Upcoming wine: Crazy fruit Wine: suggest?

[rshosted]

Last weekend I went shopping at Costco. They seem to provide very good fruit (in bulk ). I was chatting with my brother and he suggested that I make a "crazy fruit wine". So I couldn't resist. Here is what I have and some ideas. I'm hoping to see if anyone has done this, or if I am a pioneer (yeah, right!).

I got 4lbs of peaches, 3lbs pineapple, 4lbs Kiwifruit, 3lbs banannas, 2 gallons of fresh Blueberry/Blackberry juice (with water, Apple juice, pears, red grapes, blackberries and blueberries). (I also got a gallon of pomegranate juice but I had to do that alone becuase of the cost... It's already going so we'll see on that) (don't worry no sulphites added to the juice either)

I froze the fruit after letting them sit until they were all nice and ripe. I'm thinking of getting a few fresh strawberries... but not sure.

I figure I'll boil the banannas with the skins (since I'm going to make a five gallon batch). chop all the fruit, put it in to a bag, add juice, sugar to 25 brix, and some nutrient, sulphites,some tannin, then wait a day and pitch the yeast.

Any suggestions?

Does anyone just leave the skins on the kiwifruit?

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Be a pioneer - go for it!!

You might want to consider throwing in some pectic enzyme, and
depending upon the natural acidity of the mixture, some acid blend. Give
it a taste to see if it is acid enough, or do a titration for the sake of
curiousity. I'd be inclined to remove the kiwi skin. Hard to tell how well
this will clear on its own, and probably it will benfit from a year's aging.

Then for sure let us know what you and your brother plan to call this
creation! Good luck Ryan

 

[MedPretzel]

I'll start from the bottom and go back.


No, take them off. those hairs on the kiwi NEVER leave the wine, and the skin is quite bitter.


Suggestions: you definitely need pectic enzyme or your wine will be very hazy. Don't get strawberries. They just are disappointing. How many "gallons" of juice do you have? I ask this because it's different if you have 1/2 a gallon or 3 gallons. I ask this because you need roughly (just very rough guideline) quite a bit of fruit for a full-bodied wine. If you like lighter wines, this seems to be good. [url]http://www.finevinewines.com/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Country-Wi ne.htm[/url]is an article to go by (

) Why will you chop the fruit after it has been frozen? I don't think you need to, but that's just me. You've got a nice blend of acidic and more "neutral" fruits there, so that seems to be good. kiwis and pineapple and blueberies are very acidic. peaches, apples and pears are not so. Good choice of juices too! I've never had pomegrate, so this is interesting!


You ARE a pioneer!

I've never heard of Crazy Fruit Wine out of Utah before!

 

[pkcook]

Sounds like a wonderful mix! Pectic Enzyme is a MUST (pun not intended, well maybe it is

)! 1/2 tsp per gallon or you will have cloudy wine. Give it at least a year before you try it. Sounds like a long time, but you will be rewarded for your patience.

 

[rshosted]

Thanks Martina (and everyone else) keep the info coming:

I'll be taking the skins off the Kiwi.

martina, I have 2 gallons of the blueberry juice.
I froze the fruit to help it release juices from the fruit. Everywhere I've read tells me to do that. And I saw on the food network why: As the fruit freezes the moisture formes little ice crystals that are hard and sharp. They act like knifes. They cut through the cell walls of the fruit. Thus when it melts the juice runs out of the 'cuts' from the ice.
I will thaw the fruit prior to cutting it up. I plan to cut it up to help it break down better (with the pectic enzym that was recomended, thanks everyone).

No to strawberries huh. I was really hoping to get a little strawberry flavor.

I was thinking of adding some dole frozen fruit juices too maybe a strawberry peach to get the sugar up?

As I see it now I have about 11 lbs of fruit plus 2 gallons of juice. Do you think if I added three gallons of water it would be too weak? I figure if I add 5 lbs of strawberry that would be about 3 lbs of fruit per gallon plus whatever juice I've added not included.

Should I add more fruit? Got me wondering now.

 

[djcoop]

yum! I think it sounds amazing. you'll need to have some little umbrellas to stick in your drink when it's done

. I can't wait to read the updates on this one.

 

[Waldo]

Might consider about 6 cans of frozen grape concentrate

 

[pkcook]

rshosted,


After reviewing Jack Keller's recommended amounts of fruit, you are pretty close on each variety (excluding the juices) for a gallon each. In other words,if you had made wine with the peaches, pineapple, kiwi, and banana, youcould have made4 ea 1-gallon batches. So with all the fruit, juices, and water added to 5 gallons,you should have a nice medium heavy/heavy body wine depending on sugar in the fruit.


