Plum Wine, Complete newb! Save me from myself!

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IXVolt

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Long time brewer, first time wine attempt.

That aside I have a plum tree that we picked and juiced. I want to make wine out of the juice but what I have doesn't fit into the plum recipee that yooper posted about a while back.
Plum Wine

We have a steamer for juicing fruit which we use for grapes a lot, so we pitted and tossed the plums in there and ended up with a gallon of pure plum juice.

So I have a gallon of rosy plum juice, looks almost like pink grapefruit juice.

My question is: Do I divide the juice in half and add half gallon of water/sugar to get to 1.100? I don't know the gravity of the pure plum juice yet, but I'm sure it's no where near the 1.100 range. I'm pretty sure i don't want to boil the juice to dissolve the sugar in.

All the recipee's I've seen suggest letting the fruit soak in the primary, and racking a few times. But I have fairly clear, pure, plum juice.

Any suggestions or guidance is greatly appreciated. The juice is just sitting in the fridge until I figure out what to do.
 
I wouldnt dilute with water at all and hope to end up with a good medium to heavy body. The steam juicer has diluted it some also. I would also do a SG of 1.085-90 to preserve some of the plum taste and smell. Use winecalc http://mpesgens.home.xs4all.nl/thwp/winecalc.html if you dont want to just do an educated guess with a hydrometer. I always have just guessed with fingers crossed. I bet that 2.5 cups sugar will do for you to get to .85. Just add 1/4 cup juice or so to a pyrex measuring cup with the sugar and disolve in the microwave. I would also take the acid blend down a notch. Maybe 1/2 teaspoon to drop the pH a little but then add the blend in after bulk aging if that agrees with your tastebuds. Too many times have I followed recipes that call for acid blend and it develops too firm a backbone of acid after aging if left dry. Too many variations in the fruit and TA. Of course best would be to test the TA and shoot for .55-.65. Thats my 2cents. Good luck. I have an italian plum port that is coming up on a year of aging that is pretty awesome so far.
 
There's a lot of acid in plums, so much so that I'd say dilute that juice; but I've never used a steam juicer, so I have no clue as to how much dilution that process might (or might not) cause. I can tell you from experience that pure plum juice (and prune juice) that's been fermented is way too tart to drink. I can also tell you that the excess tartness will eventually age out, but it might take a while, like a year or more, depending on the dilution of course. Hope this info helps.
Regards, GF.
 
I made plum wine before, it was the best I've made. I made about a gallon of juice and diluted it and added sugar to get back to where i needed to be, it was more than sufficient to make a really good wine. If you search my old posts on wine I'm sure it's here somewhere.
 
So I finally got the batch put together and it sitting in a few 1 gallon jugs atm.

My OG was 1.088. Thank you Calvus, that calculator is awesome.

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I added a little to much on the yeast nutrient, I was in a hurry and mis read the quantity. Hope that doesn't affect it too much. Either way I suspect it will be a long time before I can try/taste them.
 
I see you left a whole lot of head space at the top. With beer you have to worry about krausen, but not with wine. It has been my experience you top right up to the neck to minimize the the surface area making contact with air. Even with the most vigerous fermentation you won't have to worry about blow off tubes and You may want to take the bottle with the balloon and top up the two jugs to within an inch or so of the airlock. Save the mason jar one for when you rack them and need to top them up again. :)
 
I see you left a whole lot of head space at the top. With beer you have to worry about krausen, but not with wine. It has been my experience you top right up to the neck to minimize the the surface area making contact with air. Even with the most vigerous fermentation you won't have to worry about blow off tubes and You may want to take the bottle with the balloon and top up the two jugs to within an inch or so of the airlock. Save the mason jar one for when you rack them and need to top them up again. :)

Thanks, I was wondering about head space. I'll top off the gallon jugs!

:tank:
 
Irony... I topped off the gallon jugs as mentioned previously, and this morning I checked on them on my way to work. Both gallons have bubbled over, and the liquid level is back down to where I had it to begin with.

Looks like I should have gone with my gut feeling.

