fruit wines?...

Mead, wine, beer, and any other form of alcoholic beverages, as well as vinegar.

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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby bravebird on Fri Sep 13, 2013 4:23 pm

thanks tim! i think i'm well on my way to making some good wine. i'll keep my fingers crossed :)
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby bravebird on Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:04 am

Tim Hall wrote:4-5 days with air exchange/stirring to get the wild ferment started. Using a crock or other wide-mouthed container is easiest for stirring obviously. This might be considered the "primary" ferment, but once the stuff starts to bubble I'd put it in a carboy and let it sit for 1-3 weeks, then transfer to the "secondary" or "tertiary," or whatever you want to call it, to sit for a few months or years...until you're ready to bottle.

Example wild fermented wine protocol:
1) Stir wine must daily in open container 3-5 days, maybe it could stretch to 6-7 days, but I'd be worried at this point.
2) Transfer to "primary" fermenter w/ airlock, primary fermentation 1-3 weeks, maybe longer depending on familiarity with your yeats.
3) Transfer (rack) to secondary fermenter w/ airlock, secondary fermentation from a few months to a couple years...maybe omit this step entirely only if you know your yeasts will perform well sur lie, sitting on the dead yeast cake for an extended period.
4) Bottle, drink it, or age it some more.

Commercial yeasts generally don't need a really open vessel to get started (but they do need a good amount of initial oxygen), so the first step described above is generally omitted in this case.

If you were pitching a ginger bug or really yeasty fruit skins, you might just throw it all into the primary fermenter, again skipping step one. But be sure you slosh, swirl your juice really well right at the beginning to get some oxygen dissolved into it.


well here's what i got so far. should it look so frothy on the surface?
Image

i blended up some fruit, added sugar, honey, and water to cover. After 2 days the stuff really got going and was almost spilling out of the first jar i put it in...and was very foamy. (it's been about 78-82 degrees these days) i thought that was my cue to put it in the airlocked bottle. now i dont have an airlock but i was told the particular bottle i use allows air to escape, but wont allow air to get in. this is my first try at a wine so i wanted to do a small batch before i go wasting money.
one thing i noticed is that the liquid got extremely thick after the two days. like really thick. maybe i shouldnt have pureed the fruit and instead just mashed it up? not sure what it is but im sure it will taste rather thick going down my throat, lol.
well i guess the next step is just to let it sit for a few weeks? maybe i can then pour it back into a similar jar to get rid of all the lees. and the foam.
any tips? thoughts?
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby Tim Hall on Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:33 am

The foaminess is an excellent sign - that's when it should go under the airlock, just like you did. The thickness, though...is it getting kinda snotty? If so, it's not anything harmful, but it may be a little weird to drink.
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby bravebird on Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:49 am

Tim Hall wrote:The foaminess is an excellent sign - that's when it should go under the airlock, just like you did. The thickness, though...is it getting kinda snotty? If so, it's not anything harmful, but it may be a little weird to drink.


yes, snotty would be a great way to describe it, lol. so what's the snot business about? is it safe to drink? with all the pureed bits and pieces floating to the top, along with the foam, i was also thinking the thickness was due to the pureed fruit. maybe it will get better as it sits and the fruit settles to the bottom. in a few weeks i'll need an efficient way to transfer the liquid to another bottle so i wont disturb the gook at the bottom. well i feel somewhat better about this now, lol. just gotta figure out this snot problem.
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby Tim Hall on Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:28 am

The snottiness is probably not the fruit, but rather a complex sugar (dextran) being made by some bacteria in there. It's perfectly harmless, but the texture isn't all that pleasant. I dunno what'll happen with it...maybe over time it'll settle out or get eaten up by other bugs in the ferment. But you might be stuck with it...I don't know of anyone who's let it sit for a long time to see what happens.
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby bravebird on Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:39 pm

Tim Hall wrote:The snottiness is probably not the fruit, but rather a complex sugar (dextran) being made by some bacteria in there. It's perfectly harmless, but the texture isn't all that pleasant. I dunno what'll happen with it...maybe over time it'll settle out or get eaten up by other bugs in the ferment. But you might be stuck with it...I don't know of anyone who's let it sit for a long time to see what happens.


well i hope ur not implying that most people throw it out! :(
i'll just let it sit until i see mold growing or at least until about thanksgiving time. maybe i can drink it for the new year, lol. i dont drink alcohol anyhow, but if it tastes good i'll give it another shot with more liquid.
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Re: fruit wines?...

Postby bravebird on Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:18 pm

Tim Hall wrote:The snottiness is probably not the fruit, but rather a complex sugar (dextran) being made by some bacteria in there. It's perfectly harmless, but the texture isn't all that pleasant. I dunno what'll happen with it...maybe over time it'll settle out or get eaten up by other bugs in the ferment. But you might be stuck with it...I don't know of anyone who's let it sit for a long time to see what happens.

hey tim...here's an update on that wine. it seems the liquid is FAR more transparent than it was initially, which was expected, but i didn't expect for it to get THIS clear.
Image
there is a very thin layer of a whitish colored substance on top of the wine, but no sign of any black/green molds.
the bottle behind it is my experiment with pomegranate wine, since they're SOO cheap this time of year. just took the juice from 8 pomegranates, added a touch of honey and about 1/3 cup sugar...will stir, stir, stir and wait for it to bubble before i put it into my allegedly airtight jar.
is frequent racking really necessary? i dont have the tools for that and i'm feeling lazy and comfortable with just waiting for the yeast and then transferring to an airtight jar, until ready to drink. is that acceptable? will it have a major impact on flavor?
im also wondering why about 1/3 of the pomegranate juice (on the bottom) is discolored. i didnt add any seeds and there definitely wasnt that much sugar. hmmm.....
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