It been a long time!

[reeny]

Hi all
I am new here. I live in Miami Florida and have any over abundance of mangos. I have made jelly, jam, chutney, breads, now I want to make some wine. I am also a beekeeper and have about 4.5 lbs of honey that I want to make mead with it. I think I really would like to make a cyser. I am in the process of drinking 2 1gal glass containers of apple juice. Was thinking I could use some to make the cyser. Although I found a basic recipe on stormthecastle.com where he uses oranges and raisins. So not sure yet.

It has been 15 years since I have made Mango Wine. There use to be a place here called "Wine and Brew by You" it went out of business in 1999. Yesterday I went up in the attic to find my old wine making equipment. I did find the carboy, hydrometer, and a primary fermenting plastic container, the siphon, and a corker. Some of it is salvageable some not. I found the receipt and the date said 1997. So it has been too long for me to remember how I did everything. I do know that I bottled about 21 bottles of delicious Mango wine many years ago. I remember I back sweetened some.... If I could just remember the process....

I found this recipe http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques57.asp

My question is the recipes are fairly similar does it matter whether I put the mangos in without a strainer bag?? Do I need to puree/juice? When I made it before I just put the fruit in the primary fermenter. The sugar amounts are different why? because of the yeast?? Also will the champagne yeast give a dryer wine and the Lalvin D 47 sweeter. Also I believe this is for a 1 gallon amount. Obviously if I want to use my 5 gallon carboy I would multiple the friut and sugars by 5 but what about the acid blend, energizer, nutrient?? Do they stay the same??

I did buy several books "The Joy of Home Winemaking" "First Steps in Winemaking: and "The Complete Meadmaker" some of them are like reading a chemistry lesson. I do want to understand the science behind what I am doing but I also want to make some wine soon....

Would love some help!

 

[JohnT]

Reeny,

First off, welcome.

There are several great recipes on the internet that you can follow that have produced great results. I would consult the one that best appeals to you, then come back with any questions that you might have.

That said, I would say (at a rudimentry level) wine making can be as simple as you want to make it. There are several "high priority" things that you should keep in mind such as the following...

Sugar Level - you should maintain an appropriate level of sugar at the get go. This is usually measured by a hydrometer. This is simply a little "float" that will tell you how thick your juice is and, thus, how much sugar you have.

PH Level (acid) - the amount of acid in your wine will not help preserve your wine on time, but also is a real need for a good steady fermentation. The simplest way to test acid (but also one of the most inaccurate) are PH test strips (much like litmus paper we used to use in high school).

There you have it. Sugar and Acid, the two things that you really NEED to consider when making wine. Now, there are other things that you SHOULD consider, but I would start small, get your sugar and acid right, and see where it goes from there.

 

[reeny]

Thank you JohnT for the reply. I have been reading about sugar and ph. I think the last time I made wine it was beginners luck I think because I took a sp gravity in the beginning but I don't remember taking one at the end. I never checked the ph. So this time I will follow what the books are telling me.

I am going to repost this one paragraph from my earlier post today. There are some questions that I need help understanding.

My question is the recipes are fairly similar does it matter whether I put the mangos in without a strainer bag?? Do I need to puree/juice? When I made it before I just put the fruit in the primary fermenter. The sugar amounts are different why? because of the yeast?? Also will the champagne yeast give a dryer wine and the Lalvin D 47 sweeter. Also I believe this is for a 1 gallon amount. Obviously if I want to use my 5 gallon carboy I would multiple the friut and sugars by 5 but what about the acid blend, energizer, nutrient?? Do they stay the same??

 

[Arne]

You can put the fruit in with or without a strainer bag. The bag comes into its own when it is time to remove the fruit. Most of it comes out with the bag and makes it easier to rack the wine without chunks of fruit floating in it. I would freeze the fruit before trying to ferment it. Just pop it in the freezer for a couple of days. It helps break the fruit down and makes it easier to extract the juice. Then stick it ina strainer bag and squeeze it. Should get a lot of the juice out. Put the whole works in the fermenter. The sugar levels will vary with your fruit. Some is sweeter than others, so the sugar is different. Both of your yeasts should ferment dry. When it gets down to dry, you can stabalize the wine, then add simple sugar or a flavor pack of some kind to bring the wine back to sweet. Lots of posts on here about stabalizing and sweetening. As the wine is fermenting, it will give you some time to read about this. And as they come up, do not be afraid to get back on here and ask questions. Many of the posts are the same but if you feel yours is a little different, you should be able to get a little help in a short time. Arne.

 

[JohnT]

I would also add the following about yeast..

EC-1118 is champagne yeast. This strain is VERY resilient and is good for fermenting to high alcohol levels or for carbonation. D47 is more or a "Still Wine" yeast that should ferment slower and impart more yeast flavor components to your wine.

The two yeasts do two different jobs, but Arne is correct that either should produce a dry wine.

You need to ask what you want. For a mango wine, I would think that you want a slower, cooler fermentation (to keep more of the fruit flavor components) and would like to back sweeten. D47 would be better, IMHO, if these are your goals.