Taste and test with hydrometer and depending on what alcohol volume you prefer add sugar or some frozen concentrate like Waldo mentioned. I've made wine from the White Grape/Peach frozen concentratealone and it was wonderful! The Peach ispredominant in flavor.


Good luck and keep good notes, you may have created a wonderful recipe that bears repeating!

 

[rshosted]

Thanks everyone.

Waldo, I will add a couple of cans to my freezer in case I need to bump the S.G. up.

I also bought 5lbs of chilean black grapes at costco last night. I almost bough a 5lb bag of frozen blueberries too. (though, I'm afriad I'll be calling this the million dollar wine if I keep this up much longer

)

All my fruit is in the freezer. I'll try to start tomorrow if possible. I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress.

oh, yeah.. as always, keep the suggesitons coming.

 

[rshosted]

All put together, but only got 8 Brix. I was really expecting higher than that. I bought four cans of fruit juices at the store (concentrated). I will be adding them, then re-checking my brix. I was hoping for around 25 brix.

Looks like I'll be adding sugar tomorrow night.

I've let it sit for 8 hours with pectic enzime in it, does the sugar usually climb with a little time and the enzyme working?

Also, does anyone know a 'ballpark' sugar content equivilant of a can of juice concentrate? it says 39 grams per serving with six servings per can... I probably could figure it out but I just got out of class!

I added the four cans of 'juices' (no sulphites

) and it brought it up to 10.8 brix. I'll wait overnight and recheck tomorrow morning. then add sugar from there.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Waldo]

What is your SG reading?

 

[MedPretzel]

Wow, lots of action on this topic!

Sounds like the beginnings of a great wine. Those black grapes will do wonders -- check your acid, and use your tastebuds when the must is made. Just like cooking, if something is missing, you might be able to taste it at the beginning stages. The more wines you make, the more you can tell what might be missing (acid, "zing", "pep" a little ginger or caraway? ~~~ oh~~~

that's just me).


What yeast are you using again? (Sorry, jumped to the 2nd page and don't have it as reference) I would say, if this is a medium/heavy bodied wine, get the SG at around 1.085 at the beginning. 1.080 is fine too.


Good luck!

 

[rshosted]

Right now the sugar is brix 10.8, that's about 1.042 S.G.

I will have to give'r another taste for zing. I bet it's low in acid too... Maybe a PH and TA test will have to be done as well.

I figure I'll be adding a little less than 10 lbs of sugar then going from there.

QUESTION:
If I do add an acid blend can you 'taste' it right then? (or do you have to allow it time to 'bond' with stuff in the wine?

Edited by: rshosted

 

[Waldo]

It is pretty much immediate detection if you get it stirred well into the must....which you must

 

[MedPretzel]

rshosted, use your hydrometer as a guide. Don't shoot over 1.080 or 1.085 when adding sugar. You'd get a very hot wine otherwise.


Yep, you can taste it. Like Waldo said, stir it well. For 5 gallons, and the stuff you're using, no more than 2-3 tsp would be needed. But check it out with a test to be sure.





Just some suggestions.





Sounds great!





M.

 

[rshosted]

Thanks all. I'm having a great time with this wine. For some
reason it all seems to be coming together (which I attribute to all the help
from this forum). Here's the recipe:



6qts Treetop Blueberry Blackberry juice

1 big bunch bananas (about 4 lbs, boiled with skins put into
must)

4 lbs Chilean black grapes (destemmed frozen/thawed)

3 lbs pineapple (3lbs after cutting frozen/thawed)

4 lbs Kiwi (frozen/thawed removed from skins)

4lbs peaches (frozen/thawed, destoned)

About 9qts water (up to six gallons)

2 ½ tsp pectic enzyme

1 ½ tsp yeast nutrient

5 campden tablets.



Now it measured at 8 brix (about 1.031 S.G)



So I added:

1 can Welches Grap concentrate (concord)

1 can Dole Orange Peach Mango concentrate

1 can Old Orchard Apple Raspberry

1 can Old Orchard </span>Apple Kiwi Strawberry

(all checked for sulfites, none listed on the label)



Now it measured 10.8 brix, checked the next day at 11 brix (1.043 S.G.)



After sitting overnight, I added 9.5 lbs of sugar to get the
brix up to 24.4 (was shooting for 25, but was happy with that) (oh yeah, that’s
1.095 S.G)



My wines measurements:

PH 3.82

TA .50%

Brix 24.4

Titrates 70 PPM (a little high)

Added 5 tsp of acid (per directions to raise about .13%)

That night I pitched the yeast and stirred it in.

The following morning she was singing and bubbling like
crazy! Nice smell too!



I’ll keep you all informed as to what happens.

Thanks again for the help. </span>