Mango Wine attempt

[YellowRiver]

I perused the massive mango wine from pulp thread.
I decided to roll the dice on this recipe that is a hybrid of different sources.

One gallon of mango wine is the hoped for result. If anyone can add anything I'm open to suggestions.

Aldi's sells one pound packages of frozen mango flesh for $2.09 each. It doesn't say anything on the label about preservatives so that's good if its legit.

I almost boiled a gallon of water and added 2 pounds of cane sugar(also from Aldi's). Sterilized a two-gallon bucket and a mesh bag, added 4 bags of the frozen fruit, 1.5tsp acid blend, 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 1/4tsp tannins. Dumped in the water and stirred.

When it cools I'll check the gravity, add 1/2tsp pectic enzyme and then some about a tsp of EC-1118 or Montrachet( I haven't decided which one yet). This very much the Jack Keller recipe.

I'm figuring on stirring daily for about 10 days and transferring to a secondary.

This look good so far? I'm hoping for a minimum of 4 bottles of wine for a $10 dollar investment.

 

[lukebuz]

Use at least 6+ pounds of mango for good flavor. I made it, and it was kinda "meh". Not bad, just "meh" at 4lbs of fruit.

 

[bernardsmith]

Does your supermarket sell bottles of mango juice? I would use that in place of the water and agree with lukebuz to up the quantity of fruit. You will find that mango wine will result in about 1/3 of the volume being lees...

 

[YellowRiver]

Good advice. Problem is I started yesterday. Starting Gravity at 1.080. I was thinking of adding more sugar and don't think I can find any mango concentrate so maybe I ought just keep it light.

 

[bernardsmith]

You MAY find the flavor is too light ... In my opinion you really don't want to dilute fruit (juice) with water and simply use the juice that extracts from the fruit. Think about it: those who make wine from grapes never add water to dilute their juice. What is the reason for diluting the juice extracted from any other fruit?

 

[YellowRiver]

I get it but have always "diluted" my strawberry wines and they turn out great.

 

[Mallerstang]

Three weeks ago I started a batch of the mango pulp wine, and yesterday I racked it off the pulp. SG is stlll 1.030, though it already seems rather potent. The recipe says it's ready to drink only 3-4 months after you start it, and that seems likely.

The initial must has so much pulp in it that you can't get a realistic starting gravity reading, and the recipe calls for a LOT of sugar! The end result is supposed to be very strong, and sweet as well.

Also, the initial volume under airlock was 14 litres and after racking off the pulp yesterday I have a little over 9 litres. This means that fitting it into your available airlockable containers can be tricky. The pulp is fluffy and it doesn't compact down.

Seven months ago I started a batch of mango wine from whole fruit using Jack Keller's Mango Wine (1) recipe. It fermented dry and is now bulk aging. There's no definite mango taste, but it's quite nice and is improving with time. It tastes a bit like a Riesling. Jack K as usual says to age it a year after bottling, but that's not too likely around here!

 

[YellowRiver]

Thanks Mallerstang. That's kinda the info I'm looking for. How much fruit did you use in the JackK version?

 

[Mallerstang]

For four times the recipe (aiming to end up bottling from a three-gallon/11.3 litre carboy) I used 15 lb 12 oz of mangoes. After peeling and cutting there was 10 lb 8 oz of mango flesh, which I put in a mesh bag then squashed with a potato masher.

If I make this one again though, I'll use at least 50% more fruit. That also goes for a lot of the fruit wines that I've now made once - I guess peoples taste in wine varies. But it was a lot of work and mess peeling and cutting twenty ripe mangoes, so if the pulp wine turns out good I may stick with that.

 

[lukebuz]

yeah, i've made around 40 batches of fruit wines and ciders, and I'm learning that more fruit really is key to better wines (duh, I guess!).

I usually aim for 4-5 lbs of gallon if like Cherries, Berries, Mango, Pears, Mulberries, etc etc... well, they are good wines...until that is, I tried a black currant wine that was positively BURSTING with flavor. Blew me away - huge fruit, but not very sweet. wow wow wow!

