Good fruit wine?

[coreyfrey]

I want to make an easy but good wine. Any recipes? Banana maybe. I like fruity and semi sweet taste. All i've made so for is welchs wine... =( the concord is ok, the white grape raspberry is nasty. I really want to be good at this hobby. My girlfriend is pissed that i keep spending money on it tho... She dont understand the importance of having all the equipment.

 

[Wade E]

Itall depends on what you like and whats available to you. I can recommend using the Vintners Harvest wine bases. http://www.finevinewines.com/c-272-fruit-purees.aspx
Use the 3 gallon recipe and only add about 8 lbs of sugar instead of the 11 that they call for to keep the tarting sg around 1.085. This product really does make a greatr fruit wine, beware that most of these cans have fruit in them so you may want some type of fermenting bag. I think the Black Currant is by far the best and is easier also as it has no fruit in it so less mess.

 

[Julie]

I want to make an easy but good wine. Any recipes? Banana maybe. I like fruity and semi sweet taste. All i've made so for is welchs wine... =( the concord is ok, the white grape raspberry is nasty. I really want to be good at this hobby. My girlfriend is pissed that i keep spending money on it tho... She dont understand the importance of having all the equipment.

Why was the raspberry nasty? Welch's concentrates do make a good early drinking wine. What type of wine do you like?

 

[coreyfrey]

I like full body sweet and tasty. Somewhere around 8-12% abv. I have searched a few recipes. The banana sounds alright, but i dont have a straining bag "?fermentation bag?" can i use panty hose? Im headed to the wine store in a few days so maybe ill just wait and buy one

 

[Runningwolf]

Go to home Depot/Lowes in the paint department and buy some straining bags. Just sanitize them before using.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I let my fruits run free, no bag. Instead I'll use a spag. strainer with a handle, I think it was from Tupperware. It wrks great and is the right size.

I strained my tropical breeze earlier today.

 

[coreyfrey]

Juile i dont know if it will be nasty when complete, but i racked it the other day and it has a rubbing alcohol smell and taste horrible. I dont know if it has anything to do with it being fermented in a food grade bucket or something else. I hope it turns out its a 5 gal batch so hopefully after it dries out a little and i sweeten it with honey it will taste better.

 

[Wade E]

Yes, panty hose can be used. I know someone who has been using them for years, just cut a leg off and sanitize it with kmeta solution. Black Currant is very full bodied as is Elderberry.

 

[Wade E]

The banana will nt have much flavor and insated tastes more like a Chablis to me.

 

[sly22guy]

The apfelwein is a very simple to make wine. Plus you can sweeten it to taste very easily.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I've made banana a few times, and the flavor isn't enjoyed by many of my guests. It's a little different tasting than your average fruit wine. Just something to consider, you don't want another failure if the ol' lady is already putting the screws to you.

All the welches type wines I've made are pretty tasty, but they aren't heavy bodied.

You're in a tough spot. You want a really good wine, but you're hesitant to spend the money to get it. There are some wine kits that would produce what you're looking for, but they'll cost you some bucks.

One suggestion might be to try to join a wine making club where you can go and sample a lot of other wine maker's wines. That way you can sample lots of wines and find one that you really like. Once you've got a target in sight, you can seek out the recipe to make it.

Good luck.

 

[Julie]

Juile i dont know if it will be nasty when complete, but i racked it the other day and it has a rubbing alcohol smell and taste horrible. I dont know if it has anything to do with it being fermented in a food grade bucket or something else. I hope it turns out its a 5 gal batch so hopefully after it dries out a little and i sweeten it with honey it will taste better.

It should turn out ok, raspberry seems to take a little longer than the other concentrates for the flavor to settle down and start tasting good. Backsweetening with honey will give you a fuller body as well. If it doesn't seem to be working out right post up here so we can help you out.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

easy wines that are good and quick to drink stage:

pineapple and strawberry are two that come to mind. make sure to go heavy on strawberries as most recipes are too light, IMO.

 

[Duster]

a big hit at my house is peach mango. I buy old orchard peach/mango juice (you can use any brand of 100% juice that does not contain preservatives)

1-gal peach/mango juice (buy extra for an f-pac and to top off when you rack)
3-C sugar (bring sg up to 1.085)
1/2-t acid blend
1-t pectic enzyme
1/4-t tannin (powdered)
1/2-t energizer
1- crushed campden tablet
1-pkg Premier Cuvee yeast

heat 4 cups of the juice on the stove and desolve the sugar into the juice, add it with all other Ingredients, except yeast and campden tablet, to your primary. Allow must to cool and check your starting sg and adjust accordingly. once you have it at 1.085 add your crushed campden tablet, give it a good stir and let set about 12 hours. the next morning pitch your yeast and finish as normal.

I have found the wine ready to stabilize, back sweeten, add finning agent and bottle in about 3 to 4 weeks. I try to let it set for about another month before drinking but my wife tends to get into it before then.

when back sweeting, I heat 2 more cups of juice on the stove and add 2 more cups of sugar to it, I then boil it down gently (not too hot) to a syrup and add it to the wine. I have never checked my finish sg after sweeting but I need to do that.

I should add that this may actually get better with age but I have not been able to find that out either.

 

[Wade E]

That sounds good.

 

[Julie]

a big hit at my house is peach mango. I buy old orchard peach/mango juice (you can use any brand of 100% juice that does not contain preservatives)

1-gal peach/mango juice (buy extra for an f-pac and to top off when you rack)
3-C sugar (bring sg up to 1.085)
1/2-t acid blend
1-t pectic enzyme
1/4-t tannin (powdered)
1/2-t energizer
1- crushed campden tablet
1-pkg Premier Cuvee yeast

heat 4 cups of the juice on the stove and desolve the sugar into the juice, add it with all other Ingredients, except yeast and campden tablet, to your primary. Allow must to cool and check your starting sg and adjust accordingly. once you have it at 1.085 add your crushed campden tablet, give it a good stir and let set about 12 hours. the next morning pitch your yeast and finish as normal.

I have found the wine ready to stabilize, back sweeten, add finning agent and bottle in about 3 to 4 weeks. I try to let it set for about another month before drinking but my wife tends to get into it before then.

when back sweeting, I heat 2 more cups of juice on the stove and add 2 more cups of sugar to it, I then boil it down gently (not too hot) to a syrup and add it to the wine. I have never checked my finish sg after sweeting but I need to do that.

I should add that this may actually get better with age but I have not been able to find that out either.

this is close to my tropical breeze, add some cantaloupe, pineapple and strawberries to that mix

 

[Duster]

Thats too funny, I was just searching for a honeydew recipe and was reading a post from 08 about your tropical breeze. I got try it

 

[Julie]

go to walmart and in the freezer section where the frozen fruit is at look for the mixed fruit bag, they changed it added strawberries to it, I just bottled a 3 gallon batch of that, it is pretty good. I backsweeten to 1.01, this wine just screems sweet, acid level is at .675% which I think is prefect, mouth feel to very good. give it a try you are gonna love it

 

[cold]

I've made banana a few times, and the flavor isn't enjoyed by many of my guests.

I'll second that.

But what I found astounding was that some guests will not even try Banana Wine, because 'They have never heard of it'

I would have had more luck trying to get them to eat horse meat.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

^i've never heard of that problem. lol. it should mean that they have to try it! lol. if that's the case, my winery is screwed!!!