Frangipani / Plumeria Wine

[David Violante]

I was looking through recipes here and came across a frangipani / plumeria wine recipe. It sounds very intriguing and if it tastes anything like the flower smells...

So the recipe sounds straight forward except in the area of the yeast. One suggestion is 71B, other recipes relate a "general wine yeast". There are not many recipes. I think the one here is actually from Jack Keller. To that end, I'm looking for suggestions on a yeast that will take some time, ferment cooler to preserve aroma and flower nuances, and not strip too much from the flower profile.

It's not your typical recipe, but I'm in Florida for a short while more and attempting to find some plumeria flowers that I can freeze and bring back to NY. Sounds like a good winter project. And while my head is in the tropics I might as well round the project out with some passion fruit and mango wine too...

 

[salcoco]

71b has the characteristic you desire in a yeast

 

[David Violante]

Thank you @salcoco

Looks like Plumeria goes dormant in November and December and starts blooming again in the March to April timeframe. There are a few online places that ship bulk blooms so I'll have to wait until then. To be continued ~

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

OK I figured I better get this one done before my flowers were done blooming. I missed out on a ton of my yellow plumeria that have pretty much finished blooming but I got the bare minimum for a gallon batch.
Recipe calls for frozen white grape concentrate which you can’t get anymore, so wondering what to do instead. I’m going to use hibiscus tea for the water portion of it.

I’ve got white raisins, but have no idea if that will work or how much to use. Any suggestions ? I’ve got to get these flowers soaking tonight.

 

[BigDaveK]

OK I figured I better get this one done before my flowers were done blooming. I missed out on a ton of my yellow plumeria that have pretty much finished blooming but I got the bare minimum for a gallon batch.
Recipe calls for frozen white grape concentrate which you can’t get anymore, so wondering what to do instead. I’m going to use hibiscus tea for the water portion of it.

I’ve got white raisins, but have no idea if that will work or how much to use. Any suggestions ? I’ve got to get these flowers soaking tonight.View attachment 90252View attachment 90253

Gorgeous!
How do they taste?

Raisins will absolutely work. I use them all the time - for the reason you mentioned.
I believe the general rule of thumb is 1lb raisins for 1/2 pint concentrate. I've had luck with less. My current procedure is to put them in warm water over night and then water and raisins into the blender, lower speed, then into primary.

Also...

I don't rinse my flowers when I'm pouring boiling water over them. Just what I do.

Also, flowers can be frozen.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Gorgeous!
How do they taste?
I don't rinse my flowers when I'm pouring boiling water over them. Just what I do.

I forgot to taste one, but when I poured boiling water on them they smelled divine. So yummy smelling And fragrant.
Wait… I tasted one that missed the bucket. Not really any sweet flavor at all.

there’s no pollen on them so I didn’t even think about rinsing them. Not even to get any bird poop off.

minor edit:

my golden raisins were old and not very “golden“ but they are soaking now. The hibiscus tea colored the water tan anyhow.

 

[David Violante]

Can’t wait to see how this comes out! They look wonderful! I agree with the raisins as Dave indicated. I think the concentrate is to add some body. You could do so with bananas also. So jealous!!! Keep us posted!

 

[salcoco]

Welch's white grape juice is made from concentrate. use this instead of water/ other suppliers of juice can also be found just read the label

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Welch's white grape juice is made from concentrate. use this instead of water/ other suppliers of juice can also be found just read the label

I’ve used it once before. I wasn’t thrilled with it. It just seems the frozen was a little different.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Got a nice gentle ferment going. Because the raisins were old they made the liquid a brownish color. Also the hibiscus tea contributed to that. Be interesting to see how much it clears.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

OK so even though the ferment is going it still reads 1.084.
i think I took the starting SG before all the sugar from the chopped up raisins registered ? I’ll check again later today.

 

[BigDaveK]

I'm not sure from your posts, when did you add the yeast?

I usually don't bother with an SG measurement the next day after adding yeast. Any change is going to be minuscule...if there is a change. As long as I see evidence of fermentation I'm happy. Plus I don't have to clean anything.

I noticed with my flower wines that the petals are so light that they form a cap in a heartbeat. I did a stir a bunch of times during the day. Next time I'll use a bag (not my first choice) or keep them submerged another way.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Pitched yeast yesterday in the AM.

edited: OK it’s starting to move.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Could be a bust. Only at 1.072. Not very active. Might have t start over with juice or fresh raisins and see if I have enough flowers.

 

[BigDaveK]

From 1.084 on Wednesday to 1.072 today isn't bad. Too early to throw in the towel.
Could just be a slow ferment. I've had a couple that were frustratingly slow.

Had one, added a pinch of nutrient and a big pinch of yeast and it started going.

Had another that took 10 days to go from 1.085 to 1.040. I was concerned about it being exposed to air for so long. Transferred to secondary and a day later it was going crazy - from very little activity to foam in the airlock.

 

[salcoco]

did you add yeast nutrient? if not do so now.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I did add some yesterday. Didn’t seem to excite it

 

[salcoco]

give it some time

 

[David Violante]

What yeast did you use? Is there a pH or temperature range you may be near?

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I used ec1118 I checked ph and I didn’t make note of it but I’m pretty sure it was 3.6

temp right around 76 to 77°
ive got some D47 ordered to try.