fresh fig wine

[bg7mm]

i had some beautiful figs i've been picking in the freezer. took them out this mourning, measured out 18 pounds for a 5 gallon batch. i added all the ingredience including camden tablets . tommorow after the 24 hour waiting period i'll pitch the yeast. thru the day today i sqeezed the bag containing the figs 3 or 4 times to mashed them, a large amount of seeds came thru the bag because their so small, my question is, will these seeds sink thru the process of fermentation?

the recipe calls for lavin 1116 yeast but i have 1118, would it be ok if i pitch the 1118?

tasted the mix and wow, taste like fig preserve, should make a nice wine

 

[Arne]

They might fall out while fermenting. If they are floating, you can dip them out now, or wait til you transfer to secondary and use a fine mesh of some kind to filter them out. Arne.

 

[sonofasailor]

I would be very interested in how your fig wine making goes. I am making fig wine for the first time this weekend. I have about 10 gallons of figs in the fridge..not to mention the tons still on the trees. I'm waiting on some ingredients to arrive...hopefully Saturday I'll be making fig wine. If you have any pointers I would enjoy them as this is my first attempt at making wine. Cheers.

 

[bg7mm]

i'll keep you in the know sonofasailor, using the recipe from ECkraus website

 

[juventude]

I made last year my first gal fig wine and came so damm good that it finished up in a couple of days with everyone asking for more... Seriously thinking of making another batch, about the seeds, i took realy care to filter all the seeds but they always find a way out to the carboy... Don 't worry when its time to rack they will fall to the bottom
... Good luck and enjoy a great wine....

 

[bg7mm]

pitched the yeast this mourning and i just checked things, seeing signs of fermentation already. looking good so far

 

[sonofasailor]

Question....can I use the ECKrause 5 gallon recipe in my 6 gallon carboy or do I need to modify for 6 gallons?

 

[juventude]

IMO its better to modify the recepie to 6 gal.. i also took look at the recepie and I had in mine the use of honey, which gave a great taste to the wine which I highly suggest...

 

[saramc]

would you share your fig mead recipe?

IMO its better to modify the recepie to 6 gal.. i also took look at the recepie and I had in mine the use of honey, which gave a great taste to the wine which I highly suggest...

Wondering if you would consider sharing your recipe?

I made a 1 gallon batch last year and I have 2 bottles left (put them in 500ml's) and I quite like it....but am always interested in other's recipes. I threw mine together (crazy kitchen chemist). Reminds me of a sherry.

 

[sonofasailor]

i'll keep you in the know sonofasailor, using the recipe from ECkraus website

Thank you...I modified the ECkraus recipe for my 6 gallon carboy...I'll be adding yeast in a couple of hours...look forward to your updates...first time for me.

 

[juventude]

Wondering if you would consider sharing your recipe?

I made a 1 gallon batch last year and I have 2 bottles left (put them in 500ml's) and I quite like it....but am always interested in other's recipes. I threw mine together (crazy kitchen chemist). Reminds me of a sherry.

I used the recipe of the link below, but the original recipe is with dry fruit, therefore I doubled the amount of fresh fruit as when dried there is an increase the natural sugar in fruit, therefore tried to compensate, also added sugar as the last ingredient in order to be able to get the desired SG.

http://www.wine-making-guides.com/wine_recipes.html

 

[bg7mm]

fermentation going hard now, i'm going to remove the bag the figs were put in in a couple days. seems to have lost about 2/3 the volume that was in the bag. a thich layer of foamy spongy stuff floating to the top, getting thicker each day but i'm not getting concerned about it. acutally looks good. sugar levels dropping quick and today i can taste the alcohol brewing in the batch. the aroma and taste are superb so far. in two days i'm going to rack into secondary and i'm going to add 18 ounces of golden honey to the mix. we'll let her go until fementation is completed then decide which course to take then.

seeds seem to have already begun dropping with each stir which i do three times a day

btw, i'm doing this inside, very hot here outside in south louisiana, primary fermentation in a 6 gallon bucket covered with a cloth, smells nice in the kitchen

 

[sonofasailor]

fermentation going hard now, i'm going to remove the bag the figs were put in in a couple days. seems to have lost about 2/3 the volume that was in the bag. a thich layer of foamy spongy stuff floating to the top, getting thicker each day but i'm not getting concerned about it. acutally looks good. sugar levels dropping quick and today i can taste the alcohol brewing in the batch. the aroma and taste are superb so far. in two days i'm going to rack into secondary and i'm going to add 18 ounces of golden honey to the mix. we'll let her go until fementation is completed then decide which course to take then.

seeds seem to have already begun dropping with each stir which i do three times a day

btw, i'm doing this inside, very hot here outside in south louisiana, primary fermentation in a 6 gallon bucket covered with a cloth, smells nice in the kitchen

thanks for the update...I'm a couple days behind you...I did my first stir this morning...figs still pretty thick but can tell fermintation has started...noticed you squeezed the fruit bag...I haven't...maybe why my figs seem so thick...is this a step you recommend? Is it OK to get SG through all the fruit? So thick...thanks again for your update and any advice you care to share....you're right...does smell pretty good!

 

[saramc]

Thank you for recipe link!!

I used the recipe of the link below, but the original recipe is with dry fruit, therefore I doubled the amount of fresh fruit as when dried there is an increase the natural sugar in fruit, therefore tried to compensate, also added sugar as the last ingredient in order to be able to get the desired SG.

http://www.wine-making-guides.com/wine_recipes.html

Thanks for the recipe link, had not seen that one. Will enjoy reading through the many recipes. I cannot wait for the day I have fresh figs from my trees, hopefully next season! Store bought fresh figs just do NOT have the same taste.

 

[bg7mm]

decided i'm going to pitch honey in the mourning then wait another 24 hours beforing removing the bag containing whats left of figs, figs are breaking down, i mashed most before dumping them into bag and mashed again once after they were in the fermenter, i stir often during the day. fermentation going hard now but sugar levels falling fast, things should begin to slow in another 48 hours or so unless the honey keeps it going strong longer than i suspect it will

as mentioned, yes, it sure smells good at the moment

 

[saramc]

Those figs sure do break down to nothing but the "floating stuff" on top, and seeds. I swear there was no pulp at all in mine when I racked it. Granted had some fluffy lees, but the straining bag just was foam and seeds.

 

[sonofasailor]

Couple of questions....how do you get your SG through the fruit...I have almost two inches of fermenting fruit on top of the bucket...did I miss something? When I put my hydrometer in the bucket it really sits on top of the fruit unless I force it down into the bucket...help please. Since the figs took up space in my bucket...did I make a mistake to fill to the 6 gallon mark on the fermenter (have a 6 gallon carboy)....should I have added more water to compensate for the fruit?....or just add water back up to the 6 gallon mark once I remove the figs? More questions to follow....thanks and cheers.

 

[bg7mm]

i remove liquid from the primary with a wine thief, pour this into a glass tube made for the hydrometer. most all the fruit residue was removed when i removed the bag containing it, only a small amount now still floating above the fermentation bubbles. i dropped the honey this evening, fermentation still going hard. going to wait a day or two before racking into a secondary glass carboy. i'm going to try filtering it thru a cloth to remove all i can before secondary, never done this before but theres always a first for everything right?

 

[juventude]

Passing them through a cloth might be a little too much as you may end up loosing some of those delicious flavors .... Suggest that you strain it through those fine strainers, those that we use for icing sugar or flour those have a realy fine mesh ... And then let the gravity do the rest of the work for you....