Quince Wine

[Apimyces]

Hi,

I've got my first harvest of quince (Chaenomeles japonica) this year, about 13kg. I've never even tasted the fruit, like the shrub and figured I would try and see what I could do with the fruit, knowing they do a lot with it in the baltic states.

Cut them up, removed seeds, and passed them in a juicer. Not sure exactly how much juice I got yet, it was about 5-6 gallons of fruit, and I think I've got about a gallon of juice. Density was 1.038, then I cooked it (didn't take another measure yet). Stuff was sour as hell! Made cake with some of the pulp though, tastes delicious. Anyways...

I'm thinking of adding honey to bring the density to 1.15, pitching my home yeast blend, and adding some malolactic bacteria. Then when fermentation is finished, adding vodka to bring the alcohol to 25% or so.

Does this sound like a terrible idea? Most recipes I've seen don't use these techniques at all. I would rather not add water if possible, but given the taste of the raw juice, I'm opening up to the idea.

 

[Bourniplus]

Salut Apimyces,
I had to google quince, I didn't know they grow around here (I also had to google Lochaber!)

I can't really help, but I was wondering, did you plant the tree yourself?

Also, I would have thought the fruits would be cooked before extracting, but again I'm no expert.

 

[Apimyces]

Yea we are a little township pf like 500 people with no mention on the highway (or anywhere) and thus half of the citizen saying they live in the neighboring town of Thurso. Heck even Google says so.

About the quince though it's not true quince, but flowering quince. Fruits are the size of small apples for the most part, a third of thr harvest was about thr size of crabapples and a handful the size of medium apples.

I've got at least a hundred shrubs. Lost a lot last winter, hoping the survivors are hardy enough for good survival this year. Now I also have about 450g of seeds too so I can sow more.

I wanted some raw undiluted juice hence why I couldn't cook it beforehand. I boiled the pulp and it is very aromatic as well. Might ferment both.

Anyone tried fermenting raw crabapple juice? With malolactic fermentation?

 

[globell]

I'm currently making some quince wine (from boiled juice) and some quince cider with fresh press apple.
I find the quince fresh press juice without cooking barely palatable and I like tart and tannic wild apples so....

I added quince juice to back flavour some apple cider and it was good drank that day but turned into a nasty NASTY concoction in a few days.

 

[Apimyces]

I like the taste the quince gave to recipes I made with it, but the boiled juice was completely undrinkable. Followed some lemonade recipes with about 6-7 water:juice ratio, and a ton of sugar, and that was pretty good.

To be seen how to turn it into good wine.

 

[Tibenabvi]

Fresh quinces are available in some supermarkets although they're not a everyday item. The more upscale stores like Whole Foods might be your best possibility. Canned quince is quite available. Attempting to smuggle a live tree into the United States will result in you meeting some very impolite people under the wrong circumstances. Don't try it.

 

[Apimyces]

Japanese quinces are available here in nurseries, as ornamentals. It is however illegal to import more of them.

I made a sort of fruity irish red with them. It was good, but perhaps it wasn't an ideal style mix. I'll keep trying stuff.