Apple & Pineapple wine

[Habel]

Recipe

• Sweet Gala apples 4kg (£3.58)
• Gold Pineapple x3 (£2.67)
• 2 gal’s water
• White sugar 2.95 kgs (6.5 lbs)
• Citric acid 2 tsp
• Pectic enzyme 3 tsp
• Yeast nutrient 2 tsp

Total: £6.25

This is the 1st wine ive made. It is currently sat in 2 demijohns, it has fully fermented out very quickly and using the hydrometer i worked it is 15.1%! leaving to clear now. When i racked it into the demijohns one of them (one on right) got a bit of sediment in it by accident. This has now gone funny and floated to the top. I fink this mite be a malo- latic ferment as i disturbed it while shaking to degas, but im no expert so let me know!

I tasted a bit while racking and its very fruity can taste distinct apple & pineapple with very dry aftertaste. (S.G is 990) i will sweeting it i fink as thats a bit dry for my taste. Let me know what you think.

[fatbloke]

What an excellent colour.

Maybe, if you can remember (mixing/fermenting notes ???), could you post any info about starting gravity, or any other useful "technique" type info (yeast etc).

The recipe looks like an excellent one to try from the local tesco's

regards

JtFB

[Habel]

Starting gravity was 1020, after added 6.5lbs of sugar it was 1095 ( although i added sugar in 3 stages.) The yeast i used was Young's all purpose white wine yeast. Yes it does sure look tasty!

[Habel]

My method was, i chopped the apples with skin on and boiled for 15 mins. peeled and cut the pineapple and boiled for 10 mins. Added to fermenting vessel topped up with cold water to make 2 gals water added. waited to cool then added the pectolase, citric acid and campdeon tablets. Left 24 hours then added yeast nutrient and yeast. Stirred daily for 8 days added sugar in stages. After 8 days seived off the solids then racked into 3 demijohns (2 full one half full). took further 2 weeks to fully ferment, at this point had large sediment, racked off into 2 full demijohns, degassed a bit, and know leaving to clear!

[fatbloke]

Excellent, well done Habel.

Been thinking about this one since I read your first post about it.

Not sure I'd boil the fruit, probably just core the apples and chuck 'em in a food processor, same with the pineapple. 'Cos last time I heated apple to try it, I got a bit too much of an "apple sauce" sort of flavour.

Plus, as with my meads, I've been trying not to heat as you can sometimes loose some of the more subtle smells/tastes etc (well, so I'm told - ha! it saves on power/gas as well).

Though as they say, "if it works for you, then........".


Brilliant though. Recipe ingredients easily available from the local retail nazis

regards

JtFB

[Habel]

Yer i can smell the stewed apple taste on the wine. If i make again id try cold soaking and then i can see which taste better. Some people might prefer the "apple sauce" flavour. Thanks.

[lockwood1956]

You will likely get better results by freezing the aples and then thawing them and pressing or squeezing them, the juice will flow from them easily.

regards
Bob

[Habel]

Any 1 help me on why the sediment has gone all fluffy and floated to the top? i tried to rack it but it just all got sucked up n went through the sieve.

[lockwood1956]

Yes
the yeast you have used is not good at producing compact (easy to rack from) lees, and pineapple pruduces lots of stuff that settles eventually.
Do you have a racking cane tip (to stop sediment being drawn up the syphone tube?)

let it sit longer so the lees compact a little more (not too long though)

[Habel]

thanks for the advice. I added camdeon tablets to them both and the floaty bits have settled now and its clearing! i will be sure to post some pics whern there bottleed in a couple of months, and will post seen to let you kno about my latest project...

[fatbloke]

thanks for the advice. I added camdeon tablets to them both and the floaty bits have settled now and its clearing! i will be sure to post some pics whern there bottleed in a couple of months, and will post seen to let you kno about my latest project...

If you searched for my "ginger wine" thread from last year, you'd see/read about problems with floating debris etc (mainly caused by using about 10 times more ginger than the recipe suggested ).

To sort that, I ended up sanitising a tea towel and using it as a filter in a funnel, then waiting for it to clear and rack in the usual manner.

I have read elsewhere, about pineapple being a bit of a bu99er for making lots of sediment though, so to hear that doesn't surprise me.

I'm still planning to have a crack at pineapple though. The colour looks wonderful.

regards

JtFB

[Habel]

yer its a ncie colour, just had a look tonite they have both cleared, but they are different colours, ones more light yellow, others like a darker cidery colour is this normal to have different shades from the same initial batch of wine?

[lockwood1956]

hmmmmm.....no


the one that is darker......how much air is above it in the container?


sounds like it may be oxidising

[Habel]

they are both full to the neck as you can see in the pictures. Im thinking maybe one has more of the apple juice in and one more of the pineapple juice maybe as maybe one juice is more dense than the other and settled low down therefore would of got sythoned out last. Mite just be the way the lights reflecting, il try movin the demijohns and looking. Oh and by the way, the one that had floating bits but had settled and cleared now has floated back to the top again! DOH!

[5thElement]

Rack them again and try get it away from the sediment?