Comprehensive guide to making kiwi wine.

[jigmee7276]

Hi! So i'm a farmer in the himalayas, India. Recently, since the lockdown, i've begun dabbling in making wine from the kiwi fruit ( green variety ) and ive come across few hurdles. Firstly im genuinely interested in this new hobby of mine and i would like to know if anybody has any knowledge of where i can find rich comprehensive guide on making wine from this fruit. Now I've tried it twice in the past two years and ive faced a small issue. The wine which i have made has turned out very acidic and tart. All i've read has told me that it is in the nature of the fruit that has made it happen. But intuition tell me i can make a balanced wine. Can i make some modifications to the process? Use a blend of fruits. Perhaps a heavier bodied fruit like a banana. Or as somebody posted here, backsweeten it to balance it out. Please tell me the best and latest method to overcome my shortcoming.
I'm pasting the recipe which i followed while making the wine here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ads/my-father-wants-to-make-kiwi-wine.206088/
Help would be immensely appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BigDaveK]

Haven't made kiwi wine yet but it's on my list. (Everything is on my list.)

It's no more acidic than lemons or oranges so that shouldn't be an issue.

Found one recipe:

3-4 lbs kiwi
sugar to SG around 1.085
12 oz raisins
1 tsp acid blend
1 tsp nutrient
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp tannin powder
water to a gallon
yeast

I've read the skins can be bitter.
Seems like a basic fruit wine recipe. Having a hydrometer and a way to check pH would be good.
Hope this helps.

 

[hounddawg]

i make my skeeter pee using a qt of lemon concentrate per gallon, which is very acidic, by back sweetening,,, it comes out like a very good lemonade, not to mention i run that wine up very, very high ABV%, but you can't tell it, it is smooth as silk, country/fruit/berry wine benefit greatly from back sweetening,
Dawg

 

[Jovimaple]

Welcome to WMT!

I agree that backsweetening is probably the best way to get a balanced wine.

 

[sour_grapes]

Put another vote in the backsweetening camp.

 

[David Violante]

The Himalayas as so beautiful~ welcome to WMT! I’m in the back-sweetening camp as well… also if you can get a Yeast that is pH tolerant and converts some of the acidity that could help, such a Lalvin 71B. You could try MLF to reduce acidity, and also cold crashing.

 

[Raptor99]

I love kiwis! If I had that many kiwis I would certainly make some wine.

The link in your original post doesn't work because the url is pasted in twice. Here is the link for anyone interested: My father wants to make kiwi wine

The recipes that you shared all have added acidic. If it is too tart, you could omit the acid for your next batch. For future reference, it is very helpful to get a pH meter and check the pH at the beginning. Then you can determine whether or not you need to add some acid blend. A good pH value for fruit wine is around 3.4 to 3.5.

Most fruit wines taste quite tart until you backsweeten. It might not actually be too acidic. You don't really know unless you measure pH and TA. My cranberry wine was quite tart, but with some backsweetening it is delicious.

I suggest that you try a "bench test" by taking a small measured sample of the wine and add small amount of sugar at a time until you like the taste. Then you can calculate how much sugar to add to the entire batch. If you backsweeten, you will need to stabilize the wine first with Kmeta (Potassium Metabisulfite) and Potassium Sorbate so that the fermentation does not re-start.

 

[rajeevniro]

Hi

Hi! So i'm a farmer in the himalayas, India. Recently, since the lockdown, i've begun dabbling in making wine from the kiwi fruit ( green variety ) and ive come across few hurdles. Firstly im genuinely interested in this new hobby of mine and i would like to know if anybody has any knowledge of where i can find rich comprehensive guide on making wine from this fruit. Now I've tried it twice in the past two years and ive faced a small issue. The wine which i have made has turned out very acidic and tart. All i've read has told me that it is in the nature of the fruit that has made it happen. But intuition tell me i can make a balanced wine. Can i make some modifications to the process? Use a blend of fruits. Perhaps a heavier bodied fruit like a banana. Or as somebody posted here, backsweeten it to balance it out. Please tell me the best and latest method to overcome my shortcoming.
I'm pasting the recipe which i followed while making the wine here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ads/my-father-wants-to-make-kiwi-wine.206088/
Help would be immensely appreciated. Thanks.

..
I've been making wines since many years.. may i know which state of India you belong to because I'm also from India and from the himalayas