My *First* Brew: Peach Mango Wine

This weekend I plan to start my *first* batch of wine. It will be a peach mango adapted from:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=334976&postcount=73

I bought 4 106 oz cans of peaches in light syrup and a box of mangoes (12) from Sam's.

My plan is to drain and rinse the peaches then run them through the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Peel the mangoes and run them through as well.

To the a 7.8 gallon primary bucket along with the pulp, I plan to add:
11 lbs of white table sugar (will probably have to test the SP a few times to find out exact amount)
3 tsp acid blend
4 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp wine tanin

I'm planning on using Lalvin ICV-D47

As far as specific gravity is concerned, does the pulp affect the readings?

I want the beginning SP to be around 1.090.

Any feedback is appreciated.

I made pineapple, mango, peach. Made it too hot and it took 2 years to be any good.

Making a starter of 32 oz of water, 12 oz (wt) of sugar and 1/8 tsp of yeast nutrient. It's boiling now. Based on my calculations, this should get me in the neighborhood of 1.045 SG. I'll have to wait and see.

Well, that didn't work out so well. The SP was 1.160. Obviously, I didn't do a very good job at converting the waterugar ratio. I'll have to come up with a better formula. Anyway, after fidgeting with it a bit I arrived at 1.041.

Now to boil it for a bit.

Check out this thread http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=216092

I made two batches of Mango wine now and suggest to leave out the acid blend until you are ready to stabilize. Also you need to let this must sit overnight and add Potassium Metabisulfit and Potassium Sorbate to it to kill any wild yeasts from your fresh fruit. I only simmered my fruit for about 10 minutes.. You may need a Refractometer to get a true reading.

Also follow Danger Dave's regimen http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41825 for taking care of the must the first week. It worked well for me once I got it going. Take daily gravity readings and degas. My last mango wine hit FG in 10 days from pitch (SG 1.118/FG 0.988) using his technique. I also added Yeast Nutrient at the 1/3 sugar breaks. So I added at 1.085 (day 2) and 1.058 (day 4).

One step forward, one step back.

Finished the must today.

[FONT=&quot]3 lbs 4 oz mango puree (13 mangos from Sam’s)[/FONT]
8[FONT=&quot] lbs 10 oz peach puree (2 106 oz cans Dole sliced peaches in light syrup,rinsed and drained)[/FONT]
2[FONT=&quot]3 cups of sugar[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Water to fill to 6 gallons[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 tsp pectin enzyme[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 tsp acid blend[/FONT]
1 t[FONT=&quot]sp wine tannin[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6 crushed Campden tablets[/FONT]

SP is 1.080 @ 85F

I tasted it before I added the adjutants. It had a nice taste. Perhaps a little added tartness would be nice. But, maybe the acid blend will add a little to it.


On the other hand, I took the yeast starter off the stir plate and checked the SP. It's at 1.040. When I pitched the yeast last night the SP was 1.045. It's been 18 hours. I would have though there would be a much bigger difference in the readings. I'm guessing the yeast didn't react very well to my starter solution with was a sugar, water and yeast nutrient.

Back on the stir plate it goes. Just before I checked it I was thinking that I should have bought more than one pack of yeast. At least the home brew shop opens at noon tomorrow, I think?

(Edited: Maybe all is not lost in terms of the yeast. I tasted it. Though it tastes like bread, it does have an alcohol bite. Maybe my OG reading was off.)

After checking the culture last night I added a pinch of yeast nutrient. This morning I checked the culture. There are bubbles in the center of the vortex. There is also noticeable condensation on the flash walls. There was none before. Hopefully this is a good sign.

Here is a picture of the starter when I pitched the yeast on 04/11/2015 at 00:43 AM. When I checked it 18 hours later, the SP was nearly the same as the starting SP and it pretty much looked the same.

This is the same yeast culture approximately 16 hours later. There are bubbles in the vortex and condensation on the flask walls. Looks like the yeast are doing their happy thing.

Here is the must.

Just checking in. Below is the activity from the the past few days.

On Saturday afternoon when I pitched the yeast, the SP of the must was 1.080.

About 24 hours later early Sunday evening I took the lid off and stirred it a bit then I took a sample and the the SP was 1.080. No change.

Early Monday morning, I took the lid off, added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and stirred it.

Monday evening, I took the lid off and stirred it. Then I took a reading. The SP was 1.077.

Tuesday morning I stirred it.

Tuesday evening I stirred it and took a reading. It was at 1.070.

This morning I added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and stirred it. I also took a reading. It was at 1.062.

Is this about right?

It seems it was stuck for a few days, but now it seems to be moving along.

Sounds like it's going fine.

I was a bit worried. I started another yeast culture Sunday. I'm planning on using it for a batch of skeeter pee. For a minute, I was thinking I might have to re-pitch this batch with it instead.

Perhaps I need to make a couple extra stir plates and get 3 or 4 cultures going at one tine.....(rhut-rho).

Just racked it. The SP was .0992 so I added Potassium Sorbate.

Then back sweetened it and added a bit of peach and mango extract. I'm thinking I should have waited about 12 hours before adding the sugar.

Ants_Elixirs said:

Just racked it. The SP was .0992 so I added Potassium Sorbate.

Then back sweetened it and added a bit of peach and mango extract. I'm thinking I should have waited about 12 hours before adding the sugar.

Click to expand...

In the future, after it has fermented dry, add kmeta(if you hadn't already) and a clearing agent(if you are going to, if not then let it clear on it's own), then add sorbate. Wait until it is clear to add the sorbate to help minimize any yeast sticking around.

wineforfun said:

In the future, after it has fermented dry, add kmeta(if you hadn't already) and a clearing agent(if you are going to, if not then let it clear on it's own), then add sorbate. Wait until it is clear to add the sorbate to help minimize any yeast sticking around.

Click to expand...

Thanks, for the info. It's great to have such helpful people around.

Racked and stabilized it today. Afterwards I poured a little in a cup and tasted it. It needs sweetening. I sweetened the part I poured off. Whoa, that's some good wine. Next time, I plan to start out at about 1.070. It's a tad bit hot.

Today was bottling day.

Before bottling, I back sweetened with about 3 1/2 cups of sugar.

Next time I'll use more fruit and forgo the extract. It seems the extract added a slightly bitter after taste.

It took me about 16 bottles, but I finally got the cork depth set. Didn't find the corker to be difficult physically, but I don't like how it dents the center of the cork and squishes it to one side. Perhaps that is user error.

I used my allinonewinepump to fill the bottles. Worked real good.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the outcome of my first batch of wine. Now I have to get my labeling in gear. Can anyone tell me what sort of software they use to image edit.

BTW, you'll notice the bottle on the left nearest the pump. It was the left over. It's in the fridge now. I doubt it will survive the night.

I've got two more batches settling waiting to be bottled. I have learned a lot since starting.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED ME!!!

About the dents in the cork - I have used a cotton ball wetted down with sulfite between the top of the cork and the plunger- Works great !

BTW - The vacuum hose does not have to go thru the large hole on the upright - That was done for shipping purposes only