So, now, I'm aiming to double my fruits and go for 8-10 lbs a gallon, for very little (if any) water addition.

 

[Mallerstang]

Lukebuz - any chance you might share that blackcurrant recipe? Our local u-pick farm has blackcurrants and it's on my list for this summer!

And if it's not too off-topic for this thread, how do you deal with acidity levels once you start using way more fruit? I find the titration kit very difficult to use with the dark coloured wines.

 

[bernardsmith]

Mallerstang, the color change in a titration kit is at a pH of 8.2 so you don't need to use any indicator. Simply add enough sodium hydroxide to hit 8.2 and that volume of base will give you the TA.

 

[lukebuz]

Sorry, this was a purchased Black Currant from a local Iowa winery. I hope to duplicate it myself one day! So, no recipe. Sorry! I wish I could get fresh!

 

[Mallerstang]

Hey Lukebuz - thanks! I'll have to find/make up a recipe, which should be fun!

 

[Mallerstang]

Hi Bernardsmith - thanks for your reply! What I have trouble with, using the titration kit and following the instructions, is telling when the colour change happens with the red wines. I think perhaps I'm not good at visually detecting colour changes.

I understand that I need to add the NaOH until pH is 8.2, but I don't want to have to buy a pH meter unless I really need to. Cos I'm cheap...

Looks like I need one if I'm going to develop my own recipes!

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Bernardsmith - thanks for your reply! What I have trouble with, using the titration kit and following the instructions, is telling when the colour change happens with the red wines. I think perhaps I'm not good at visually detecting colour changes.

I understand that I need to add the NaOH until pH is 8.2, but I don't want to have to buy a pH meter unless I really need to. Cos I'm cheap...

Looks like I need one if I'm going to develop my own recipes!

Not sure that you do, Mallerstang. pH is critical during fermentation - Too low a pH can result in stalled fermentation and - I think - if you are a commercial wine maker you may need to know precisely the pH if and when you add K-meta to inhibit oxidation. So, if your fermentations are successful and you can fully ferment each wine and if you simply add the equivalent of 1 campden tab to each gallon each time you rack (or every second time) then you don't need a pH meter for fermentation purposes or to determine the amount of K-meta you need to add to your wine when you rack.
But TA for home wine making is a matter of taste. Literally. If when you taste your wine you think it too meh then you may want to increase its tartness. If it tastes too tart then you may want to neutralize its bite...Measuring TA simply allows you consistency across batches. If THAT is important to you then , yes, you may need a meter. But if what you are really interested in is how the wine tastes then IMO your mouth is a far more sensitive and useful instrument than any pH meter.

Oh.. and if you are developing your own recipes then again, a pH meter may not be that useful. A bushel of apples picked one month at one orchard pressed to express juice will likely have a very different pH from a bushel of the same apples pressed at that same orchard the next month or the next year. Same goes for strawberries or grapes or lemons or any fruit you might use. I have a pH meter but I very rarely find a need for it in my mead or wine making. I do have a need for it in my cheese making. Wine is as much an art as it is a science

 

[Mallerstang]

Progress report! I bottled this four months after starting it, having racked it twice, and I got about ten bottles. I started with four times the one-gallon recipe, which was about 14 litres in the primary.

So in two rackings I lost almost half due to the nature of the pulp.

It's strong and sweet as the recipe (at celebrationgeneration.com) promised, although I used less sugar, and also delicious and fruity and drinkable right away. We liked it on its own, or as a cooler with club soda and a bit of juice.

 

[LissyNailsIt]

yeah, i've made around 40 batches of fruit wines and ciders, and I'm learning that more fruit really is key to better wines (duh, I guess!).

I usually aim for 4-5 lbs of gallon if like Cherries, Berries, Mango, Pears, Mulberries, etc etc... well, they are good wines...until that is, I tried a black currant wine that was positively BURSTING with flavor. Blew me away - huge fruit, but not very sweet. wow wow wow!

So, now, I'm aiming to double my fruits and go for 8-10 lbs a gallon, for very little (if any) water addition.

I'm curious about the black currant. Did you back sweet it? I'm growing black currant so I'm curious.