Winemaking (rec.crafts.winemaking) Discussion of the process, recipes, tips, techniques and general exchange of lore on the process, methods and history of wine making. Includes traditional grape wines, sparkling wines & champagnes.

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Default What fruits are best to ferment

Posted this in rec.crafts.winemaking, but have just discovered the
rec.crafts.brewing group which I guess is probably more appropriate, since
it's not about wine.

"Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange
juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
better results from other fruits?

Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much
liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The sugar to alcohol question was kindly well dealt with, but i'm still with
the question on what fruits would give a good taste and give *easy* results.
Many thanks.



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Default What fruits are best to ferment

jim west > wrote:
> Posted this in rec.crafts.winemaking, but have just discovered the
> rec.crafts.brewing group which I guess is probably more appropriate,
> since it's not about wine.
>
> "Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of
> orange juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I
> get better results from other fruits?
>
> Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how
> much liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The sugar to alcohol question was kindly well dealt with, but i'm still with
> the question on what fruits would give a good taste and give *easy* results.
> Many thanks.


I'll ferment anything at least once.
My favorite fruit flavors are Raspberries (black or red) and Cherries.

Dick

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Default What fruits are best to ferment

In article >, jim west wrote:
>Posted this in rec.crafts.winemaking, but have just discovered the
>rec.crafts.brewing group which I guess is probably more appropriate, since
>it's not about wine.
>
>"Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange
>juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
>better results from other fruits?
>
>Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much
>liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks."
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The sugar to alcohol question was kindly well dealt with, but i'm still with
>the question on what fruits would give a good taste and give *easy* results.
>Many thanks.


I've had pretty good success fermenting apple juice, and also
blueberry juice.

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Default What fruits are best to ferment


"jim west" > wrote in message
...
> Posted this in rec.crafts.winemaking, but have just discovered the
> rec.crafts.brewing group which I guess is probably more appropriate,
> since it's not about wine.
>
> "Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of
> orange
> juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
> better results from other fruits?
>
> Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much
> liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks."
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The sugar to alcohol question was kindly well dealt with, but i'm still
> with the question on what fruits would give a good taste and give *easy*
> results. Many thanks.


The first answer is a simple one -- use fruits you think taste good.
The second answer is a bit more complex. Some fruits do better than others.
Fruits with a more bold flavor will permeate the wine or mead better. For
example, the more subtle flavor of peach sometimes gets lost.
Caveat emptor. Understand that since you're using both a sweetened juice and
sugar (or honey or syrup for melomels) you're going to have to be more
careful to keep from getting a stuck fermentation, and you also run the risk
of creating something with a lot more octane, as these two sugar sources
will make a hardier yeast process more of the sugar. If you want a fruity
drink, then use lower alcohol yeasts, with the note that if you're looking
for anything with any sweetness then it'll be hard to get an alcohol level
with a vinometer, as they don't give true readings if there's still sugar in
the product.
And BTW, wine made with fruit other than grapes are called "country wines"
and are topical in my personal opinion to any wine list or newsgroup, as
they're still wines.
My personal favorites are melomels with blueberry, organic apple cider, (the
one gallon glass jugs from Whole Foods make a great primary for small
batches) and elderberry. (Use champagne yeast on the latter for a crackling
wine) I also made a great dessert wine using the recipe for Earl Grey
Metheglyn from the first Bees Lees volume using a petit syrah grape body and
blood oranges along with Twinings Earl Grey and high pollen count honey.




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Default What fruits are best to ferment

Nicole Massey wrote:
>
> The first answer is a simple one -- use fruits you think taste good.


So far all of my wine attempts have been variations on mead, with or
without additional fruit.

> The second answer is a bit more complex. Some fruits do better than others.
> Fruits with a more bold flavor will permeate the wine or mead better. For
> example, the more subtle flavor of peach sometimes gets lost.


The time I tried fermenting orange juice the result was nasty. I don't
think citris fruits do well fermenting. Given that tart apples make
better cider I don't think it's the acid content. Unless oranges have
so much acid it becomes a problem?

> And BTW, wine made with fruit other than grapes are called "country wines"
> and are topical in my personal opinion to any wine list or newsgroup, as
> they're still wines.


Perhaps apple based wines are the exception to the naming rule.
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Default What fruits are best to ferment


"Doug Freyburger" > wrote in message
...
> Nicole Massey wrote:
>>
>> The first answer is a simple one -- use fruits you think taste good.

>
> So far all of my wine attempts have been variations on mead, with or
> without additional fruit.
>
>> The second answer is a bit more complex. Some fruits do better than
>> others.
>> Fruits with a more bold flavor will permeate the wine or mead better. For
>> example, the more subtle flavor of peach sometimes gets lost.

>
> The time I tried fermenting orange juice the result was nasty. I don't
> think citris fruits do well fermenting. Given that tart apples make
> better cider I don't think it's the acid content. Unless oranges have
> so much acid it becomes a problem?
>
>> And BTW, wine made with fruit other than grapes are called "country
>> wines"
>> and are topical in my personal opinion to any wine list or newsgroup, as
>> they're still wines.

>
> Perhaps apple based wines are the exception to the naming rule.


I know folks that have made great melomels with oranges, lemons, limes, and
other citrus. I'm not sure why yours went off the rails. In my beginning
mead class materials I mention that you can use any juice except for things
like clam juice to make melomels with good effect. The Orange/Mango Melomel
one of our class participants made was good, though strong, as once again it
fermented to dryness.

Oh, and something I forgot to mention -- freeze any fruit you want to use,
as this will break the cell walls of the fruit and give you more juice,
meaning more flavor and sweetness.


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I too have had an issue with fermenting a lemon wine (high acidic content). So I had to use a lemon mixer as a base (that you mix with vodka) and it ferments fine.

My wife wanted to make a Cherry Limeade using "Simply Lime" and fresh squeezed Lime juice. Now the last time I tried a lemon wine using "Simply Lemonade" and the mixers mentioned before, it stalled on me several times; went thru 3 yeast packets and lots of yeast energizer and nothing worked.

Fearing it may have spoiled I went ahead and dumped it and restarted the batch just using the lemon mixer.

Going back to the cherry limeade, I did some research and asked my local brew supply store questions on how to reduce the acidic content and they recommended Calcium Carbonate. Since I didn't have an acid tester kit, and wasn't sure what the appropriate acidic content should be, I just used the minimum recommended dosage for a 1 gallon bacth to reduce it by .10 (whatever that means).

Well, I checked in on it this morning (pitched yeast over the weekend) and it seems to be fermenting just fine now...it was a 3 gallon batch.

Hey Nicole, what process did they follow for making these melomels? Did they add the fruit during the secondary fermentation process? I'd like to know.

Thanks!
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