Wine no 1 variants

[halfastory]

I've been adding tinned fruit to wine number 1 for the last few months now and really enjoying the results. Peaches, apricots, pears, lychees...all good.
My only problem is that with some of them i'm getting a slight bitterness in the finished result. I'm fermenting dry and not sweetening so maybe that's where i'm going wrong. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Also, i've noticed the tinned fruit adds a lot of body and the alcohol content appears quite high. I'm starting as close to 1080 as possible but i'm assuming the fruit releases more sugar during the ferment?

[lockwood1956]

Add the fruit pulp later in the ferment (around SG 1.030) to increase fruitiness.....

I know it doesn't sound like you will get more fruit expression....but you will...trust me


much fruitier and smoother wine this way.

fruit wines always benefit from being sweetened a tad I feel

[halfastory]

Thanks...if I start off in a two gallon bucket and add the tinned fruit at 1.030 do I let it ferment for a couple of days until it drops to 1.010 and then rack off into a seconday?

[granda]

i added 2 liters of aldi pineapple juice (and 600gram sugar) instead of apple to a no 1 and now i cant make enough for friends even the wife likes it. it taste delish but has a very vigerous ferment for a couple of days.

[wisp]

Never, ever, make anything the wife likes - or if you are a wife, never, ever make anything the husband likes.

If you like and your better half likes, you've got a good result.

The only way is up. You're in the right place.

[goldseal]

...My only problem is that with some of them i'm getting a slight bitterness in the finished result. I'm fermenting dry and not sweetening so maybe that's where i'm going wrong. Any suggestions gratefully received. ...

Are you sure it is bitterness you are are tasting? It might be that, as Bob suggests, you need to sweeten a little to balance the alcohol and acidity.

Do you detect this bitterness/sourness on the sides of your tongue, or at the back?

I have encountered slight bitterness in a tinned strawberry wine. This was pulp fermented. I put a later batch through a centrifugal juicer, which removed the seeds amongst other things. This eliminated the bitterness. So, make sure whatever fruit you use, and whatever stage you add it, ensure there are no seeds present.

[halfastory]

"Do you detect this bitterness/sourness on the sides of your tongue, or at the back?"

Hmmmmm...not sure. I'll have to try tonight. I did add Youngs sweetener to a bottle of peach and it was dreadful! Really artificial tasting and way too sweet for my liking and i'd only added half a teaspoon. Ordinary glycerin seems to round it off nicely but i'll have another little sip tonight and see what i'm getting.