F-Pack?

[waynep]

I keep reading about an F-Pack. So I googled and found it's essentially concentrated fruit juice (heat reduced) to add after fermentation. Is this done to add more fruit flavor into the wine? Or Sweetness? I would suspect it's more to bring out or enhance the fruit flavor? Correct?

 

[Tom]

yes. F-PAC = Flavor Pac
If you search here you will see how I make mine

 

[Luc]

Ever wondered if commercial wineries and cider manufacturers make f-packs.
Ever wondered why not ???

It is that most home winemakers start their must with too little fruit and have it diluted with water (and then bring acidity up with acid or acid blend) is why the flavor is watered down.

Calculate how much juice your fruit will give. Calculate the SG and acidity and bring them to the right level by diluting just as much as is needed. Then you will have a strong flavored must that not needs an f-Pack.

Sometime in the future I am going to do experiments on my web-log with this, so beware ::

However I myself have never found the need to make an fpack.

Luc

 

[St Allie]

I sweeten my grapefruit wine with a homemade cordial made from sugar and fruit/zest...

citrus wine made using zest still has a bit of a bitter undertone without sweetening.

If I use too much juice and zest from citrus fruit, I have a damned difficult time getting it to ferment.

especially lemons. ( horrendous to get fermenting)

Grapefruit ferments easier and makes a better drinking wine.

I use 4 litres of water in my citrus recipes ( per gallon) If I used pure grapefruit juice for the must, it simply would be too high in acidity to ferment.

( in my opinion, using NZ fruit)

Allie

 

[Sen]

Are you trying to examine my passion it is not fair. I like fruit wine very much. Thanks for your information.

 

[gloo]

Okay so to make an F-pack do I have to juice some fresh fruits and then heat reduce or can I use any kind of juice?

Also I suppose you should had Potassium sorbate before so that the fermentation doesn't start over? Is that right?

Umm... wine making is a real science. Next time I will make sure to keep my wine concentrated.

 

[wyntheef]

Umm... wine making is a real science.

My geologist son was home and checking out the winemaking area and made the comment that all of my equipment could have also come from a labratory supply.

 

[Tom]

Okay so to make an F-pack do I have to juice some fresh fruits and then heat reduce or can I use any kind of juice?

Also I suppose you should had Potassium sorbate before so that the fermentation doesn't start over? Is that right?

Umm... wine making is a real science. Next time I will make sure to keep my wine concentrated.

I would use the same juice as what fruit wine you are making.

Before adding you must have added meta AND sorbate.

 

[Runningwolf]

Also add f pack before sweetening as it will add some sugar.

 

[gloo]

Thanks for the great info!

 

[Dana]

if you use fresh fruit to make an f-pack do you need to add pectin enzyme again to prevent it getting hazy?

 

[Bohemiana]

I'm adding dried sweet cherries to a red wine kit. I have read on this board to how to add this but I'm not sure if it's complete--
--Rinse dried cherries (8 oz.) in hot water and then cold water to remove any sulfites.
--Soak them overnight in cold water and then chop them into smaller pieces. (Although they are pretty small already--about the size of a large raisin.)
--Toss them loose into the bucket during primary.
--Do not use them in secondary because it might add too much sugar.
Is this correct? Anything I'm missing in the process?

 

[winemaker81]

Do not use them in secondary because it might add too much sugar.

It depends on what your end goal is. Fermented and non-fermented cherries will impart difference flavors.

If you are looking to make a "fun wine", like a Cherry-Merlot, go with post-fermentation. Start with clear and CO2 free wine. Stabilize the wine and add the cherries. Once a week, stir the wine to distribute the cherry flavor, and taste. Rack the wine off the cherries when you're satisfied. However, grape solids start to decompose post-fermentation, so I'd expect the cherries to do so as well, so I'd not leave the cherries in for more than 2 to 3 weeks. If the cherry flavor isn't strong enough, you can either add a different batch of cherries or add cherry juice, although the juice may have a lot of natural sugar.

My comments are not very precise, but we're dealing with a lot of unknowns, so you'll have to wing it to some extent. Other folk may have other methods to try.

OTOH, If you want a dry red with strong cherry notes, add during fermentation.