If this is not normal for wine, any idea why it over flowed? Keep in mind it doesn't look like a normal beer krausen, just a very active fermentation.
 
Not a big deal, just curious why it happened. I usually don't have any problems with my cider...

Could excess yeast nutrient or higher pitching rates cause this I wonder?
 
I've found on wines that have a lot of fruit content that you can get a "chapeau" or cap of solids that will rise with fermentation, it could be that.
 
The other thing is color. It sure seems like the darkest purple wines bubble over onto light hardwood flooring- especially wines that stain! :D

I usually top off after fermentation slows way down- or when I rack.
 
The other thing is color. It sure seems like the darkest purple wines bubble over onto light hardwood flooring- especially wines that stain! :D

I usually top off after fermentation slows way down- or when I rack.

We call that sods law :)
 
I recently started some blackberry wine and it had the same pulp type bubbles.

You can see the plum wine int he background has settled down a bit and changed color.

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I just made a test batch of plum wine that was simply a couple pounds of plums cut up and mixed with water. Then pressed thru a strainer. I didnt have any wine yeast so I tossed in some dennys fav 50 ale yeast and away it went. Three days with a nice krausen and tons of airlock activity. Now its just barely bubbling and I tried a little taste and it certainly tastes like wine! Crazy stuff but I have a HUGE plum tree that I need to find something to do with all the plums...
 
I have plums falling off the tree too. What's a good yeast to use for plum wine?
Also, is it a good or bad idea to press the plums in my apple press and just use juice, as opposed to chopping and putting in boiling water?
 
I was also given two 5 gallons pales of plums and would like suggestions of yeast. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
DoubleRainbow,
I've been making wine for 20 years and I never use yeast. All I use is sugar and water. NO CHEMICALS OR YEAST. I have made wine from Peaches, Raspberries, Blackberries, Plums and so on. For all the details on how I make it, send me a message or email and I'll tell you the exactly how I do it. The way I do it is too lengthly to put it here.
 
Here is a recipe I just finished doing. I am new to wine making, but after racking and clearing. It taste really good, and even better with a little back sweetening. I am bulk aging at the moment, before bottling. It's on the left.

IMG_20120914_214350.jpg


Before you say anything, I know my temps are high. I currently can't help that. Working on making a fermentation chiller.

Recipe as follows:

6 gallon batch
30lbs Italian Prune/Stanley plums halved and de-stoned
45oz golden raisons
2tblsp mint
2tsp cloves
2 gallons of water
3tsp pectic enzyme
6 camden tablets

Plums were frozen for a week
Added camden + pectic enzyme at the same time.
Waited 24 hrs to pitch the yeast.
Starting ph 3.8 reduced to ph 3.1 with acid blend.
Starting gravity 1.100 at 87'
Racked to secondary at a gravity of 1.032 at 77'
Racked again .999 at 78'

Plums were put in a mesh bag and squeezed loosely at the beginning and must stirred to test ph. I aerated it daily and squeezed the bag to continue to break down the plums. My ph ended at 3.2. I used lalvin EC-1118 yeast.
 
So IXvolt, how's this plum wine progressing?

Progressing well, I think...

I'm going to xfer off of the ?lees? (I want to say trub) tonight and let it bulk age another 3 months or so. I'm still learning terminology.

I'll take some pictures this evening when I'm working on it. The pink color has stayed about the same hue but it has cleared up significantly from the first picture I posted.

It has finished right at 0.999. I should probably test the pH, but I don't have any strips/kits to do that yet.
 
Well I was hoping to get to work on the plum wine tonight, but my IPA brew session took longer than expected. 90 min mash, and 90min boil really adds the time on. Not to mention a slow sparge. Anyhow, I didn't make it to the plum wine. So maybe I'll get to it tomorrow...

Here's to hoping!
 
@OldWineMaker, I like the way you think. I use my old family recipe/back to basics combo, when making my wine. No chemicals, but I do use yeast. I use hydrogen peroxide/lemon juice/distilled water to clean with...so far so good!!! I also use balloons instead of airlocks. @ Double Rainbow, I started out using red star champagne yeast. Works really good. I also use Premier Cuvee, talk about bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...but I think it works so hard, it peters itself out. Hope this helps!!
 
