Prickly pear fruit wine! Looking for advice and help!

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Clay Tom

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So I live on a land that has a lot of this fruit and the past four years I have just let nature take it.

This year I wanted to see if i could make a wine from the fruit? I have made other Fermanded beverages in the past.

Even distilled a few gallons of "water" thanks for the advice not really sure how I should start as I assume there is a different between wine,beer and whiskey.
 
So I live on a land that has a lot of this fruit and the past four years I have just let nature take it.

This year I wanted to see if i could make a wine from the fruit? I have made other Fermanded beverages in the past.

Even distilled a few gallons of "water" thanks for the advice not really sure how I should start as I assume there is a different between wine,beer and whiskey.
Welcome to the group.
As a resident of New Mexico I've used prickly pear juice to make mead several times. Prickly pear juice isn't very sweet and doesn't have a lot of fermentable sugars so it's best used with other stuff like honey.
Pick them when they are first beginning to droop so you're sure they are ripe. I sue a pair of stout barbecue tongs for the picking. Trust me, you don't want to handle the fruit, and gloves make it worse. To juice them I've been as low-tech as putting them in a bucket and crushing them with an old Little League bat, and I've borrowed an apple press which is a far better apparatus. Strain the juice through an old clean towel that you can throw away, and then through a tshirt to get the super tiny spines out. I use about 2 gallons of juice, 25 pounds of honey and enough water to make 5 gallons of fermentable liquid. Use mead yeast, yeast nutrient and ask somebody more knowledgeable about mead than me on best practices for mead.
 
Welcome to the group.
As a resident of New Mexico I've used prickly pear juice to make mead several times. Prickly pear juice isn't very sweet and doesn't have a lot of fermentable sugars so it's best used with other stuff like honey.
Pick them when they are first beginning to droop so you're sure they are ripe. I sue a pair of stout barbecue tongs for the picking. Trust me, you don't want to handle the fruit, and gloves make it worse. To juice them I've been as low-tech as putting them in a bucket and crushing them with an old Little League bat, and I've borrowed an apple press which is a far better apparatus. Strain the juice through an old clean towel that you can throw away, and then through a tshirt to get the super tiny spines out. I use about 2 gallons of juice, 25 pounds of honey and enough water to make 5 gallons of fermentable liquid. Use mead yeast, yeast nutrient and ask somebody more knowledgeable about mead than me on best practices for mead.

Thanks I will have to try it maybe cut it down 25 pound of honey is not cheap. Also I have learned that after you pick them run the fruit over an open flame and it burns off all the little hairs.
 
Thanks I will have to try it maybe cut it down 25 pound of honey is not cheap. Also I have learned that after you pick them run the fruit over an open flame and it burns off all the little hairs.
That's supposed to be 15 pounds of honey.
The flame concept works somewhat for a few fruits but not for the quantity you're gonna be dealing with
 
Making a prickly pear wine right now, few things you need to know,
  • if you peel the pears properly you won't need to worry about the hairs at all.
  • Prickly pears are about 10.5% sugar by weight, (this tidbit took me a lot of scientific paper reading to get, so you're welcome), keep this in mind when coming up with recipes
  • I got 135 late-harvest prickly pears, it weighed ~8kgs after peeling, and after thoroughly crushing, yielded about 8 litres. I'm sure if I had pressed this would be at 5 litres
  • The only calculator that can add prickly pears and use it accurately that I found is GotMead's calculator.
  • Use a hop/nylon bag to contain the fruit if you won't boil it. According to Ken Grossman, they turn into a soapy, soggy mess. You've been warned.
Hope both your and my ferments turn out great!
 
Considering the trouble you go thru to use this fruit, what is the draw? Does it add a unique flavor? That sounds like something that would ferment dry and have little to no sweet to contribute. So I'm thinking it's more aromatic than taste maybe? Sounds like a unique melomel. I am intrigued.
 
Considering the trouble you go thru to use this fruit, what is the draw? Does it add a unique flavor? That sounds like something that would ferment dry and have little to no sweet to contribute. So I'm thinking it's more aromatic than taste maybe? Sounds like a unique melomel. I am intrigued.

It's really good! Think kiwi fruit as the closest thing I can think of. Really a unique flavor!
 
It's really good! Think kiwi fruit as the closest thing I can think of. Really a unique flavor!
Does the flavor hang in there after fermenting? I have some friends who have this big cactus patch in their yard that is probably 20 years old. It's the kind with the flat paddle things. They get these purple knobs on them that are possibly fruit. I may need to talk them out of some.
 
Does the flavor hang in there after fermenting? I have some friends who have this big cactus patch in their yard that is probably 20 years old. It's the kind with the flat paddle things. They get these purple knobs on them that are possibly fruit. I may need to talk them out of some.

You have to use a lot of them, the 'tunas' are the fruits. We made purple margaritas with them a few times, and noticed it tasted like kiwi fruit to us. But you do need a lot, and they have a definite slime factor.
 
You have to use a lot of them, the 'tunas' are the fruits. We made purple margaritas with them a few times, and noticed it tasted like kiwi fruit to us. But you do need a lot, and they have a definite slime factor.
I live in southern New Mexico, cacti are everywhere down here. I don't like the flavor very much, and every year we have friends who give us prickly pear jelly. But I do use it as an addition to mead. It doesn't seem to have much flavor impact but it gives the mead a nice red color that fades to pink over time.
 
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