Watermellon Wine Could Be Sexy?

[btom2004]

I spend some time watching youtube videos on making wine and one day I came across this video.

I saw that some members here have made watermellon wine and they posted how much they loved it. Now I know why.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc4ovHNYSmk[/ame]



:: I'm going to make some one day...Watermellon/Lemon SP. I'll call it Love Potion.
Look out now wifey here I come.

http://ilovethatduck.com/wine_guy2.gif


Some more info.
http://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20080701/watermelon-a-natural-viagra

 

[GreginND]

Hmmmmmm

I have never made watermelon wine. I've heard it has a propensity to rot easily before fermentation proceeds to a high enough alcohol level to protect it. But I don't have first hand experience. I just abhor the smell of rotten watermelon.

 

[btom2004]

Hmmmmmm

I have never made watermelon wine. I've heard it has a propensity to rot easily before fermentation proceeds to a high enough alcohol level to protect it. But I don't have first hand experience. I just abhor the smell of rotten watermelon.

I was hoping you would bless this thread with your insight. If anyone knew this to be true it would be you.

I think watermellon would ferment just like any juice?

Watermelon Wine

Makes one gallon.

Ingredients:

the juice of 2 Lemons.
2 qts. Watermelon Juice 2 qts. Water
1-1/2 lbs. Sugar 2-1/2 tsp. Acid Blend
1/8 tsp. Tannin 1 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg. Yeast

Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one location to another. The recipe above is a general recipe to use which you may have to adjust.

Starting S.G. 1.085

Note: Watermelon juice spoils very rapidly. As a result, do not add any campden tablets or sulfites and add the yeast immediately after adding all of the other ingredients.

Directions:

Cut melons into quarters, removing all rind parts entirely and discarding all seeds. Cut the remaining "meat" of the melons into cubes.
Mash and strain out juice in primary fermenter. Keep all pulp in nylon straining bag, tie top and place in primary.
Stir in all other ingredients except yeast.
Add yeast to 2 ounces of warm water.
After 15 minutes, the yeast should be bubbling. Add the yeast mixture the the must and place cover on primary fermenter.
Stir daily , check S.G. and press pulp in bag lightly to help extract juice.
When ferment reaches S.G. 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice lightly from bag. Then syphon wine off into glass jug secondary.
When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is complete. Syphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Re-attach airlock.
Syphon again in two months and again, if necessary, before bottling.
Allow the wine to age.





I found a gal recipe.


Do you think that there is any merit to the assumption of this combination actually being useful as indicated above?

 

[RegionRat]

One of the first batches of country wine I made was this summer was Watermelon from Winemakers Recipe Handbook - Raymond Massaccesi. I started it 8-18. It cleared nice. The color is not what I expected. It has a yellowish color. The taste, well..... I hope if I continue to age it it will be drinkable. It is kinda nasty tasting right now. Jack Keller's site says Watermelon Wine should age a year.

RR

 

[btom2004]

One of the first batches of country wine I made was this summer was Watermelon from Winemakers Recipe Handbook - Raymond Massaccesi. I started it 8-18. It cleared nice. The color is not what I expected. It has a yellowish color. The taste, well..... I hope if I continue to age it it will be drinkable. It is kinda nasty tasting right now. Jack Keller's site says Watermelon Wine should age a year.View attachment 6719

RR

wow looks great. Now blend in some wine made with lemons or lemon juice and you got yourself a Love Potion.

 

[ckassotis]

Greg's comment sums up everything I have heard about watermelon wine. The fruit tends to spoil quite quickly before a protective CO2 blanket can be formed over the fruit. I've heard quite a few comments that this is one of the hardest of the fruits to make wine out of as a result. I have yet to try it myself though!

 

[mkjennison]

I have never made watermelon wine. I've heard it has a propensity to rot easily before fermentation proceeds to a high enough alcohol level to protect it. But I don't have first hand experience. I just abhor the smell of rotten watermelon.

I have read the same about watermelon musts. I don't know why it is, though. But when I give a shot at a watermelon, I'm planning on making a really strong (like 24 hours strong) yeast starter in watermelon juice, then preparing the must and pitching the yeast almost immediately.

Do you think there's any issue with doing as above? Should be able to clear post-fermentation with Pectinase if needed, I'd think.

Mark

 

[mkjennison]

Or possibly just buy a sparger and cap it with CO2 right after prep. Maybe that would be good enough, but like I said, I haven't tried yet =)

 

[btom2004]

Greg's comment sums up everything I have heard about watermelon wine. The fruit tends to spoil quite quickly before a protective CO2 blanket can be formed over the fruit. I've heard quite a few comments that this is one of the hardest of the fruits to make wine out of as a result. I have yet to try it myself though!

If there's a will there's a way. Perhaps not enough Sulfites were used? Perhaps juice should be Distilled first? The above recipe is from E.C. Kraus. If it's listed as a recipe, I'm sure it doable. I think I'll use real lemon juice...hey this may even keep it from spoiling.

 

[ckassotis]

Righto! Didn't mean to discourage - it is most definitely possible! It is though, from my understanding, one of the more tricky ones to do. I imagine that steam juicing it would help greatly as opposed to trying to ferment it with fruit in the primary, but I'm sure there are a handful of people on here that have successfully done this and could speak to it better than I could! Sparging with CO2 would likely help too, as long as there was enough oxygen to get the yeast going I would think.

 

[btom2004]

OK thanks for the insightful reply. I really want to give it a shot, but may just do a gal batch.

 

[saramc]

OK thanks for the insightful reply. I really want to give it a shot, but may just do a gal batch.

Watermelon concentrate for making wine is available at www.homewinerysupply.com -- makes one awesome watermelon wine.

 

[btom2004]

Watermelon concentrate for making wine is available at www.homewinerysupply.com -- makes one awesome watermelon wine.

Thanks now that's what I'm talking about.

Link did not work.

 

[Arne]

DJSteve made it and said it was coming along nicely. Haven't heard from him for a while how it finished. I tried when first starting out, it was the only wine I can think of that I dumped. Don't know what I did wrong, but it was hotter than it should of been when I was cutting them up. Didn't take long for it to get stinky and the smell never got any better. Should of tried it again this year. Probably threw enough melons away to do a couple hundred gallons. First try kinda turned me off it tho. If you can get ahold of Steve, he did some things that I believe helped keep it from spoiling. Can't remember exactly what, but he will tell you. That concentrate mite help you along too. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[btom2004]

Thanks will do. Peach wine smells bad at first.

 

[Julie]

The key to making watermelon wine is fermenting it on the cooler side and yes have a starter roaring before you add it. Once you have it fermenting you should be safe.

When I made mine, I did it in the fall and the temps went down into the upper 30's that evening, so I set it out on my front porch, with my chemicals added except for the yeast. I started the yeast 24 hours prior to adding, if was going quite nicely, added that and then brought the must into the house, put it in the basement where it fermented at 60 degrees. I used Lavlin 1118.

It is very doable but you just need to watch it carefully and keep in cool enough before adding the yeast starter.

I added strawberries to mine and made it a StrawMelon wine, quite tasty and yes one year of aging.

 

[btom2004]

Thanks Julie sounds good. So then it's safe or better to use the K-meta, just make sure to frement at lower temps. I'll try anything once.

 

[Julie]

Thanks Julie sounds good. So then it's safe or better to use the K-meta, just make sure to frement at lower temps. I'll try anything once.

Yea, me too! I'm thinking of getting the concentrate from home winery, I wonder if that is pastuerized.

 

[btom2004]

If it is that would be great.