Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

What fruits are best to ferment

766 views
Skip to first unread message

Tim west

unread,
Dec 2, 2012, 3:59:05 PM12/2/12
to
Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange
juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
better results from other fruits?

Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much
liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks.


Robert

unread,
Dec 2, 2012, 5:32:36 PM12/2/12
to

"Tim west" <timedream95(remoove)@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:k9gfev$i5b$1...@dont-email.me...
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/hydrom.asp


Midway down the page is a chart listing amount of sugar in a gallon or added
to a gallon of water for percentage of alcohol.
You will also find recipes for any type of fruit listed on the web site.


Robert

Dick Adams

unread,
Dec 3, 2012, 3:44:09 PM12/3/12
to
Tim west <timedream95(remoove)@gmail.com> wrote:

> Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange
> juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
> better results from other fruits?

Orange juice should have a Brix of ~10.7 and an SG of 1.057. It will ferment
dry at 7.82 ABV. You can add sugar to it to increase both the SG and the ABV.

I'm not a big fan of fermented Orange Juice.

jim west

unread,
Dec 4, 2012, 6:43:28 AM12/4/12
to
Posted this in rec.crafts.winemaking, but have just discovered the
rec.crafts.brewing group which I guess is probably more appropriate, since
it's not about wine.

"Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange
juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get
better results from other fruits?

Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much
liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The sugar to alcohol question was kindly well dealt with, but i'm still with
the question on what fruits would give a good taste and give *easy* results.
Many thanks.



Dick Adams

unread,
Dec 5, 2012, 1:57:49 AM12/5/12
to
I'll ferment anything at least once.
My favorite fruit flavors are Raspberries (black or red) and Cherries.

Dick

Bart Goddard

unread,
Dec 5, 2012, 10:04:04 AM12/5/12
to
rda...@panix.com (Dick Adams) wrote in
news:k9mr9d$pr2$1...@reader1.panix.com:


> I'll ferment anything at least once.
> My favorite fruit flavors are Raspberries (black or red) and
Cherries.

I'm not a big fan of fermented fruits, but at a party
Monday a guy brought some loquat "wine". I was surprised
at how palatable it was. I happen to have a loquat tree.....

--
Cheerfully resisting change since 1959.

Pavel314

unread,
Dec 6, 2012, 3:50:27 PM12/6/12
to
On Sunday, December 2, 2012 3:59:05 PM UTC-5, Tim west remoove wrote:
> Complete novice has started fermenting orange juice and a mixture of orange juice and sliced apple. Are these good fruits to go for or would I get better results from other fruits? Also I would be grateful to know very roughly how much sugar to how much liquid produces what percentage of alcohol? Thanks.

I've had very good reviews on my pear wine. I've also made apple, elderberry and quince wines.

Paul

T.J. Higgins

unread,
Dec 28, 2012, 11:26:27 AM12/28/12
to
I've had pretty good success fermenting apple juice, and also
blueberry juice.

Nicole Massey

unread,
Dec 29, 2012, 2:46:37 PM12/29/12
to

"jim west" <timedream95(remoove)@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:k9knl0$slh$1...@dont-email.me...
The first answer is a simple one -- use fruits you think taste good.
The second answer is a bit more complex. Some fruits do better than others.
Fruits with a more bold flavor will permeate the wine or mead better. For
example, the more subtle flavor of peach sometimes gets lost.
Caveat emptor. Understand that since you're using both a sweetened juice and
sugar (or honey or syrup for melomels) you're going to have to be more
careful to keep from getting a stuck fermentation, and you also run the risk
of creating something with a lot more octane, as these two sugar sources
will make a hardier yeast process more of the sugar. If you want a fruity
drink, then use lower alcohol yeasts, with the note that if you're looking
for anything with any sweetness then it'll be hard to get an alcohol level
with a vinometer, as they don't give true readings if there's still sugar in
the product.
And BTW, wine made with fruit other than grapes are called "country wines"
and are topical in my personal opinion to any wine list or newsgroup, as
they're still wines.
My personal favorites are melomels with blueberry, organic apple cider, (the
one gallon glass jugs from Whole Foods make a great primary for small
batches) and elderberry. (Use champagne yeast on the latter for a crackling
wine) I also made a great dessert wine using the recipe for Earl Grey
Metheglyn from the first Bees Lees volume using a petit syrah grape body and
blood oranges along with Twinings Earl Grey and high pollen count honey.


Doug Freyburger

unread,
Dec 31, 2012, 1:12:48 PM12/31/12
to
Nicole Massey wrote:
>
> The first answer is a simple one -- use fruits you think taste good.

So far all of my wine attempts have been variations on mead, with or
without additional fruit.

> The second answer is a bit more complex. Some fruits do better than others.
> Fruits with a more bold flavor will permeate the wine or mead better. For
> example, the more subtle flavor of peach sometimes gets lost.

The time I tried fermenting orange juice the result was nasty. I don't
think citris fruits do well fermenting. Given that tart apples make
better cider I don't think it's the acid content. Unless oranges have
so much acid it becomes a problem?

> And BTW, wine made with fruit other than grapes are called "country wines"
> and are topical in my personal opinion to any wine list or newsgroup, as
> they're still wines.

Perhaps apple based wines are the exception to the naming rule.

Nicole Massey

unread,
Jan 1, 2013, 10:23:06 AM1/1/13
to

"Doug Freyburger" <dfre...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:kbskiv$mld$1...@dont-email.me...
I know folks that have made great melomels with oranges, lemons, limes, and
other citrus. I'm not sure why yours went off the rails. In my beginning
mead class materials I mention that you can use any juice except for things
like clam juice to make melomels with good effect. The Orange/Mango Melomel
one of our class participants made was good, though strong, as once again it
fermented to dryness.

Oh, and something I forgot to mention -- freeze any fruit you want to use,
as this will break the cell walls of the fruit and give you more juice,
meaning more flavor and sweetness.


CrazyMadVintor

unread,
Jan 30, 2013, 9:03:29 AM1/30/13
to

I too have had an issue with fermenting a lemon wine (high acidic
content). So I had to use a lemon mixer as a base (that you mix with
vodka) and it ferments fine.

My wife wanted to make a Cherry Limeade using "Simply Lime" and fresh
squeezed Lime juice. Now the last time I tried a lemon wine using
"Simply Lemonade" and the mixers mentioned before, it stalled on me
several times; went thru 3 yeast packets and lots of yeast energizer and
nothing worked.

Fearing it may have spoiled I went ahead and dumped it and restarted the
batch just using the lemon mixer.

Going back to the cherry limeade, I did some research and asked my local
brew supply store questions on how to reduce the acidic content and they
recommended Calcium Carbonate. Since I didn't have an acid tester kit,
and wasn't sure what the appropriate acidic content should be, I just
used the minimum recommended dosage for a 1 gallon bacth to reduce it by
10 (whatever that means).

Well, I checked in on it this morning (pitched yeast over the weekend)
and it seems to be fermenting just fine now...it was a 3 gallon batch.

Hey Nicole, what process did they follow for making these melomels? Did
they add the fruit during the secondary fermentation process? I'd like
to know.

Thanks! :D




--
CrazyMadVintor

zosimod...@gmail.com

unread,
May 27, 2016, 8:53:13 AM5/27/16
to
how about Mango? how long can a Green Mango last when being fermented? or when added preservatives?
0 new messages