What to do with leftover liquid from soaking fruit

I work at quite a large bakery and we make a few types of bread that have fruit in them. We soak the fruit(sultanas & currants) in water for a couple days before we mix them into the dough. We do this so the fruit doesn't rob the bread of moisture after it's baked. At the end of the day I'm left with 1 or 2 liters of the liquid at the end. I usually dump it because I have no other use for it.

Is there anything that I could make with this leftover liquid. It's very dark in color and very sweet so it has heaps of sugar. I have thought about filling a fermenter and pitching some yeast and just see what happens. I don't really know what will come out of it. I would love to hear some ideas.

XGen said:

I work at quite a large bakery and we make a few types of bread that have fruit in them. We soak the fruit(sultanas & currants) in water for a couple days before we mix them into the dough. We do this so the fruit doesn't rob the bread of moisture after it's baked. At the end of the day I'm left with 1 or 2 liters of the liquid at the end. I usually dump it because I have no other use for it.

Is there anything that I could make with this leftover liquid. It's very dark in color and very sweet so it has heaps of sugar. I have thought about filling a fermenter and pitching some yeast and just see what happens. I don't really know what will come out of it. I would love to hear some ideas.

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I say, go for it!

You should be able to ferment it out. At my beer club a year or two ago someone did something similar with bottled juices. They ferment quickly and tasted good.

Have you checked the SG of the liquid? It may be "dark" but is there really any fermentables in it?

Get a hydro reading on it, but I would guess you will need between 1-2 lbs of sugar per gallon of must. Any more and you may need additional fruit or juice for body - it might be too thin otherwise. An SG of 1.09 to 1.10 or so is a good target for a wine that will keep for a good amount of time. Something around 1.07 - 1.08 will be lighter in character, will ferment out right away, and will need to be consumed quickly.

What kinds of fruit? Are they treated with sulfites or sorbates, sounds like you are using dried fruits vs fresh? You can freeze it until you get enough for a batch, wont hurt it at all. You may want to add some cabden/sulfites to knock down any bugs in it before you get started. WVMJ

WVMJ said:

What kinds of fruit? Are they treated with sulfites or sorbates, sounds like you are using dried fruits vs fresh? You can freeze it until you get enough for a batch, wont hurt it at all. You may want to add some cabden/sulfites to knock down any bugs in it before you get started. WVMJ

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We soak sultanas and currents. It probably will take about 1.5 to 2 weeks to have 20L and it's kept in a coolroom @ 3°C the entire time. I know they are organic high quality untreated fruits because I do the ordering and we buy in bulk, about 500kg of sultanas and 300kg of curran a month. I'll take a SG reading and let you know the results.

TIL that a sultana is a type of grape.

Are your currants also dried grapes or some ribes species? Get some pectinase to add to the juice to help it clear, good luck. WVMJ

XGen said:

We soak sultanas and currents. It probably will take about 1.5 to 2 weeks to have 20L and it's kept in a coolroom @ 3°C the entire time. I know they are organic high quality untreated fruits because I do the ordering and we buy in bulk, about 500kg of sultanas and 300kg of curran a month. I'll take a SG reading and let you know the results.

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WVMJ said:

Are your currants also dried grapes or some ribes species? Get some pectinase to add to the juice to help it clear, good luck. WVMJ

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I guessing they are currents because they are Australian grown. I read that most Ribes grow in the northern hemisphere, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'd put the currant water in 1 and 2 liter bottles and save up a weeks worth and make some wine.
Maybe get some more currants and toss 'em in. Do a google search for dried currant wine, I found a recipe, but can't copy/paste it in for some reason. You could also experiment using it as a beer or mead additive .

madscientist451 said:

I'd put the currant water in 1 and 2 liter bottles and save up a weeks worth and make some wine.
Maybe get some more currants and toss 'em in. Do a google search for dried currant wine, I found a recipe, but can't copy/paste it in for some reason. You could also experiment using it as a beer or mead additive .

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Unfortunately the soak is not separated. We mix 12.5kg of saltanas and 4kg of currants into a tub and add 10L of water. Soak for a couple of days and I have about 1.5L left after I take the fruit out.

Sorry I meant Sultana and Currant water, seems worth saving to me. You could also add it to grape juice concentrate or freeze concentrate it. Do you get 1.5L a day? I guess you could make a decent sized batch once a month.

You could also just get a batch started in a gallon jug, keep adding your juice to it as you get it and upsizing or splittling as you get more and more, you might have a never ending ferment, just split it and let one batch finish up while you keep another going forever, a liter at a time Now I am hungry for some raisin muffins. You can also add some oak to this, drop in a few dates, the boss wont miss a few sultanas if you share with him a bottle. WVMJ

Ok, so I have a bit over 20L now and I took a SG reading today. It has quite a bit more sugar than I anticipated.
It looks to me like a reading of about 1.180 or 1.190, maybe even 1.200. I don't think I need to add any sugar, but I would like to know what this might be useful for. Any thoughts?

Dilute with water or juice to 1.100 and add yeast ect. Make wine! If nothing else it will make a nice blending wine, or cooking wine. No point in just dumping it!


