Orange wine log

[xune]

So, I made some wine from orange juice; I had a friend who had about 5 gallons of orange juice they didn't want, and so I snatched it up. Sorry guys I didn't think to take any pictures.

I did some reading before I tried this, and it was actually fairly difficult to find much about orange wine, and the few results I got were varied. Some people described it being very good, others described it tasting like vomit.

First I brought the juice home, and put it all in a 6 gallon fermenter. Smelled good, I love orange juice. Took a specific gravity reading, 1.042

Added sugar to bring the whole bucket to 1.086. Added 2 tsp of yeast nutrient (DAP). Stirred vigorously.
Pitched 1 packet of ec-1118 yeast.

next day had a pretty crusty looking cap on it, very yellow in color.

4 days later 1.038

7 days 1.016

12 days from creation 0.996

racked to another container, still very yellow, thick looking.


2 days after racking starting to clear and turn a deep orange color. smell is not entirely unpleasant, but does not smell "good".

5 days after racking, really like the color, very vibrant. if you know those orange pill bottles it's like that color. still not particularly great in smell. i think a good 6-8 months will make this a very nice wine. may rack again in 3.


Just wanted to share my experience with you guys. This wine already looks amazing, and I think within a few months it will taste just as great. It's on it's way down to the cellar now, in a few months I will report back and tell you guys how it's worked for me.

 

[Trick]

Not sure why very few people make orange wine. I am doing a blend fruit wine with orange juice and mango/pineapple juice in aging period (almost 2 months). Smells very mangoy now but no sign of getting clear. Thinking about hitting with a dose of pectic enzyme followed by bentonite and sparkolloid. By the way, I back-sweetened it to approximately 5g/L RS.
Curious to see how the pure orange wine comes out. Maybe I will try one soon.
I will stay tuned. Thanks for posting.

 

[Stressbaby]

I've always made mine from fresh fruit and I've never really been particularly happy with the results.

 

[salcoco]

try winemaking.jackkeller.net he has some orange wine recipes. one that I recall added liquor to it .