Aloe wine

[IrishinPA]

I travel across a few states for work and I stop in different markets depending on where I go. Since restarting my wine making I have been looking at juices from other countries in a different light. Has anyone ever tried making wine with Aloe drink? Maybe Mangosteen? Lychee? Tamarind?

I'm curious. Just getting thoughts and ideas as I have a mangosteen blend brewing.

Cheers!

Patrick

 

[Edless]

On one hand, this sounds like making hooch in a Thai or Malaysian prison...

On the other, it sounds like an interesting experiment.

I hear mango wine by itself is pretty good. Would aloe even have the depth of flavor to make a good wine? The flavor seems to hit that cucumber level of delicate.

 

[bernardsmith]

Mango wine is delicious. Any fruit that you would eat for pleasure can potentially make a great wine. In fact far from this being a prison hooch kind of idea there is a significant body of scholarly literature that explores how tropical fruits such as paw paw and mangoes grown in developing nations can be fermented (much like apple cider) to produce wines that can be sold in local (and international markets) to replace the importation of wines from developed countries

 

[IrishinPA]

What intrigued me was the ingredients of the aloe drink. Aloe, honey and sugar. That was screaming aloe mead in my mind. Then I started looking at some of the other juices as I walked the aisles of the Asian supermarket. My next trip up that way I'm going to get a few gallons of aloe drink to mead it up. At $2.49/ half gallon I can't complain.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Mmmm.....
Sour Sop is delicious!!

 

[IrishinPA]

In doing a bit more thinking on this if the wine/mead doesn't taste that great it could be one hell of a sunburn remedy!

 

[Edless]

Remember to buy more than you need then; if i remember correctly, those aloe drinks are pretty gelatinous.

 

[WVMJ]

Have you tried drinking this yet? I would bet its mostly sugar, a little aloe for some flavor, very little honey, poor quatily mead maker. It would be better to extract your own aloe if its really edible and add your own honey, at least you would know what is in it. The main things we look for in Asian markets are their persimmons, so cheap you can afford enough easy for 5 gallon batches, and ginger, buy it by the pounds, nice and fat and fresh. We ignore their bottled juices, mostly just sugar, and go for the purees like the mango puree, or just get the real fruits and make it ourselves, always much better than going with one already mixed up with sugar or corn syrup plus sometimes their labeling isnt so great and you get a batch that just want start and makes you think they put some sorbate or something in there that isnt on the label. WVMJ

 

[IrishinPA]

Remember to buy more than you need then; if i remember correctly, those aloe drinks are pretty gelatinous.

They are pretty gelatinous. My intentions are just to make a little and see how it finishes. I'm going to try a bit of each.

 

[IrishinPA]

Remember to buy more than you need then; if i remember correctly, those aloe drinks are pretty gelatinous.

They are pretty gelatinous. My intentions are just to make a little and see how it finishes.

 

[IrishinPA]

WVMJ:
So the persimmons make a good drink? When you get the fruits do you use honey or sugar to sweeten? Have you ever broken down the canes and used that?
I was looking at the bottled juices for the simple fact that I'm on the road quite a bit covering 16 states and my time at home can be limited as is without taking more time away from the family to make my own juices. If I had the time my neighbor's fruit press would be busy and I would brewing all kinds of things like a drunken mad scientist lol.

I'm willing to give the juices a shot for starters and then move onto making them from scratch once I have a bit more time this winter.

And my whole objective may be construed a bit with just wanting to try them and see what I like to keep a few bottles around as a novelty.

 

[WVMJ]

I have to ask if you know what persimmons are? They grow on a tree, maybe in a thicket they might look like canes but I have never heard them associated with canes before. I like to use honey whenever possible. we keep bees and honey adds a little bit of body also. We have done plenty of juices, just wondering if you tasted it and if it would be strong enough of a taste once it was fermented out? WVMJ

WVMJ:
So the persimmons make a good drink? When you get the fruits do you use honey or sugar to sweeten? Have you ever broken down the canes and used that?
I was looking at the bottled juices for the simple fact that I'm on the road quite a bit covering 16 states and my time at home can be limited as is without taking more time away from the family to make my own juices. If I had the time my neighbor's fruit press would be busy and I would brewing all kinds of things like a drunken mad scientist lol.

I'm willing to give the juices a shot for starters and then move onto making them from scratch once I have a bit more time this winter.

And my whole objective may be construed a bit with just wanting to try them and see what I like to keep a few bottles around as a novelty.

 

[IrishinPA]

Sorry. It's my ADHD sometimes that kills a convo via text. I've seen persimmon. I saw more in WV at WVU than I have anywhere else. I've never eaten one before.

On the cane end I was thinking along the lines of what's available at the Asian markets. Sugar cane and such.

I drink quite a bit of the aloe drinks. It really doesn't have much of a taste. At Least not a strong one that I can taste. (Skinned a skunk in college on a bet and regret it since)

 

[IrishinPA]

I have a bit of an update. I made a mangosteen wine. I used a champagne yeast and I back sweetened with a bit of Apple juice. The result was a happy bunch for Christmas.

On another note I have 1 gal test batches of pineapple, banana, mead, Apple/kiwi and a tropical blend running.

Next time to the Asian market I will give a few others a go.

Thanks.

 

[WVMJ]

First thing we pick up in an Asian store is pounds of ginger, most of the fruits are nice and sweet with a delicate taste hard to hold during ferment, they do have big cans of mango puree worth fermenting. WVMJ

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I travel across a few states for work and I stop in different markets depending on where I go. Since restarting my wine making I have been looking at juices from other countries in a different light. Has anyone ever tried making wine with Aloe drink? Maybe Mangosteen? Lychee? Tamarind?

I'm curious. Just getting thoughts and ideas as I have a mangosteen blend brewing.

Cheers!

Patrick

I've tasted pure aloe juice, I thought it was pretty nasty. Bland, a bit slimy, an odd vegetable like flavor, kind of like a spoiled cucumber. About 25 years ago it was all the rage in the healthfood circles. I can't imagine anything good tasting would come from fermenting it, but I could be wrong. I'd ecourage you to try an experimental batch for the sake of science.

BTW, the other fruits/juices you mention might make some tasty wines. Here's a list of recipes you might find useful, just scroll down for the list:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request.asp
Regards, GF.

 

[IrishinPA]

I've tasted pure aloe juice, I thought it was pretty nasty. Bland, a bit slimy, an odd vegetable like flavor, kind of like a spoiled cucumber. About 25 years ago it was all the rage in the healthfood circles. I can't imagine anything good tasting would come from fermenting it, but I could be wrong. I'd ecourage you to try an experimental batch for the sake of science.



BTW, the other fruits/juices you mention might make some tasty wines.

The mangosteen wine came out great! Smooth and continues to get better as it goes.

The aloe is nasty. I did aloe, lychee and sugar cane. It created a wicked young wine thy refuses to stop. Granted with the sugar cane it was 25% sugar. With a montract yeast. I had to add some grape for a little bit of body and tannin. We shall see how it goes.

Thanks for the input!