Duos and combinations of Similar Fruits

Wine Duos and flavors. I read on this forum where everyone is searching for a "Blend" or "combination" of Fruits and/or Veggies to bring to dry that "Perfect" Wine. I too search every day for the "perfect" combination and try many, many different combinations. The one thing that I have realized, is that some fruit and vegetable flavors are more assertive than others. Some are Strong (Elderberry), some are Medium (strawberry),and some are mild (peach). Putting flavors together, or "DUOS" as I call them, should be of about equal strength, give or take a little to be consistent. Here's some of the "DUOS" that I like:
Apricot-Pineapple
Carrot-Apricot
Apricot-Peach
Strawberry-Rhubarb
Watermelon-Blueberry
Blackberry-Raspberry
Beet-Blueberry
Cherry-Raspberry
Orange-Pineapple
Raisin-Banana
Blueberry-Raspberry
Sometimes one fruit might be a little more assertive than the other, but you can make up for this by using more of the "Blander" fruit. The only trick to making these wines is to watch the acidity. Duos are a good use of fruit that isn't quite good enough to make a Top-Notch single fruit wine. But, NEVER, NEVER use inferior, spoiled, or unripe fruit. I'll post some recipes when I get time and hopefully some pictures of bottled "DUOS". Let your imagination be your guide. The possibilities are endless and lead to "Triplets", and multiple combinations of four or more. Enjoy!
God Bless

Guss

Quad Mix Tropial

Started a quad-mix tropical must today as follows:
Lemon Juice
Lime Concentrate
Tropical mix of Pineapple, Mango, Papaya, Strawberries
6 gallons of must in the Primary.
Looks great so far. SP was 1.076...but I'm expecting the fruit to push the SG up to 1.090 or higher.
I'll post this recipe once I rack to Carboy.

blueberry elderberry (I call it "Old Blue")
Blueberry Lemon
Blueberry + anything!

Nylon Strainer bags

Thought I'd pay on some "Gee-Golly Whiz" information about how I use Nylon Straining Bags that might be of help to someone. When I put my Fresh or Frozen Fruit into the bag(s), I always include a pound of decorative rocks (small round clear) that I get from Walmart. The rocks weigh the bag down to the bottom of the primary and allow CO2 gas more room to escape through the uncovered lid or towel that is covering the primary. I do this because I noticed that when the "CAP" rises up against the floating nylon bag, it creates a barrier and keeps the CO2 gas in and , to me, doesn't allow it to flow entirely freely UP and OUT. I want as much as possible of the CO2 gas to vent while in the primary to prevent a bitter taste and promote fermentation.

Hope this helps someone

Guss:

Gussman said:

I always include a pound of decorative rocks (small round clear) that I get from Walmart.

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I hope they are free of lead!

Definitely Clear of lead Paul. I checked them out.

Gussman said:

Definitely Clear of lead Paul. I checked them out.

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That is great news, Gussman! Many folks on here have looked for sources of cheap "marbles" for purposes of displacing volume in secondary. (That is, as an alternative to topping up or racking down.) The concern about lead comes up in those threads with respect to Walmart products. How did you determine they were lead-free? This would be good for many people to know.

Contacted AKASHA-US, importer of the GEMS, and obtained the chemical compostion of the GEMS. They are 40-70% recycled glass. They are crystal clear and oval in shape.I wasn't able to obtain the composition of the remaining 30%, but from appearance, there doesn't appear to be any lead. At the cost of $4.00, I'm sure there is no lead-crystal glass in these GEMS??

Gussman, I think I'd take the extra step if getting a lead detection kit to be sure. They are easy to find in hardware stores. I used them to determine if my miniblinds had lead in them when that report came out several years ago. Basically you just rub the test against the object you wish to test and a color change tells you the result. don't remember if it turned pink or what, but it was easy. I was also able to test some old peeling boards to tell if that paint was leaded. Miniblinds were fine, but the paint was leaded. 30 percent is an awful lot of uncertainty.

Pam in cinti

Actually I would get rid of the rocks. Having the fruit in a bag that floats to the top is really not an issue. You should be squeezing the bag everyday, so having it laying on the bottom is really more of a problem.

So I shouldn't be using sinkers out of my tackle box?
Just kidding but I have to say I would hAve never thought of lead in glass rocks

Marble King is in WV, sells clear pure marbles by the pound cheap, I would trust that much more than anything at walmart.

You mention elderberries but not duos with it, some of our favorites are:
EB and Blackberry
EB and Black Raspberry
EB and Purple Plum
EB and Cherry
EB and Apple Cider
EB dried with EB flowers
EB and Blueberry as mentioned above
EB and Ginger
EB and Chocolate
EB and Concord
EB and more EB together
WVMJ

Thanks All. Taking your advice and removing the rocks. I guess I'll just have to deal with the floating strainer bag. Thanks again.

Thanks MoutaineerJack. I'm close to Ritchie County and they have Marbles and also Williamstown, WV., which has marbles. I'll go with the marbles.

Hey WVMJ,

How do you feel about elderberries?




I think I'm becoming WVMJ Jr. I seem to want to put elderberry in everything.

I am hoping to get enough to dye my hair this year a deep dark elderberry red, I am thinking boil them a few minutes to set the color and add some acid blend to make it really really red, might even make some elderberry mead if I have enough left over WVMJ

I found this an interesting topic.

In my January 31st, 2014 entry of my WineBlog, my first winemaking topic (after the intro ramblings) was "Complementary Wine Ingredients." In it I posted a list of 42 fruits, berries and vegetables highly suitable for winemaking and the best complementary ingredients to ferment or blend with them. I invite all to look it over (and read the entry).

I have no desire to re-post it here as it is copyrighted to the WineBlog, but you are free to copy it, paste it into your word processor and print it out for future reference.

Jack Keller
Winemaking Home Page
Jack Keller's WineBlog
Winemaking With Jack Keller

My favorite duo is crabapple Pomegranate. I do not ferment them together, but rather mix them at a 3 part pomegranate 2 parts crabapple. Makes a yummy blend.

@Bergmann, I think that is a very good match. And you're right about blending. It's the best way to combine separate bases because it's the only way you have control. Field blending (fermenting them together) is really something you do (I've done it more than a few times) when you're out foraging and don't collect enough of anything to make even a small batch unless you combine them. The good news is that you can always blend it with something else later if it tastes unbalanced or...well, you know what I mean.

We do our blends on purpose in the primary fermenting the fruit together so the whole must is balanced from the start, I think its pretty much under control when we do it like that. My wife is a blending maniac, but she likes to make on the fly blends with finished wines, not wanting to limit her palette so she can make an unlimited number of blends. WVMJ

JackKeller said:

@Bergmann, I think that is a very good match. And you're right about blending. It's the best way to combine separate bases because it's the only way you have control. Field blending (fermenting them together) is really something you do (I've done it more than a few times) when you're out foraging and don't collect enough of anything to make even a small batch unless you combine them. The good news is that you can always blend it with something else later if it tastes unbalanced or...well, you know what I mean.

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