Skittles...

[Noodleman]

SKittles, not the fun pub kind, but the wonderful sugar candy kind. I love em! So much so I decided to try and make wine from them :)

There is currently a supermarket offer on the, half price per share size bag. 8 bags purchased! I then spent some time sorting them by colour and by my favorite flavors. I've opted to experiment with the purple ones to lock in a process and check the results.

I had 225g of purple skittles which I've dissolved in 1 liter of boiling water. I then boiled the ooze for a while to hopefully remove any lingering preservatives. this was put to one side to cool. I then took a reading with the hydrometer, it came out at 1.080

I then added another 1 liter of cool water (previously boiled) with 300g of sugar mixed in. I took another hydro readin, this time it was 1.090

I added 5ml of yeast nutrient and 5ml of yeast to the cooled solution and put into a DJ.

I had no idea if this would work, but thought it was worth an experiment. It appears to have started fermentation and has been bubbling away, as a slow rate all day. about 1 bubble every 30 seconds.

I intend to leave it alone for a week or so, and then take another reading to check things are on track. If this 2liter batch works out then I will scale it up to a full gallon using the remaining skittles (rapidly decreasing!).

I will report back with how it is coming along when I next open it up and check it :)

 

[oldbloke]

Well, I'd heard of mincing them up and dissolving them in vodka, but...

 

[Manitude]

Sounds... interesting. Normally, if I don't eat them all, I'd just dissolve them in vodka but if this works for you I might give it a try. I think giving it a good long boil to remove (destroy? denature?) the preservatives would be important here.

If it does work, it makes you wonder what other sweets could be turned into an alcoholic tipple.

 

[graysalchemy]

The problem is though that once the sugar is removed ie fermented they won't taste anything like the sweet and any bitterness that may occour from the multitude of E numbers which was masked by the sugar will show through.

I think Skittles vodka would be a better bet.

Touch the Rainbow :lol: :lol:

 

[Noodleman]

Update:
Fermentation appears to be going well, its more lively now than it has been. I had a good sniff of the juice in the DJ and it still has that very distinct purple skittles smell, hopefully that is a good sign for the flavour. There is a very tiny amount of sediment, much less than I expected, less than 1mm.

Boiling off the nasty stuff

The result. Cool colour! I suspect it may have needed more time on the boil.

The SG reading

The colour in the DJ

 

[Apricorn]

Following with interest, keep us updated!

 

[Noodleman]

I decided to check on the progress of fermentation today. The airlock is still bubbling at a steady, all be it slow rate. this rate hasn't changed since it first started to bubble.

the SG reading today is 1.070. Original reading was 1.090. Assuming this rate continues then I expect the fermentation to reduce in 3 weeks time.

The juice in the DJ still smells like the purple skittles, and actually still tastes like it. The colour has started to change a little, the dark purple now has a hint of brown when the light catches it. I've decided to wrap the jar in paper whilst it continues in case this is being caused by the light.

I guess it will be another week or so before I check on its progress again, so updates to follow then :)

 

[stevie1556]

I love Skittles vodka, and can't wait to see how this turns out! I'm now impatiently waiting for the results!

As above, when the sugar is gone, it may taste bad, but then if you back sweeten it it maybe ok

 

[Cheshire muzz]

Shame it's going brown as that's a cracking colour

 

[Noodleman]

I checked how this was coming along today. Still smells fantastic, and the taste is exactly like the skittles before they went through this process.

Here is the SG history I have so far. The fermentation appears to have picked up a little pace, but its still quite slow compared to others.
16/09/2013 - 1.042
13/09/2013 - 1.070
08/09/2013 - 1.090

The colour is much different to when it started. you can see there is a browning effect here, but if you catch it in the light it does have a purple haze to it. the images do not quite do it justice. I tried to take an image of the stuff in the DJ to give a clearer idea. From a taste perspective, I am very excited! I really hope that the flavour remains. I am considering perhaps forcing the fermentation process to end when the SG gets to around 1.010 - 1.015 to keep that sweetness about it, but have not really decided yet.

Colour in the DJ:

From above

In a container so I can measure the SG easily. Direct comparison with some IPA :)

More updates to follow at the end of this week.

 

[Badger]

pity about the colour but sounds awesome, might have to try something similar next

 

[Apricorn]

look forward to seeing how this turns out. Will you add sweeteners to it? What's your target alcohol content?

 

[Noodleman]

look forward to seeing how this turns out. Will you add sweeteners to it? What's your target alcohol content?

I have decided I want to try and avoid adding anything extra where possible in case it changes the flavour for the worse. As this is an experimental batch I may play around with a small sample to see what the effect is when it is ready. It's going to be one of those "What shall I try" days :)

This small batch should be right around the 14% area when completed, but that may vary a little depending on if I stop fermentation early. So, lets say in the range of 10-14%.

I will be checking the SG again later today, based on previous readings I am guessing it will be around 1.020 - 1.030 which is where I may finish, thus keeping it nice and sweet, exactly how skittles should be

 

[graysalchemy]

Assuming that the sugar content of the skittles are 100% fermentable (no reason to think not looking at the ingredient list) then it is likely they will ferment all the way down to 1.000 or below, unless lack of nutrients stops the fermentation earlier.

If that is the case then you will either have to back sweeten with sugar and stabilise with Potassium sorbate to kill the yeast and stop any further fermentation.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[Noodleman]

I managed to find time to check on the wine today, and the SG has not actually dropped as much as I thought. it really has slowed down a lot. I am wondering at what point it will stop itself. Down to about 1 bubble every 2 mins. I was considering ending the fermentation early, but I have decided to just let it run to find out where it will stop by itself.

It has thrown sediment now, about .75cm, I am intending to rack it tomorrow.

The colour in my opinion is now less brown, and a very light hint of purple. I think the brown tint was due to all of the sediment, which has now settled on the bottom.

Here is the SG history I have so far.
19/09/2013 - 10.32
16/09/2013 - 1.042
13/09/2013 - 1.070
08/09/2013 - 1.090

 

[Noodleman]

I checked in on this brew today, and am pleasantly surprised. In the DJ the colour looked crappy, but after drawing a sample and checking against the light from the kitchen window it looks like a Rosé and loses that brown tint. My hope is that when it starts to clear more it will become a soft Rosé colour. Fermentation I believe had stopped, no bubble activity from the airlock and the SG has hardly moved in 1 week.

Today I added 1.25ml of Potassium Sorbate and a half campden tablet (since I am only working on half a DJ batch to experiment). I am going to leave it for a week or two and see how it goes. I suspect I may need to add finings to aid clearing, but I want to give it the opportunity to clear itself first :)

the flavour is still good, still as it was at the start. very happy with it so far :)

Here is the SG history I have so far.
26/09/2013 - 1.024
20/09/2013 - 1.026
19/09/2013 - 1.032
16/09/2013 - 1.042
13/09/2013 - 1.070
08/09/2013 - 1.090

 

[stevie1556]

I'm now even more excited to see the results!

 

[Brewtrog]

Seems a rather high final gravity, but I suppose sweetness will probably work well with skittle flavoured wine. Good luck. :thumb:

 

[Noodleman]

Seems a rather high final gravity, but I suppose sweetness will probably work well with skittle flavoured wine. Good luck. :thumb:

I considered this too, but then I thought as this is being made from skittles it is very appropriate :)

I guess the next update will be in a couple of weeks.

 

[Drunken Horse]

I'd be tempted to add a drop of purple food colouring (seeing as it had it in to begin with) just to get its original colour back.