Help with 1st time Plum wine

[JINKS]

I have a plum tree growing out back of the house and I am thinking about making a plum wine.
Do I need to skin the plums? (cherry size)
2 gallon size figured I'd use this as a primary. It's 2+ gallon from b,b and b for 25 bucks.
I have a brown 2 gallon secondary to rack to and I figure the spigot will make racking way easier that a siphon.
Help please.
What is the best way to pit plums?
Can I just let them get overripe and squeeze out the pit?
Should I heat sanitize at 170 to kill wild yeasties but not set the pectin.
I have sodium campden tablets and pectic enzyme.
Any small tip would be welcome.
Are there any spices that would make the plum wine taste better? Similar to cinnamon and clove in JAOM?

 

[Yooper]

I don't pit or peel my plums. You just need to smoosh them (my technical term) so that the pulp is exposed.

That works better if they are frozen first. Then, put them in a nylon mesh bag, put them in a primary, and ferment 5-7 days, and stir and smoosh them a couple of times per day. That would be hard to do with such a little opening- a big bucket with a towel over it would be much easier to deal with!

You don't want to heat them. I use campden tablets (1 per 1 gallon of must, dissolved in a little water) in the must when mixing it up, and then add pectic enzyme 12 hours later, and yeast 12 hours after that.

 

[JINKS]

I don't pit or peel my plums. You just need to smoosh them (my technical term) so that the pulp is exposed.

That works better if they are frozen first. Then, put them in a nylon mesh bag, put them in a primary, and ferment 5-7 days, and stir and smoosh them a couple of times per day. That would be hard to do with such a little opening- a big bucket with a towel over it would be much easier to deal with!

You don't want to heat them. I use campden tablets (1 per 1 gallon of must, dissolved in a little water) in the must when mixing it up, and then add pectic enzyme 12 hours later, and yeast 12 hours after that.

The brown bottle is the secondary the big 2.5 gallon mason jar which I an going to attempt to use as a primary has an 8 inch or better opening on top so your smooshing plan will probably work. I have a bucket too. but would 5 gallons headspace be to much?
Do I need any nutrients for the yeast? (lalvin 71b-1122)

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I do the same as Yooper does, except that I always pit my plums. I like to "sweat" the fruit, meaning give it time, under as ideal conditions as I can provide, to ripen further. You have to keep a close eye on it though as mold can easily develop. I've also just frozen & thawed them & squeezed them with my hands to remove the pits. And before I knew better, I just quartered the fresh fruit with a paring knife, removing the pit in the process.

Seeing as it's your tree, you can pick fruit at its' peak of ripeness, so no need to try sweating the fruit. You can pit or not, your choice. I'd just freeze/thaw & squeeze, it's the easiest way to do it. Leave the skins, they'll add color & flavour. I wouldn't heat the fruit, just use campden.
Regards, GF.

 

[JINKS]

I do the same as Yooper does, except that I always pit my plums. I like to "sweat" the fruit, meaning give it time, under as ideal conditions as I can provide, to ripen further. You have to keep a close eye on it though as mold can easily develop. I've also just frozen & thawed them & squeezed them with my hands to remove the pits. And before I knew better, I just quartered the fresh fruit with a paring knife, removing the pit in the process.

Seeing as it's your tree, you can pick fruit at its' peak of ripeness, so no need to try sweating the fruit. You can pit or not, your choice. I'd just freeze/thaw & squeeze, it's the easiest way to do it. Leave the skins, they'll add color & flavour. I wouldn't heat the fruit, just use campden.
Regards, GF.

Nature will do the freezing for me tonight here in Montana. Hopefully they all don't drop to the ground before I can get to them.

Can you describe how to "sweat" the fruit?
Thanx.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Nature will do the freezing for me tonight here in Montana. Hopefully they all don't drop to the ground before I can get to them.

Can you describe how to "sweat" the fruit?
Thanx.

"Sweating" fruit is simply placing the fruit in a place that has good climate conditions for further ripening. I'll sometimes sweat honeycrisp apples in a cool, dry environment so that they will continue to ripen, but not rot or mold. I let the apples go till they're just starting to wrinkle, then the flavour is just about perfect. They taste like a fresh apple, but they also taste a bit like the brown, cloudy fresh pressed sweet cider.

I do the same with black plums I buy at the grocery store. I just put them in a cool, dry, semi-dark place & leave them there, checking them every couple of days. They get really soft & sweet, and wrinkle a bit, but they're so much more flavourful than if I just process them right away. They get so soft, I can just squeeze most of them & remove the pit without freezing or using a knife. You have to keep an eye on them though, plums are prone to mold & rot as they're so juicy. I still freeze 'em after squeezing though, just so they'll keep till I use them.

