Where do you all get your fruit?

[Matuz]

I have a press, and I find it difficult to find enough bulk fruit to use with it to make 3-5 gallon batches. That is a lot of fruit juice. I'd rather not add water and sugar if I don't have too to get the volume of 3-5gal. Do you all go to farmer's markets? Order online? What price points are you looking for when you purchase? Ripe vs Overly ripe?

Thank you for any insight.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Matuz. Most store bought fruit is (sadly) harvested long before the point of peak ripeness so it is (in my opinion) always better to look for fruit from farmers markets or to grow your own. Many people making "country wines" tend to use 3-5 lbs of fruit /gallon of wine and use water to make up for the missing volume. With some fruits, their flavor-rich juice, permits this. With other, less flavor-intense fruits (peaches and strawberries and the like) diluting with water does not make for a flavor-rich wine. That said, the amount of sugar you are going to obtain from fruit is on a par with a cider or beer (starting gravity of about 1.045- 1.055) , so you are talking about a "wine" at around 6 -7% ABV. Two possible solutions to increase the fermentable sugar: a) you add sugar (and if you are diluting the juice with water the starting gravity will drop so you will need to add more sugar) or b) you freeze concentrate the juice and you then collect the first runnings of juice as it slowly thaws. The first 1/3 of the juice that thaws will have almost 100 % of the flavor and sugar. But that suggests that you need 3 gallons to make a single gallon. Not inexpensive.
There is a different approach and it is one that I often use when I make a fruit wine (my preference is to make wines from flowers , eg elederflower wine or wines from honey, ie mead) is to use fruit juice already bottled and in my supermarket's chiller section. The juice is very rich in flavor and contains nothing but the juice. The downside is that you don't get any of the complexity of flavors from skins and peel, though there is nothing to prevent you from adding some to your primary.

 

[Matuz]

Fantastic reply. Thank you!

 

[Seamonkey84]

I lean towards quality frozen fruits, as they are picked when fully ripe and then frozen. Freezing them starts the juicing process so I freeze berries I pick myself too. I add my fruit into brew bags and just mash them a bit once it thaws, then I add the total amount of peptic enzyme to that and let it work for a day before mixing in sugar water and yeast. I just pull the pulp left after the yeast chews through it and squeeze the bag.
Depending on the fruit, most are not balanced to use pure fruit/juice, many are very acidic and the fermentation may stall or it will be too tart to drink. Many recipes are fairly light on the fruit, but you can go as high as 6lb per gallon with most berries (adding 3Qt sugar water per gallon). I did that for a strawberry wine, then I added more strawberries after I pulled the first bag.

 

[bernardsmith]

I think you really need to avoid diluting strawberry juice with water when you make strawberry wine even if that means you make a smaller batch of wine than you would prefer. The amount of fruit and the amount of juice the fruit can express should be the determining factor. Wine making really does not involve you turning water into wine. If you wouldn't drink the juice before pitching the yeast there is no good basis for thinking that simply because you added yeast that the juice will somehow become more flavorful. Many disagree with that and that's OK... but I like to taste the fruit when I drink the wine and am not simply looking for a buzz from the alcohol.

 

[Matuz]

I think you really need to avoid diluting strawberry juice with water when you make strawberry wine even if that means you make a smaller batch of wine than you would prefer. The amount of fruit and the amount of juice the fruit can express should be the determining factor. Wine making really does not involve you turning water into wine. If you wouldn't drink the juice before pitching the yeast there is no good basis for thinking that simply because you added yeast that the juice will somehow become more flavorful. Many disagree with that and that's OK... but I like to taste the fruit when I drink the wine and am not simply looking for a buzz from the alcohol.

I am with you. It should be juice...not water and sugar added. Let the fruit come out.

 

[Bubbles2]

I get it out of the yard or friends yards, I freeze it as it becomes ripe. When I get about 20 lbs I decide if I am going to start a 3gal batch or if the season is going to give me more of the same fruit to make a 5gal.
You could buy at Sams or the likes, Farmers markets and ask about bulk or not so pretty since you are going to smash it anyhow. Ripe is preferred or I leave it on the counter till it is ripe before it gets put in the freezer to begin mastication of the fruit. I also do blends where my Fig might only have 12lbs and friend has 8lbs of pears... I grow because I am weird, I think pesticides are not good for you.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I think you really need to avoid diluting strawberry juice with water when you make strawberry wine even if that means you make a smaller batch of wine than you would prefer.

I plan to do my next strawberry batch with no water. though with others, like blueberries, I would still add some just because it’s so acidic. Some fruits known to stall otherwise, or would just be too tart to drink.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I have more than enough fruit for my own production. But I find that you have to use some water with berries such as raspberry or blackberry, or it is just too tart. Jack Keller has some great fruit wine recipes so you don't have to guess.

 

[lump42]

You can try purchasing it from a Farmers' Market, but if you got to the market expect to pay retail price. I work with farmers and farmers markets a lot and they are not interested in selling bulk to someone just walking up to their booth when they can sell to twenty people at retail. It would be better to talk to the farmer, let them know that you are looking for seconds to make wine. They often can bring down to the market for you or allow you to pick it up from the orchard. I've gotten the best prices and quality by building a relationship with local farmers.

 

[bernardsmith]

I have more than enough fruit for my own production. But I find that you have to use some water with berries such as raspberry or blackberry, or it is just too tart. Jack Keller has some great fruit wine recipes so you don't have to guess.

In my opinion Jack Keller's recipes are flavor thin. I think he can turn water into wine. Me? I like to have the flavor of the fruit heart and center of my wines. If I am making a mango wine or an orange wine those are the flavors that I want to see in the limelight. (and for orange wine, it's the zest I use).

 

[Seamonkey84]

I use this article as my base for amounts of fruit for a batch, or even fruit and juice combo. My favorite batch so far had 9lb fruit and one gallon of juice in a 3gaL batch.

https://www.mainbrew.com/fruit_wine-ExtraPages.html

 

[lukebuz]

Here is how I obtain most of my fruit. I keep an eye out for who may have it, and make a deal with them. They supply the fruit, and they get anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the batch, depending on how valuable the fruit is. Talk to the farmers market people, and make them that offer. I do exactly that for mead (local honey producer), blueberry (u-pick farm owner), mulberry and sour cherry (local farmer with both on property). Mother in law, Rhubarb in her yard. Neighbor with 2 pear trees. Goes on and on.

Most people who have the fruit are very interested in trying fruit wine. Try just knocking on the door of a total stranger. Worked for me with a family with a hugh crabapple tree in their yard.