Anyone make fruit wine?

brew_cat 2017-09-15 19:07:06 UTC #21

Right. I couldn't do a hydrometer reading with all the peaches in there to thick. I may have better luck with the raspberries

brew_cat 2017-09-20 11:53:53 UTC #22

It's been about a week some of the fruit is still floating. Will it eventually drop or should I rack. I don't want to push it down but I do give it a little twist now and again

rebuiltcellars 2017-10-12 08:36:54 UTC #23

Sorry about such a long delay in answering, it has been busy.

Some fruits sink, but most float and form a cap while the fermentation is progressing. It is standard practice to punch the fruit down to better mix it with the liquid and aid extraction of flavors, but the skins and seeds are usually separated from the wine by a pressing operation, not simply racking. Simple racking can work, if the cane doesn't get clogged, but you lose a fair bit of wine that way.
You usually want to press before the fermentation is totally done, so there is still active yeast to consume the oxygen that might mix in during the press.

brew_cat 2017-10-12 12:04:17 UTC #24

I had trouble racking but managed to strain it through a strainer bag. I tossed in a few raisons to get the fermentation started I also topped off with some peach Mead I had made. Next time I'll do it different. I think I'll ferment in a strainer lined bucket and siphon from under the strainer and then squeeze out the bag. This is kind of a dry run for the raspberry wine I want to make with the raspberries I froze from the season

rebuiltcellars 2017-10-13 04:24:57 UTC #25

If you are making just a few gallons or less, a mesh bag is a good option for containing the fruit so it is easy to strain out. Just squeeze the bag as best you can; the more fruit in the bag, the harder that is to do, so it might make sense to use more than one bag if your batch is several gallons.

brew_cat 2017-12-26 10:23:51 UTC #26

Just a follow-up since I bottled and drank the peach wine on Christmas. Like @jimrmaine 3lbs was not enough peaches and I topped up with some peach Mead so it ended up tasting like Mead. The mullberry wine came out very well though. I just started the raspberry wine. Only had 4lbs so need to add more sugar

justjoe 2018-01-03 03:33:13 UTC #27

I made fruit wine for a few years and found that adding elderberries to nearly any fruit makes the wine better. This year I made 5 Gal of Rhubarb, 5 gal of Cherry, 10 gal of wild grape (vitis riparia) and 5 gal of concord. I used half elderberries and half of the fruit for each one and the wines were all very good. It took a lot of elderberries though!