Where in MT are you? I'm in the Missoula area.
Regards, GF.

 

[JINKS]

"Sweating" fruit is simply placing the fruit in a place that has good climate conditions for further ripening. I'll sometimes sweat honeycrisp apples in a cool, dry environment so that they will continue to ripen, but not rot or mold. I let the apples go till they're just starting to wrinkle, then the flavour is just about perfect. They taste like a fresh apple, but they also taste a bit like the brown, cloudy fresh pressed sweet cider.

I do the same with black plums I buy at the grocery store. I just put them in a cool, dry, semi-dark place & leave them there, checking them every couple of days. They get really soft & sweet, and wrinkle a bit, but they're so much more flavourful than if I just process them right away. They get so soft, I can just squeeze most of them & remove the pit without freezing or using a knife. You have to keep an eye on them though, plums are prone to mold & rot as they're so juicy. I still freeze 'em after squeezing though, just so they'll keep till I use them.

Where in MT are you? I'm in the Missoula area.
Regards, GF.

From Helena area.
I'm thinking of adding honey instead of the sugar that the recipes that I have seen call for. Is this a bad idea? And lastly (for now) what Gravity do you recommend that I aim for at first. I will be using lalvin 71b-1122 yeast as I have lots of that on hand.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Sure, you can sub honey for sugar; I'd sub it 1 for 1 by weight. Honey usually takes longer than sugar to ferment out, but it is tastier. You'd be making more of a melomel than a wine & plum melomel is awesome. As far as what OG to aim for, that depends on what you want for your end product. You want sweet or dry? I usually aim for an OG that will give me a semi-dry end product when the yeast hits it's max ABV. For semi-dry, I'd shoot for an OG about 1.105, since 71B tops out at about 14% ABV. An OG of 1.100 should give you an ABV of right about 14% at an FG of 1.000; sometimes yeast can take it a bit lower though.

Here's a handy wine calc:
http://www.grapestompers.com/calculations.aspx

And here's some yeast info:
http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

Also, 71B will metabolize some malic acid; not sure how much malic acid is in plums, but the 71B will "soften" the wine/melomel. Hope this info helps.
Regards, GF.

 

[coboll]

I have a plum tree in my backyard also. (Wisconsin)
I made plum wine last year. I found if we leave the plums on too long the bees and birds get them. We picked them removed the pits and froze them to kill the bugs and it softens the flesh.
I put them in a strainer bag for the primary fermentation. The final product was good but didn't have alot of plum flavor. The color was really nice. Lack of flavor was probably due to not enough plums to water ratio. Good luck with yours!

 

[JINKS]

I have a plum tree in my backyard also. (Wisconsin)
I made plum wine last year. I found if we leave the plums on too long the bees and birds get them. We picked them removed the pits and froze them to kill the bugs and it softens the flesh.
I put them in a strainer bag for the primary fermentation. The final product was good but didn't have alot of plum flavor. The color was really nice. Lack of flavor was probably due to not enough plums to water ratio. Good luck with yours!

This is my planned plum to 2 gallon ratio. I hope it is enough.

 

[JINKS]

Sure, you can sub honey for sugar; I'd sub it 1 for 1 by weight. Honey usually takes longer than sugar to ferment out, but it is tastier. You'd be making more of a melomel than a wine & plum melomel is awesome. As far as what OG to aim for, that depends on what you want for your end product. You want sweet or dry? I usually aim for an OG that will give me a semi-dry end product when the yeast hits it's max ABV. For semi-dry, I'd shoot for an OG about 1.105, since 71B tops out at about 14% ABV. An OG of 1.100 should give you an ABV of right about 14% at an FG of 1.000; sometimes yeast can take it a bit lower though.

I'm pretty sure I'm a sweet or semi-sweet person. Most of the "High Class" (read expensive) wines I've tried taste like a light vinegar to me. Not unpleasant, kind of like a sour beer, but not something that I would enjoy continually. So I was thinking of tasting and back sweetening after the yeast has dropped out or even using campden.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Sounds like you have a good plan Jinks. Your plums are really bright! I'm wondering, do they turn golden if you leave them on the tree longer? I usually get the black plums from the store, but I've also used the European "prune" plums (freestone) too. Both are good, but I think I like the black plums the best; I've got 35lbs of them in the freezer now, just waiting for temps to fall so I can get them fermenting. I was thinking of giving Jack Keller's recipe a try this year.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques12.asp
Regards, GF.

