Kumquat wine... I don't know what I'm doing!

[aag3981]

There are 3 trees at my job that blow up with kumquats every year so this year, I decided to make some wine with the fruit. This probably wasn't the best idea since I am VERY new to wine making and this has not been tried a whole lot. The only recipe I found was on Jack Keller and is didn't instill a lot of confidence. Anyway, this was my recipe:

10 lbs of kumquats, seeds removed, skins left on
1 lbs box of golden raisins
3 lbs of sugar
Champagne yeast
4 1/4 tsps of pectin
1 gallon of boiling water
4 gallons of hot water

Everything bubbled and fermented in the primary as expected, but when tasting it when I racked it this time, it tasted flat or watered down. It's a much more muted taste when compared to how it tasted when switching to the secondary fermenter. I was wondering if anyone tell what the issue was and give me some suggesting. Thanks!

 

[Julie]

you need to check your acid, and possibly backsweeten.

Just curious what is the ABV? When following a recipe, don't just add whatever amount of sugar is stated, add what you need to get to a desired sg. For fruit I would go around 1.080. To high of alcohol can mask the flavor of a fruit wine.

 

[Stressbaby]

Where did you find that Keller recipe for kumquat wine? The only one I've seen uses bananas instead of raisins, but you are right, he doesn't inspire a lot of confidence with what he says on that page. Having said that, I'm quite confident it can be done, because last year I made a lovely calamondin wine, and I think that if you can do it from calamondins, you can do it from kumquats.

If you have 5 gallons of must, then I don't think your ABV is too high, my guess is that it is too low. I can't imagine that 10# of kumquats would have enough sugar to make up the difference in a 5 gallon batch with 3# of sugar added.

Did you slice up the kumquats or just cut them in half? If you just cut them in half, you may not have enough "pop" from the fruit.

Take a look at this blog page for Keller's improved calamondin wine recipe. This is more or less what I used, with the calamondin finely sliced. I haven't made kumquat wine yet, but I have a tree and hope to have enough soon. I think this should work for kumquats, fermented on the finely sliced fruit in the primary like that. Calamondins are much more sour than kumquats, so a kumquat variation on this recipe probably will require an acid adjustment. Aside from calamondins, every citrus wine I've made has required an acid addition.

 

[aag3981]

I'm not able to get to my notes right now to tell you what my SG was before, but I want to say I let it get to 1.000 in the primary fermenter. I don't remember even checking the SG when I orignally put the recipt together.

However, I did not slice up the kumquats:/, just in half rather. Can I fix it or make it better?

Oh darn rookie error

The recipe using bananas is the only one I found as well, and a whole lot of people that attempted it with poor results.

 

[Stressbaby]

It is my guess that by just cutting them in half, you maybe left a lot of the sweetness and flavor in the rinds. However, I wouldn't consider it a rookie error...that's the way the recipe said to treat the fruit!

My theory, FWIW, is that the calamondins, and likely the kumquats, need a lot of rind exposure in the primary. With the calamondins I did that by slicing them as wafer thin as I could (it isn't easy with a small fruit).

How far along is this wine? Is it clear?

I'm no expert with regard to corrections, hopefully someone else will chime in, but I would consider either 1) a bit of orange extract or 2) blending with another wine. As for next time, I would be sure the SG is up around 1.080, pH low enough, and ferment on the sliced fruit in the primary.

 

[Arne]

I do not know anything about kumquats, but 10 lbs of most any fruit in 5 gal. is going to leave a very weak flavored wine. Small berries you usually start out with at least 4 lb. per gal. Large fruits like apples, pears and even grapes we usually use just the juice out of them. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[aag3981]

It is clear:/. Does that matter? I thought it cleared really quickly. I figured the worst case, I could add a bottle of liquor and some flavoring and bottle it up. What the hell?

 

[goldntroll]

I wonder if I Should use a jack La Lane juicer ( takes seeds and pulp out ) or my veggie-matic slicer ( to make thin slices) for my primary fermentor for my kumquats .....Ahh heck I have enough to make it both ways wife is having a fit ( I have the large freezer full of kumquats )

I also made apple wine last year some came out good .... other bottles when opened I sniffed the wine from glass it burned my sinuses so bad it took a day for my nose to feel normal again ( it smelled like burning sulpher ) dont know what happened .... but it did a good job cleaning my garbage disposer ...LOL

My mango , guava & peach wines turned out perfect , I used them at a wine taste gig and within 10 minutes everyone was looking for more of it,, I used the JUMEX juice for these 3 wines great stuff for out of season fruits.

 

[goldntroll]

Kumquat wine results

Well guys and gals my kumquat wine turned out really good according to some people who tasted it at a wine taste gig .... never told them what it was until afterwards......it ended up around 14 to 15 proof good flavor but not very strong on aroma of the fruit , sweet & dry very clear light amber color ,lingering on palette afterwards , I got buzzed on my first glass full ....On this one batch I used the veggie matic and thinly sliced paper thin ...the next batch was done with a jack la lane juicer ( caution the juices foam up and make a big mess ) and in both cases I pre-froze the fruits for 6 months, thawed & sliced & juiced right away and refroze for another month ( no reason to do it this way except had to wait for the other half not to be home and see the mess I made )::

 

[Arne]

I would bet if you freeze them first, put them in a ferment bag, either slice them in half or break them up a bit somehow, and hit them with a good dose of pectic enzime you will get all the goodie out of them. I am not familiar with them, but this works with about everything else I have done. If they are like apples or pears, it would probably be best to put them in a press and just use pure juice from them. Arne.