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I said Brandy... you're a fine girl...

I dated a girl named Brandy once, she was a fine one.

I was thinking about fermenting and then distilling it. I have never made liquor before but I think I may give it a shot (lol, see what I did there). My LHBS sells some small distillers that I could do it with. Is there a section in this forum about distilling?

No, because distilling is illegal in many countries, including the US unless you qualify as a distilled spirits plant. Stills like that are made for lab use or to distill water.

XGen said:

Is there anything that I could make with this leftover liquid. It's very dark in color and very sweet so it has heaps of sugar. I have thought about filling a fermenter and pitching some yeast and just see what happens. I don't really know what will come out of it. I would love to hear some ideas.

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you got nothing to lose, so start with a gallon, pitch some wine yeast, see where it takes you

if your LHBS is selling distilling equipment, you may be in luck. try it

and go here: http://www.homedistilling.com/forum/index.php

good luck! and you are now under legal commitment to keep us updated on your progress

XGen said:

Is there a section in this forum about distilling?

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That's a dirty word here on this forum. However, we USED to have a "sister" forum located outside the USA in another country where it is legal. I just looked for it. Not sure where it went... guess the admins decided it wasn't worth the risk and removed the link.

Pardons if I started something here by accident...

Well it's not illegal here in Australia, so I think I'll give it a go. I'll keep you all up to date when I get it going.

Just heard back from Austin about the missing distillation forum. He said that it was temporarily removed as there was a technical glitch making the link go to the wrong forum. Once this site is on AWS, he plans on adding it back.

GrogNerd said:

http://www.homedistilling.com/forum/index.php

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again

http://www.homedistilling.com/forum/index.php

site is functional

GrogNerd said:

again

http://www.homedistilling.com/forum/index.php

site is functional

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Right, it was just the link they had was flaky.

OK so, I decided just to ferment the liquid and see what happens before I do anything else. Like I said I have an infinite supply of this liquid so I can experiment as much as I like. I discussed this with the guy who owns my LHS and he recommended using a sparkling wine yeast due to the high alcohol tolerance. So I just piched this yeast in 20L of the liquid

Now it sitting at 16°C, is this temp ok or does it need to be higher.

So has it shot out the top yet? An open bucket might be a better option for the first week. You picked a good yeast, it is a strong fermenter and will do a good job with what you have. One future experiment would be to add some oak to a batch and drop in a vanilla bean to round out the flavors. WVMJ

Following along, nice little perk, have fun experimenting!

16c is in EC1118's range. Did it start? That's a lotta sugar even for that yeast.

XGen said:

OK so, I decided just to ferment the liquid and see what happens before I do anything else. Like I said I have an infinite supply of this liquid so I can experiment as much as I like. I discussed this with the guy who owns my LHS and he recommended using a sparkling wine yeast due to the high alcohol tolerance. So I just piched this yeast in 20L of the liquid

Now it sitting at 16°C, is this temp ok or does it need to be higher.

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Looks like you're well on your way to a tasty raisin wine. If you haven't done so already, you might want to add a dose of pectic enzyme, maybe some yeast nutrient too. Also, these currants you mentioned: do they look like little raisins? The reason I ask is that "Zante Currants" are sold as currants here in the US, but they're actually just raisins made from Zante grapes, NOT actual currants, which are of the Ribes genus, whereas grapes are of the Vitis genus. Just curious.
Regards, GF.

So almost 4 days now and just starting to get going.

I'd dump in a couple tablespoons of yeast nutrient to help it along.

Newsman said:

I'd dump in a couple tablespoons of yeast nutrient to help it along.

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8 days in and it's is still fermenting along quite nicely. a bubble every 5sec or so out of the airlock. I added some yeast nutrients yesterday to help it along as recommended by Newsman, so I'll see how far it goes.

Well, I'm back with an update.

Its been a bit over a month and fermentation has finally slowed down. I thought this would be a good time to check the gravity. I pulled a sample and measured it.
It Looks like 1.140 from 1.200 or 1.190. so around 7% alcohol. quite a bit lower than I expected due to the extremely long fermentation period. Well that wasn't the bad part. The smell that came off the sample was horrid, truly rancid. It kinda screwed me up for a second thinking to my self about what I have done. It stunk up my entire kitchen and living room, I had to open a window because my girlfriend said it smelled like something had died (that was my hopes). I figured I had come this far and against better judgment I decided that I should go ahead and give it a taste... Bad move. It tasted much worse than it smelled and as soon as it hit my lips I started gaging and puked in my sink. Its hard to describe the flavor. It was still very sweet but had a sour acidic twang that was overpowering. It was also quite thick so it really stuck in your mouth and gave a truly horrific aftertaste.

I think this experiment is over unless someone has a suggestion as to where to go from here? Is it good for anything else?

Try again, this time cutting it 50% with boiled water. Tap water should be fine if your tap water tastes good, otherwise, get some "spring water" from the grocery store. And add yeast nutrients up front and oxygenate the hell out of it. You might take a tip from the mead makers and de-gas it a couple times.

Campden tablets next time?