 

[Yooper]

Those look just like the plums I pick! I haven't picked any yet this year, as they are just turning pink, but here is the recipe I do:

This comes from Jack Keller's website. Since the sugar varies greatly with the plums every year, I take the SG before adding all of the sugar.

6 pounds plums
approx 1.5 pounds sugar
1 tsp. acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tsp grape tannin
wine yeast (71B-1122 is perfect)

Last year, I used 56# of plums, for 9 gallons along with only 7 pounds of sugar because the plums were so ripe. I used the 71B yeast strain, because it metabolizes more malic acid than other wine yeast strains, and wild plums are high in malic acid.

We are bottling this sometime in the next few weeks, although I had another batch I started at the same time and we kegged that one. It came out very nice- it's a pink blush color and a bit tart like concord grape wine.

If you sweeten it, you'll need to pick up some sorbate but you have a long time (months) before then. One thing about plum wine- it dropped a TON of lees for quite a while so it did get racked about 3 or 4 times.

 

[JINKS]

Sounds like you have a good plan Jinks. Your plums are really bright! I'm wondering, do they turn golden if you leave them on the tree longer? I usually get the black plums from the store, but I've also used the European "prune" plums (freestone) too. Both are good, but I think I like the black plums the best; I've got 35lbs of them in the freezer now, just waiting for temps to fall so I can get them fermenting. I was thinking of giving Jack Keller's recipe a try this year.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques12.asp
Regards, GF.

They are actually going from yellowish green to purple and getting darker every day.
The second recipe looks good I think I will try for that with a sub of honey for the sugar, and everything times two for two gallon.

 

[JINKS]

I should mention that the plum tree grows just outside the back fence where the garbage can rack used to be. I suspect an escapee pit from a store bought plum.
Funny thing is we used to chop this to a stump every year and it would get spray painted white with the fence.
A new tenant moved into the basement apartment and started puttering in the yard, watering flowers and such, and bam we had a plum tree growing. Who knew?

 

[JINKS]

Getting darker purple, flash doesn't do them justice.
Maybe I'll switch to my other camera.

 

[JINKS]

Canon T3I takes waaaay better pics. Can see the color without to much flash.

 

[JINKS]

One thing about plum wine- it dropped a TON of lees for quite a while so it did get racked about 3 or 4 times.

Quick question Milady Yooper, What is done about the extra head-space that you gain with each successive racking as some is left behind each time?

 

[Yooper]

Quick question Milady Yooper, What is done about the extra head-space that you gain with each successive racking as some is left behind each time?

I make more wine, so I can generally top up with the same wine. But you can use a similar commercial wine, or something like pinot grigio, a white fruity dry wine, to top up if you need to. Or, rack to a smaller carboy, say a 5 gallon instead of a 6 gallon.

 

[JINKS]

I make more wine, so I can generally top up with the same wine. But you can use a similar commercial wine, or something like pinot grigio, a white fruity dry wine, to top up if you need to. Or, rack to a smaller carboy, say a 5 gallon instead of a 6 gallon.

Good to know, thank you. I will have to get some mead too because it is in a 1 gallon.

 

[JINKS]

Did the campden and pectic enzyme yesterday. Pitched the yeast today, 71b-1122 had an OG of 1.08 with the sugar and honey that I put into the juice.

 

[JINKS]

So I got struck with this great idea for a wine chemical spice rack.
I made some labels and thought I'd share.
These labels are Mark I so feel free to use. My new labels as seen in pics have gears faded into them.

 

[sfgoat]

So I got struck with this great idea for a wine chemical spice rack.
I made some labels and thought I'd share.
These labels are Mark I so feel free to use. My new labels as seen in pics have gears faded into them.

I'm digging this . Seems like a great way to keep it all presentable and organized. I may steal this idea from you.

 

[JINKS]

I'm digging this . Seems like a great way to keep it all presentable and organized. I may steal this idea from you.

You're more than welcome to use the labels I already designed. Print on full page they come out sized like in the picture. Landscape mode

 

[JINKS]

Racked to tertiary and tertiary 3.5 today.
Had over a gallon after all was done so now in a gallon up to the top, and in a 1.5 liter wine bottle also.
Added 1 k-meta tablet crushed to the gallon and nothing to the 1.5 liter so now the experiment begins.
Smells like wine and jetfuel gonna sit on this one for a while.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Nice work on the rack, bottles & labels, looks really good! Makes me think there was some medieval alchemist with a set of bottles like that, trying to make a philosopher's stone while his wine fermented.
Regards, GF.

