Apple and Pineapple 'alcoholic drink'

[So-Kal]

Is it a wine? Is it a cider?

Who knows what it'll end up as ....

Obviously due to being *cough* let down *cough* with a rose wine making kit I was going to get on the go, I've decided to have a dabble at something quick, so I've thrown 12 litres of apple juice and 9 litres of pineapple juice (both Asda's own 'from concentrate') into a big bucket (don't get worried - when I say big bucket, of course I mean properly sterilised FV with airlock and everything), with a bag of sugar and some Young's cider yeast (that I had in the cupboard).

It's sweet as anything at an SG of 1058, but this yeast is pretty aggressive stuff and tends to end up being really dry (at least, in my beginner's opinion) so I'm going to see how it goes......

Taste wise, the pineapple really drowns out the apple, even in a lower overall percentage. I'd imagine it's going to be quite drinkable, but I guess time will tell.

Depending what side of 995 it ends up will depend on whether I label it a wine or a cider - either way, it'll get drunk!

I've also found that a teaspoonful of sugar in a 2 litre bottle of brew using this yeast is just enough to produce a REALLY nice fizz after a few days.

Anyway - this is what will be on the go until I get my refund so I can start a rose ......... :)

 

[jez3122]

Funnily i did something like this today.....
but i've done 50% apple juice and 50% pinapple and i've only done a gallon in a DJ....but i didn't add and sugar.....do you think i should

 

[So-Kal]

Funnily i did something like this today.....
but i've done 50% apple juice and 50% pinapple and i've only done a gallon in a DJ....but i didn't add and sugar.....do you think i should

To be honest, I've no idea as to whether adding sugar is going to work or not. The last batches of TC I did (just apple) had no sugar in them, as I've read that it can thin out the taste, but I ended up blending about 10% of plain apple juice into each glass full anyway, as it all went a bit dry for my tastes.......

But I'm all for experimenting, hence adding the sugar in this time to see what happens :drink:

 

[So-Kal]

WOW - this stuff has gone bezerk big time!!

Somewhere between yesterday afternoon and this afternoon, it's gone fermenting crazy!

Right now, it's not even bubbling, more just a constant stream of air!!

There's masses of foam in the FV and some 'bits' have found their way up the airlock!

Have to say, it doesn't smell bad or anything, so maybe it has something to do with the pineapple (which did have lots of 'bits' in it).

Ah well - wait and see time I guess..............

 

[jez3122]

WOW - this stuff has gone bezerk big time!!

Somewhere between yesterday afternoon and this afternoon, it's gone fermenting crazy!

Right now, it's not even bubbling, more just a constant stream of air!!

There's masses of foam in the FV and some 'bits' have found their way up the airlock!

Have to say, it doesn't smell bad or anything, so maybe it has something to do with the pineapple (which did have lots of 'bits' in it).

Ah well - wait and see time I guess..............

mine done exactly the same mate.......it's gone mental!!!!

i put a tray under the DJ before i went to work today cause i though it was gonna overflow!

9 hours on it hasn't overflowed.....but it hasn't slowed down either..

 

[grinchy]

lesson to be learned here...... only fill to the shoulder and top up when the initial ferment has calmed down!!

Have to say, i like the sound of them flavours, let us know how it turns out.

 

[jez3122]

lesson to be learned here...... only fill to the shoulder and top up when the initial ferment has calmed down!!

Have to say, i like the sound of them flavours, let us know how it turns out.

I only did fill to the shoulder and as yet it's not overflowed but god it's close :pray:

 

[Moley]

There are obviously some juice / nutrient / acid combinations which the yeasties really get turned on by. For example, the (Wurzel's) Orange & White Grape Juice can go volcanic in a very short space of time, but Apple & WGJ doesn't do it for them in the same way.

I haven't tried Pineapple & WGJ ....... yet.

It's going on the shopping list though.

 

[grinchy]

I only did fill to the shoulder and as yet it's not overflowed but god it's close :pray:[/quote]

My apologies....

 

[So-Kal]

'Shoulder'?? There's no shoulder on a 20 litre 'FV' (or, as I affectionately called it, the 'BFB' - work that one out yourselves )

I only do things in big batches, mainly because I only have big buckets - I guess one day I'll get round to doing little DJs of stuff, but I'm an 'all or nothing' kind of bloke!

Anyway - the brew is still going strong - but at least now there's a faction of a gap between each bubble.

I chucked another bag of sugar in just for a bit of a laugh - it didn't go any more mental and it hasn't thinned out the taste any - but I was a bit wary that my hydrometer only showed an original gravity of 1058, whereas somewhere around 1070 is where a lot of your brews are starting out.

It means my calculations on the finished alcohol content are going to be wrong, but hey ho - as long as it tastes OK, then I'll be happy......... :

 

[So-Kal]

Actually - I've just seen your video of your Wurzel's orange wine Moley - that's EXACTLY how mine went (and is still going) - so I'm happy that it's 'normal' and not me having cocked something up! :whistle:

 

[Moley]

It isn't my video, I think it was Tubby Shaw's.
That is fairly typical of a (warm) Wurzel though.

 

[shadow47]

I made a wine with Pineapple juice once, it was pretty nice, tasted like white wine with a hint of pineapple, you get a lot of pulp and stuff though, I had mine in a demijohn and all of the pulp made its way out of the airlock onto my kitchen floor, LOTS of it!

I made it with Pineapple juice on its own, really fast fermentation and cleared really fast too.

I expect this will turn into a nice white wine though!

 

[So-Kal]

OK, so it's been 2 weeks now and, to be honest, I wasn't holding out much hope for this stuff until today.

It was still cloudy as hell depite two rackings - and I'd put potassium sorbate in, added some glycerin (20ml) and added 40 tea spoons of sugar and it still didn't taste anything remotely like 'nice' (I can't help testing stuff)

But how quickly all that has changed.

I got some campden tabs on the way home from uni today and added 3 of them, and also some wine finings.

Well - within an hour the stuff had REALLY cleared up, so I had to have another little test and it's really transformed and is now a pretty drinkable 'white wine'!!

Going to give it another week on the finings and then bottle it!

No idea what the final ABV is, but it's going to be up around 10% or so....... :thumb: