fresh mango wine, slightly sweet

[nasv]

hey everyone!

If I can still get my hands on fresh mango this late in the summer, I'm thinking of trying my hand at a gallon batch of mango wine, but slightly sweet.

To achieve the slightly sweet, I was thinking of starting with a very high SG of around 1.110 and using a lower alc tolerance yeast such as Montrachet. My thinking is that the fermentation will end at around 13.5% alcohol and the SG will still be stuck somewhere between 1.005 and 1.010, hinting at the residual sugar remaining and leaving me with a slightly sweet or off-dry wine.

Does this sound right? Or is my logic flawed (like it's better to back-sweeten instead)?

Just wondering, thanks!

-Nico

p.s. has anyone tried making a wine from mango?

 

[bj4271]

Nico,


I've got about 12# of mango that I've steamed with the idea of making wine when I get around to it. Go for it & keep us advised.


The local Brookshire's still has fresh mango on hand.Edited by: bj4271

 

[Waldo]

Nico, I believe i'd take it to dry and then backsweeten. The sweetness may be more than you want or could be less taking your suggested path. Just my thoughts

 

[Wade E]

I second that as 13.5% is a little high for a fruit wine of that type in my opinion. A blackberry or Black currant can hie a high abv but strawberries and melon type fruits, I usually shoot for around 11.5.

 

[Bill B]

Dittos. I would not start the SG so high. If you want a nice fruit foward wine then keep the ABV lower or you will end up with flavored alcohol. Unless you want a high ABV I would start at 1.080 or lower. you will still get good flavor and a decent ABV of 11.2. Then do as Waldo indicated ferment to dry then backsweeten to taste. Just my 2 cents
<DIV SuperAdBlocker_DIV_Elements="0" SuperAdBlocker_OnMove_Hooked="0" SuperAdBlocker__Hooked="0" SuperAdBlocker_DIV_FirstLook="0">Bill

 

[Wade E]

What i usually do with fruit wines is find a same or similiar juice in a store( I use nature food stores as these are usually exact fruit and not a mix of fruit juices) and put in a pot on the stove and reduce the juice down to keep all the suagr and flavor but not dilute the wine down with too much liquid. Just make sure to not clear the wine until back sweetened whether using sugar syrup or juice as this could cloud up the wine sometimes.

 

[nasv]

you guys are awesome, thanks for chiming in! I'll be sure to keep this forum thread up to date with my progress; hopefully I can find some fresh mangoes around here. I'll aim at a starting SG &lt;= 1.080 and plan on back-sweetening.

T H A N K S!
-Nico

 

[Wade E]

I would keep some SuperKleer on hand for this batch as I foresee some seriously thick sediment on this 1 or some good aging time for this to settle but really sounds delish!

 

[el wino]

you are exactly right about that wade.there is some serious sediment in that mango wine..I made a 2-gallon batch &amp; only wound up with 1-gal after the rackings...

 

[Wade E]

Wow! 1/2 left huh!

Edited by: wade

 

[el wino]

thats right wade..Maybe I wasn't patience enough.Its nice &amp; clear nowafter using superclear........

 

[dfwwino]

The book, "Winemaking - Recipes, Equipment, and Techniques for Making Wine at Home" by Stanley Anderson and his wife has a good recipe for mango wine. George sells this book:


http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=7365


If you wish to sweeten, I would simply ferment dry and sweeten back like any other wine through chaptilization (adding sugar syrup (two parts sugar to one part water)and potassium sorbate). Edited by: dfwwino