Apricot wine

[greywolf]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum but have been making wine for the past 5 years or so using fresh grapes and kits. I'm attempting my first wine using something other than grapes. I'd like to make a port style wine using apricots but am unable find fresh fruit. Can canned apricots be used and for that matter can any canned fruit be used or does wine made from cans turn out horrible?

 

[Dend78]

WELCOME!!!

of course you can use canned fruit, the syrup inside makes for less sugar you will have to add to get your SG right. you will have other preservatives from the canning process but just keep and eye on your levels and you should be fine. you may want to do a yeast starter in the event they preservative concentrations are a bit high and may cause a hard start situation for the yeast. also you will need several cans to get the fruit flavor i think like 3lbs of fruit per gallon i think. you may take a look around and see if there is a good recipe here on the site.

 

[greywolf]

Thanks. What worried me was that I have not been able to find any post/recipes using canned fruit so I thought that the preservatives might be a deterrent.

 

[ckassotis]

3 lbs of fruit per gallon is low even for a fruit wine. If you are looking for a port you want a wine packed with flavor, so I wouldn't use any less than double that. Probably not any less than 8#, if not higher. You can get away with less for a wine, but you can't skimp on a port.

 

[saramc]

The preservatives used in commercially canned products will not impact your winemaking--you just have to know what to do about them. What I recommend is this: do not add k-meta/Campden until you rack the wine from the primary fermentation bucket to your carboy and apply airlock. Many do this when the S.G. has dropped by 2/3 or when it is dry or almost dry. I have NEVER had a problem with using a commercially prepared product of any type.
Just make sure if you are using canned anything, it is of the quality that you would consume the product itself. You could consider using a combination of canned apricots, dried apricots, apricot nectar, etc. Opting to use the nectar will yield a lot of lees, but adds nice apricot flavor.

Keep us posted!

 

[BobF]

I've had terrible experience adding k-meta before wine is dry. If you transfer to a carboy before dryness, consider holding off on the k-meta until the next racking when the wine is dry.

 

[greywolf]

Thanks everyone. I think I have a good idea on what to do. I'll be sure to post my results. I'm also starting a pear wine so we'll see how that turns out.