Dodgy home-made something.

[the.fee.fairy]

At the weekend, feeling in a particularly inspired mood (sampling the ginger and lemon wine might have started it...) I decided to make 'fruit wine' Oh yes...general fruit wine.

It has:

8 Apples
4 oranges
6 kiwis
4 clementines
1 overripe banana

in it.

I juiced the lot, shoved it all into a fermenting bin, filled to just over a gallon with hot water and left it.

Today, i have put it into a demi-john with some yeast and sugar water (it made less than a gallon when i've straiened it) and airlocked it.

How will it turn out i hear you cry? I have as much idea as you do. I haven't got an aim in mind, i just had a need to experminet and useup the fruit that was past its best. It'll either be the most disgusting thing ever made, or the most wonderful!


The mystery liquid

Today, i found a novel use for the top of a small Dr Pepper bottle. I had some sugar water left over, so i squeezed the last of the juice out of the mush left from the fruit, and added it with the sugar water to a bottle. I haven't put any yeast in it, i plan to use it to top up the mystery stuff when it needs racking. However, i have no airlocks to fit said wine bottle, and i didn't want to cork it in case it blew up.

So...in CJJ Berry's book, he talks about bunging bottles with cotton wool, and putting cloth over it and elastic banding it on. Not having any cotton wool to hand, or cloth thin enough, i decided to use a clean dishcloth (and its new as well...). Then, i realised the folly of my plan - no elastic band! So...i cut the top off a small Dr Pepper bottle and shoved it on the top! It holds the cloth on perfectly! It allows any carbon dioxide to leave, without letting vinegar flies in!


Tada!

Genius or fool?

[ohareward]

In that recipe of yours for fruit wine, are there any Aussies in it?

Robin

[halfa]

@ Oharewood.

TFF, good on you for having a go with it. I did a similar thing this year with some Mahoe berries. Mahoe is a tree native to NZ, and is loaded with tiny purple/black berries in summer. They are just a little smaller than elderberry and quite prolific on some trees.

I had just made some really nice elderberry and apple jam and decided to try the Mahoe, since the fresh berries taste quite similar to elderberry.
The jam turned out just fine, although Himself is not as keen on it as I am. Gave some to the neighbours who enjoyed it, - after asking if they would grow a third eye, or start seeing Timothy Leary type scenes after partaking.

I look forward to hearing of progress of the fruit wine.

[Wombat]

In that recipe of yours for fruit wine, are there any Aussies in it?

Robin

Oi! I'll sool Boots onto you!

[the.fee.fairy]

Its bubbld over a couple of times. don't think i really needed the extra yeast...

It smells quite nice!

[TheLancsLass]

it sounds great, looking forward to hearing how it turns out!

[the.fee.fairy]

its gone from smelling nice...to smelling sulfury (a polite way of saying farty).

Don't know if this means drain time - anyone know? Or should i persevere with it and see what heppens? or is it a lost cause?

[Andy Hamilton]

If you steralised everything before hand you should be ok. If you have campden tablets then drop a couple of crushed ones into the mix. Although you generally don't have to be that strict with wine, well not as much as you do with beer.

It does ring a bell somewhere a farty smell but for now I can't think why.

[the.fee.fairy]

Will the campden tablets not kill the yeast though?
It not finished fermenting yet...not by a long way!

[Wombat]

If it smells of flatulence, that is a fair hint that anaerobic decomposition is going on. You could leave it and see what happens, but I wouldn't drink any if i were you..........

Nev

[the.fee.fairy]

Dammit. So what causes that? I made sure everything was sterilised, and the air lock fits nicely and hasn't run out of water.

Might have been the first sniff.

Hmm...

[Wombat]

Dammit. So what causes that?
Hmm...

the wrong kind of bugs I suppose. See how you go, but let your sense of smell and taste guide you.

nev

[the.fee.fairy]

Huzzah! it was the 'first sniff effect' and the dodgy stuff doesn't smell fo farts - well, not any more anyway.

I took the airlock off yesterday and waved my hand over the top to take away the strong odour gases, then i stuck my nose in for a sniff, and it smells fruity - kind of yeasty/bready/beery/cidery fruity, so i'm going to leave it a while longer - i might end up bottling it just to see what happens.

It's beginning to slow down on the ferment now, so i'll leave it a couple of weeks, then rack it, then see what happens.

[the.fee.fairy]

I racke dthe mystery wine ofr the first time a couple of weeks ago. it's looking nice.

There is a hell of a lot of sediment. And, i bought new wine yeast, so i stuck some high fermenting wine yeast and nutrient in it. Its been bubbling nicely, but i think i'm going to rerack it quite soon - the sediment's settling nicely, but there's a layer of yeasty scummy stuff on the top that i'm going to try to spoon off.

Its looking nice now. it looks like a cloudy cider - its yellow.

It smells a lot better!! Its beginning to smell winey now, properly fruity winey as well.

I've got some fermenting tropical fruit juice that i'm going to use to top it up - i left the bottle at work one night and it started to ferment, so i've kept it. might as well carry on the mystery factor!!

[the.fee.fairy]

An update:

After the first racking, i added half a litre of tropical fruit juice (i had left it in the bottle and it had started to ferment on its own).

Then i left it to do its thing, reracked it after about 6 weeks, and then left it again.

Last week, i dropped a crushed campden tablet into the demijohn to make sure that the yeast was actually finished. Then i bottled it.

The results are wonderful!! Its a really nice wine! I'm well pleased.
I was worried for a bit that it was going to be horribel, but actually, its pretty nice. It has a fruity taste to it, and smells peachy (which is odd, seeing as thats not one of the fruits that went into it). It has a light fruity smell, and it is a light straw colour.

I always said it was either going to be really good, or draincleaner. Thankfully, it is the former!