@OldWineMaker, I like the way you think. I use my old family recipe/back to basics combo, when making my wine. No chemicals, but I do use yeast. I use hydrogen peroxide/lemon juice/distilled water to clean with...so far so good!!! I also use balloons instead of airlocks. @ Double Rainbow, I started out using red star champagne yeast. Works really good. I also use Premier Cuvee, talk about bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...but I think it works so hard, it peters itself out. Hope this helps!!

What strength hydrogen peroxide do you use? and what's up with the lemon juice and distilled water? (Not to hijack the thread: message me privately if that would be better.)
 
What strength hydrogen peroxide do you use? and what's up with the lemon juice and distilled water? (Not to hijack the thread: message me privately if that would be better.)
Hi Spring, I don't think of it as hijacking a post, any and all information is worthwhile, whether right or wrong, we can all benefit.;) I use 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 capful, a couple drops of rubbing alcohol, two capsful of lemon juice {I use it because it is a great degreaser in the kitchen, and some of my buckets get quite skanky}in a sprayer bottle filled the rest of the way with distilled water). After I wipe them down, I have a sprayer filled with just distilled water, that I rinse them with. I have never used campden tablets, and I am sure they work well, but I try to make my wine as organic as possible. It is NOT competition wine, by any means. It is better than store bought, made with the best ingredients I can grow. This site is a wealth of information. My wine gets better and better with every thread I read!!!
 
Update:

I racked the plum wine last night. The wine finished well. I tasted the sample and it's REALLY sour. Is there anything I can do to reduce this, or will time help settle it down?

It's not super clear yet, but I think that will clear up as it sits.

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It'll be less sour/tart as it ages. When you're ready to bottle, you can sweeten it after stabilizing if it's too tart for you.

Make sure it's topped up (no headspace) and let it clear, and it'll improve quite a lot in the next several months. Rack whenever lees are 1/4" thick, or if you have any lees at all at the end of 60 days.
 
It'll be less sour/tart as it ages. When you're ready to bottle, you can sweeten it after stabilizing if it's too tart for you.

Make sure it's topped up (no headspace) and let it clear, and it'll improve quite a lot in the next several months. Rack whenever lees are 1/4" thick, or if you have any lees at all at the end of 60 days.

Ok, that sounds fairly straight forward.

One question, What does "stabilizing" mean. I've done some searching and it seems to have a variety of meanings, I can't nail down exactly what it would mean in regards to this wine?

Thanks!
 
Ok, that sounds fairly straight forward.

One question, What does "stabilizing" mean. I've done some searching and it seems to have a variety of meanings, I can't nail down exactly what it would mean in regards to this wine?

Thanks!

"Stabilizing" means making sure fermentation doesn't restart after bottling.
 
DoubleRainbow,
I've been making wine for 20 years and I never use yeast. All I use is sugar and water. NO CHEMICALS OR YEAST. I have made wine from Peaches, Raspberries, Blackberries, Plums and so on. For all the details on how I make it, send me a message or email and I'll tell you the exactly how I do it. The way I do it is too lengthly to put it here.
Can you send your methods to my email please? I want to make cactus fruit wine . Have made grape wine with out yeast several times. Thanks!

[email address removed! Use "Conversation" instead -Mod]
 
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Can you send your methods to my email please? I want to make cactus fruit wine . Have made grape wine with out yeast several times. Thanks!

[email address removed! Use "Conversation" instead -Mod]

Welcome to HBT!
Please don't post email addresses in public!
The forum has the Conversation feature for communicating privately with other members.

That said, be advised, the thread you're replying to is from July 2012 and the last post, the one you're quoting, was made in Oct 2012 by member @oldwinemaker. He hasn't been here since April 2013. It's unlikely you'll get a response from him.

A few other members in this thread are still active, maybe one of them will reply.

There is some information about the process in this thread, as well as plenty of it on this forum and elsewhere. People make wine from pretty much any fruit, and very successfully.
 
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