Loweface

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I was thinking of making a few strong fruit wines not so much for drinking but for mixing with fruit juices and commercial spirits to make cocktails.

I'm not going to go anywhere near distillation but I do want to bump up the alcohol to the upper limits of the yeast used (to give both a stable and sweet wine/liquor)... I'm thinking some yeasts might be able to handle 15-18%, particularly if some of the sugar was fed in over time...

I don't want to go near any of those turbo yeasts that are advertised to go to ~21% because they are made for stills and supposedly give out very little BUT off-flavours...

Suggestions Welcome for flavours and/or recipes...

RadicalEd

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While many might consider this "swill bait," I'll answer as best I can .

Even distillers avoid the turbo yeasts, as the darn things produe a foul brew (as you mentioned). Your best bet is either with a champagne yeast or a liquid "super high gravity" from WLP, fed over time. Keep the OG reasonably low, under 1080, preferably 1060. Let the ferment get going and then feed it every time the ferment slows down a bit. Using guesstimation, don't take the alc beyond 14% with the champagne yeast; you'll get some unpleasant flavors if you do (I probably wouldn't take the WLP super yeast too much further, either. Maybe 16%, as it does develop off flavors as well). Very importantly, keep the ferment in the yeast's optimal temp range. You're asking a very unreasonable thing of it by feeding it so much sugar/malt/juice/what-have-you, and giving it a lot of fermentables will put out a lot of heat. Make sure it's comfortable.

Of course, the easiest thing you could do would just be to make some mead. That gets right up to 18%. Well, you'll be waiting for a while before you could drink the stuff .

Hope that helps .

Loweface

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Well I was thinking about this for next summer... So I've no problem waiting... The reasons I was looking for a high ABV was so that it would be more stable and could be sweetend, though I could use a preservative and stabaliser if I must...

I realise this could eassily turn into high ABV swill, I'm looking for something to experiment with...

I have a recipe for orange wine (two gallons) that goes like this...

10 lbs very ripe oranges
6 lbs granulated sugar
2 gallons water
½ teaspoon grape tannin
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
1 ounce wine yeast

I was thinking of halving the recipe and adding an additional 1lb of honey,
Racked every three months till Christmas then bottled till Summer...

EvilTOJ

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Fermenting oranges sounds vile, yet interesting. I'd love to see the results of this experiment.

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Loweface

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Another one I was looking at is a Peach wine...

Peach and Raisin Wine
3 lbs ripe peaches
1/2 cup chopped raisins
2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
1 large lemon
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 qt boiling water
1 crushed Campden tablet
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Sauterne wine yeast

Again the idea would be to bumb up the recipe just enough to get it to transition from wine to liquor...

Yooper

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I know orange wine sounds vile- but it's not like rotten orange juice! It's very delicate and a wonderful white wine, believe it or not.

Peach wine is also very good.

I guess, though, that I'm thinking you may not get the results you're looking for. When the sugars ferment out of fruit wines, it generally leaves a dry, delicate flavored wine with a slightly fruity bouquet. I love fruit wines, but I don't see how they could make a good mixer. Usually mixers are sweet and heavier flavored.

The only thing I can thing of that would meet your criteria is for a port- it would be heavy bodied and sweet. But I don't think anybody would want to mix port with liquor!

It sure would be a knockout punch, though, to have a 20% ABV wine in a 40 proof liquor. Also, the "wine" would probably be mostly fermented sugar water, so I think it would taste like rocket fuel anyway, no matter what kind you started out with.

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Loweface

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Ok possible misunderstanding with the spelling of liqour...

I'm talking about liqueurs??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liqueur
As in lighter versions of something akin to:
Cointreau/Curacao (orange)
Creme de Menth (mint)
Marichino (Cherry)
Creme de Cassis (Blackberry)

As apposed to liqours... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_beverage

Does this even make a difference to peoples understanding of the question / skepticism?
I think there is a great opportunity for experimentation here...

Edit: I realise that liqueurs are usually infused spirits not directly fermented drink... I think I'm trying to blur the line between to two somehow?!?

mr x

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I wouldn't say that's true. Turbo yeasts are just wine yeast with extra nutrients.

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