Grape Juice and Mango Juice

[Dutto]

I gave each DJ a quick "shuggle" today and 99% of the floaters fell to the bottom.

Still the odd "gloop" and an SG of 1008 so no need to hurry to bottling.

After checking the SG I drank the liquid as usual. It's already has a nice dry taste to it, not a great deal of body and a very faint taste of mango; but the latter might be wishful thinking because it disappeared almost immediately. :whistle:

 

[Motorhomebrew]

Unfortunately the only thing I think can possibly save my wine is to make it sparkling. Will taste like a pink prosecco then. However as iv added finings all of the suspended yeast has fallen to the bottom of the FV and its pretty clear now. So will it carbonate in the bottle?

 

[Dutto]

Adding Finings doesn't kill the yeast. It just gets the yeast cells to clump together (flocculate) so if there is a slight haze there should be enough yeast left to give you secondary fermentation.

We discovered in France (where we could get some really rough red wine direct from the makers at prices as low as €0.85 a litre) that, no matter how rough the wine tasted, the addition of a small amount of Cassis (blackcurrant juice) would make it drinkable!

We do the same with some of my "exotics" that refuse to play the game and turn into a fine wine; but aren't exactly vinegar! :whistle:

 

[Dutto]

Racked into three DJ's today and added finings.

I want to avoid using Camden Tablets if possible so I intend to give them a week or so to clear, rack into another set of DJ's, install solid bungs and then put them away in a cool dark place until about June.

I usually bottle at this stage (capped 500ml beer bottles) but I'm running out of bottles.

Your thoughts on this plan would be much appreciated.

 

[cheapbrew]

Unless you make sure fermentation has stopped, your bungs will pop out, they can do even if wine isn't fermenting if there are temp swings causing change in pressure.

 

[Dutto]

Unless you make sure fermentation has stopped, your bungs will pop out, they can do even if wine isn't fermenting if there are temp swings causing change in pressure.

I was more worried that an air-lock might dry out or get knocked out.

On reflection, maybe I should just leave the air-locks in place for now and devote the next three weeks to freeing up a load of 500ml bottles currently in beer service! :whistle: :whistle:

Plan "B" looking better by the minute! :thumb:

 

[Motorhomebrew]

Well iv bottled mine today and my wine was crystal clear so I swirled the yeast at the bottom of my dj with a little wine and added a teaspoon of yeast slurry to each 500ml bottle and added a teaspoon of sugar. Also did a champagne bottle and added half a shot of the slurry and 4 teaspoons of sugar lol. By the way I tasted this wine again today and their is a note of mango. Very slight but hopefully come summer it will be good

 

[Dutto]

Well iv bottled mine today and my wine was crystal clear so I swirled the yeast at the bottom of my dj with a little wine and added a teaspoon of yeast slurry to each 500ml bottle and added a teaspoon of sugar. Also did a champagne bottle and added half a shot of the slurry and 4 teaspoons of sugar lol. By the way I tasted this wine again today and their is a note of mango. Very slight but hopefully come summer it will be good

Well done, especially finding the mango flavour! :thumb:

I wish I could have found the time to move mine today!

I am certain that the fermentation has stopped but I still don't have enough free bottles for what I want to do, so tomorrow they will be syphoned into two clean DJ's (to be put somewhere nice and cool with bungs hammered home) and any excess will be bottled and capped in 500ml beer bottles.

Next on the "to do" list is the DJ of cider!! It too has stopped fermenting and has started to clear without any finings being added.

So many jobs to do and so few hours in a day! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

Racked off the brew today.

Two full DJ's with a camden tablet in each (laid down in a dark cool place to mature) and three x 300ml bottles "au naturel" capped with a quarter teaspoon of sugar. (Hoping for a sparkle from those in a few months.)

From on OG of 1.064 I got a FG of 0.096 with a calculated ABV of 13.65%.

So much for the "sweet low-alcohol wine for summer" that I aimed for!

The "mango flavour" has almost disappeared and the dryness has a real "pucker" factor.

However, it will undoubtedly mellow with age and it should come into its own by Autumn; served as a chilled Kir (i.e. with a dash of Cassis to take the astringency out) as an aperitif before dinner.

As usual - "Here's hoping!" :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Motorhomebrew]

I'm really hoping the mango comes through with a few months conditioning and hopefully by summer its worth drinking.

 

[Dutto]

I bottled and capped one DJ on the 9th February but (due to a lack of bottles) I left the second DJ to condition with a bung in place and bottled that one on the 4th June.

I opened one of the older bottles today and after just four months it has become a lovely light dry rosé wine; but at 13.5% ABV it's a wine with a kick in the tail.

The down side is that I cannot taste any mango whatsoever. This may be due to shattered taste buds but for a second attempt at this recipe I will increase the grape/mango juice ratio from 6:1 to 1:1 because I think a wine that tasted of mango would be nice.

Unfortunately, I think this may also increase what is already a high ABV so I may have to add some water before fermentation. That in turn will probably make the wine a lot paler so .... ? We will see.

I decanted the bottle into a clean beer glass to photograph it ... :thumb:

... and from there into a decanter to let it chill a little in the fridge ... :thumb: :thumb:

... and from there into a headache! :whistle: :whistle: