Questions

[yanks4carolyn]

I have 3 totally different questions:
1. I have been offered free peaches that have been frozen whole and unpeeled for a year. They are in plastic bags, like you get at the grocery. What's y'all's opinions on this as well as the freezer time frame for any fresh fruits?
I don't want to waste my time if a year frozen has damaged them.

2. I am going to try Watermelon wine, using Oram Wines recipe on YouTube. He heated the juice and pulp to 180 degrees (I believe that's the temp) and held it there for 20-30min. Have any of you tried this heating process?

3. I just got my very first wine kit today. WineExpert Moscato. I'm so excited! The ABV is 8.5%. I really want it to be at least 10%. So...Would I make it 5gal. batch instead of 6, or just add sugar until I get it at 10%.? What percentage would y'all stop at?

Thanks in advance and I'm so glad to have y'all in my winemaking life!
Carolyn

 

[dralarms]

Question 1. Take the peaches. It will be fantastic. No water but plenty of pectic enzyme to help break down the fruit.

2 and 3 I'll leave to someone else.

 

[richmke]

Heating will work (pasteurize). K-meta would be easier. Just be careful not to overshoot 180.

Don't make the moscato to 5 gallons. IMHO: add 2/3 of the f-pack to the primary to boost abv. It was too sweet for my taste, even at 1/2 f-pack.

 

[Whitehrs]

Heating will work (pasteurize). K-meta would be easier. Just be careful not to overshoot 180.

Don't make the moscato to 5 gallons. IMHO: add 2/3 of the f-pack to the primary to boost abv. It was too sweet for my taste, even at 1/2 f-pack.

So, so half the f-pack to boost, then when nears finish, and more to boost ABV again. you could get a it pretty far up there, but be careful not to make it too hot..

 

[DoctorCAD]

JMO, but...

1. Frozen fruit works perfectly for winemaking, its going to rot in the pail, so a little freezer burn isn't going to be an issue.

2. Never boil fruit for wine, a 12 to 24 hour k-meta dose is all you need.

3. Make the first few kits exactly as intended and then start changing things. That's how you learn what process does what to the final product. What if you follow somebody else's alterations and don't like the final results, was it the alterations or something else that changed the wine??? You will never know...and nobody can ever tell YOU if something is too sweet or not sweet enough. Maybe for their tastes, but what about yours?

 

[Arne]

So, so half the f-pack to boost, then when nears finish, and more to boost ABV again. you could get a it pretty far up there, but be careful not to make it too hot..

I think Rich means use 1/2 the f-pac when starting the ferment. Let itferment down to dry, stabalize it then add the rest of the f-pac for flavor and sweetening. Correct me if I am wrong. Arne.

 

[wineforfun]

I agree with DoctorCAD. Until you know what level of sweetness you like, I would follow directions as is.

I am currently working on my first "sweet" kit for my wife. I bumped up the SG to 1.080 from the recommended 1.050, other than that, I left the fpac til the end.
If it turns out too sweet(which I doubt as she likes sweet wine) I will adjust accordingly next time.
More than likely, I will add 1/2 of the fpac at the end, check the SG, add a little more, check the SG, and so on, until I think it is where she will like it.

 

[Whitehrs]

I think Rich means use 1/2 the f-pac when starting the ferment. Let itferment down to dry, stabalize it then add the rest of the f-pac for flavor and sweetening. Correct me if I am wrong. Arne.

Ok, thanks. I had thought he was looking to boost AVB. Thanks for the correction.

Rendell

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi Carolyn, Regarding the watermelon wine... what is the reason the presenter of the YouTube video for cooking the fruit? All fruit sugars are inherently fermentable when yeast is added. Was this to concentrate the sugars by removing the water? You could do that with less damage to the flavor by freezing the juice and collecting the first 1/3 that you allow to thaw. That 1/3 will contain all the sugars and will be about twice the gravity of the original juice.

 

[yanks4carolyn]

Thanks for all the input!!! I'm going to take y'all's advice on the frozen peaches and making my Moscato kit as is recommended.

As far as the watermelon wine, he didn't say why he heated it. He just puréed it in a blender and then heated. He says he heats all his recipes. I don't want to heat it if I don't have to. If I can use just Kmeta then I'm good with that. I have heard watermelon sours easily and I thought that may be why he heats it.

 

[richmke]

He heats the puree in order to kill any bacteria prior to fermenting. Same as dosing with k-meta 24 hours prior to pitching the yeast.

Adding the f-pack upfront: 1) Cuts the sweetness of the finished product; 2) boosts the ABV, and 3) retain some of the flavoring of the f-pack.

If your wife likes really sweet wine, then you will want to save most of the f-pack for backsweetening. However, I have never tasted a wine from a store (other than a dessert wine) as sweet as adding the full f-pack. If you add 1/2 of the f-pack upfront, and still want it sweeter at the end, then you can always add more sugar.