 

[JINKS]

Nice work on the rack, bottles & labels, looks really good! Makes me think there was some medieval alchemist with a set of bottles like that, trying to make a philosopher's stone while his wine fermented.
Regards, GF.

See you get it, and thanks for the compliment.

 

[JINKS]

I make more wine, so I can generally top up with the same wine. But you can use a similar commercial wine, or something like pinot grigio, a white fruity dry wine, to top up if you need to. Or, rack to a smaller carboy, say a 5 gallon instead of a 6 gallon.

I do the same as Yooper does, except that I always pit my plums. I like to "sweat" the fruit, meaning give it time, under as ideal conditions as I can provide, to ripen further. You have to keep a close eye on it though as mold can easily develop. I've also just frozen & thawed them & squeezed them with my hands to remove the pits. And before I knew better, I just quartered the fresh fruit with a paring knife, removing the pit in the process.

Seeing as it's your tree, you can pick fruit at its' peak of ripeness, so no need to try sweating the fruit. You can pit or not, your choice. I'd just freeze/thaw & squeeze, it's the easiest way to do it. Leave the skins, they'll add color & flavour. I wouldn't heat the fruit, just use campden.
Regards, GF.

I don't imagine this can get any clearer, I'm would like to bottle soon. Should I k-meta at bottling?
Am I missing anything?

 

[Yooper]

I don't imagine this can get any clearer, I'm would like to bottle soon. Should I k-meta at bottling?
Am I missing anything?



View attachment 275710

That looks great!

I add a bit of k-meta at bottling, about enough to guestimate 50 ppm. That is 1/4 teaspoon per 6 gallons of wine of the powder (so a very tiny bit for a small batch!), or 1 crushed campden tablet, dissolved in a little water or wine, per gallon. It is primarily an antioxidant, and also helps as a preservative too.

 

[JINKS]

That looks great!

I add a bit of k-meta at bottling, about enough to guestimate 50 ppm. That is 1/4 teaspoon per 6 gallons of wine of the powder (so a very tiny bit for a small batch!), or 1 crushed campden tablet, dissolved in a little water or wine, per gallon. It is primarily an antioxidant, and also helps as a preservative too.

Cool that's what I will do then.

 

[JINKS]

Racked to tertiary and tertiary 3.5 today.
Had over a gallon after all was done so now in a gallon up to the top, and in a 1.5 liter wine bottle also.
Added 1 k-meta tablet crushed to the gallon and nothing to the 1.5 liter so now the experiment begins.
Smells like wine and jetfuel gonna sit on this one for a while.

So the gallon bottle was treated with the k-meta

and the 1.5 liter bottle was not.

Same sanitation procedure for each bottle using oxyclean and starsan at bottling. Gonna dump the 1.5 probably. It just doesn't look appetizing.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Rack the 1.5 & wait, it'll clear eventually.
Regards, GF.

 

[mgonbrewlab]

You can also throw the smaller bottle in the fridge after racking - this may help things clear faster. 2 weeks should do it.

K-meta acts as an antioxidant, so it aides the clearing process. Your wine should clear without it, but it might need more time or some extra help.

That bigger batch looks amazing. Have you taken any samples?

 

[JINKS]

You can also throw the smaller bottle in the fridge after racking - this may help things clear faster. 2 weeks should do it.

K-meta acts as an antioxidant, so it aides the clearing process. Your wine should clear without it, but it might need more time or some extra help.

That bigger batch looks amazing. Have you taken any samples?

No samples yet, I will sample at bottling time though.

Both the 1 gal and the 1.5 were filled at the same time. I used K-meta in the 1 gallon and nothing in the 1.5 liter and it is definitely uglier.

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Hm. Probably wouldn't hurt to crush half a Campden tablet, rack that little bottle onto it, and get it cold for a couple weeks. Time would probably do it, too, but I am guessing the wine would benefit from a preservative.

 

[JINKS]

Bottled today

Having trouble deciding on which label.

Thanks to

.

and @Yooper for helping me through this.

@mgonbrewlab I'm still undecided on what to do with the 1.5 liter, I may sit on it longer.

 

[SnakeRidge]

That looks awesome! I can't wait to get a corker someday.

 

[JINKS]

That looks awesome! I can't wait to get a corker someday.

Portuguese Double Lever Corker $17.99

 

[JINKS]

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/plastic-spring-tip-bottle-filler.html
Regards, GF.

I used the spring loaded wand this time!!:rockin:

 

[SnakeRidge]

Portuguese Double Lever Corker $17.99

Nice, I thought you had to use a floor corker.