i said i have no shame, you can look in boone&crockett at the very instep of Arkansas and the boot hill of MO., deep woods clean water and so on, but I HAVE NEVER HUNTED HORNS OTHERS DO AN I AM FINE WITH THAT FEEL FREE TO BRAG, but you sit at my table prepare yourself to eat finer then you've ever dreamed of. heck you should see my belly that took years an tons of fine food to build a temple like that,, lol,
Dawg
PS how's that wine doing i meant it when i said i'd like to know how it came out and later how it has aged,,,,,,:ft



I'm happy if I can come to full draw...I know I did my job. The fun stops right after that anyway! Show me a good 8-10 point buck with a fat slick doe standing beside him....I gonna bounce her off the ground first. Can't eat horns and she taste much better anyway!
 
She's just sitting there waiting on me. Debating adding some oak...going to check the acid, but I really think it's fine. It's done, it's finished dry....just kinda mehhhh, blah. Anything I do would just be to flavor adds now...wyogal mentioned peach and vanilla that sounds interesting to me. It'll never be classic fine wine, but hopefully I can make it a little more interesting.

Started my first big kit this evening, the Eclipse Bravado / Super Tuscany...tastes and smells wonderful. I have enough Jam&Jelly liquid frozen to make another 6 gallon batch. I plan to add the used grape pack from the Bravado to the next batch...may not make much difference. Maybe bump it up with some currants and bananas and I've got about a pound of blueberries I could add. Heck...it'll just be a dollar for a six gallon batch! This is what you call trying to make a silk purse outta a sow's ear. Guarantee it'll be unique!

Oh...down here in the Hill Country of Texas, we have a ton of deer. I never really hunt because I know where they are at! I call them brief case deer...quartered out you can fit one in a brief case! But 28 pounds? Dog, I've shot squirells down here that weighed 28 pounds! First liar never stands a chance around here!!:try:try
 
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