10 gallons of pure evil in my bathtub

[hardertr]

I still haven't learned my lesson.  For some reason I think that because I have 5 gallon carboys, I have to make 5 gallons of wine every time.  Unfortunately, 2 of my "experimental wines" will be dumped tomorrow.

I tried to make 2 batches.  One was Pineapple, the other was prickly-pear.  Neither of which I would would ever claim, even if my life depended on it.

Has ANYONE out there tried to make either of these?  Did they turn out?

My THIRD experimental batch isn't half bad.  I used Welches grape (concord and white mixed 50/50).  It's a bit "fizzy", but my wife likes it.  It kind of reminds me of a bottle of Mad Dog topped of with Sprite.  Won't be giving it out for CHRISTmas...but will definitley use it to keep warm next winter.

[jvs]

Pineapple may too acidic to make a pure wine with.  You may want to try using white grape juice and flavoring it with pineapple.   I made Dandelion wine one year with the juice of one Orange and Lemon in it to make it a sort of Sanghria.  It didn't take much to add the citris flavor.  

Yeast has a very low tolerance for an acid ph.  I tried for 5 years to make Cranberry wine before succeeding by making it out of Cranberry Sauce which has a more neutral ph but still retains the flavor.  It always failed because of the high acid content of Cranberrys.  When that happens you have two choices.  One is dilute the mix with water until the ph is more neutral so the yeast can survive, which can be the watery alternative, or flavor another type of wine with the taste you want.  

For Pineapple I would try using white grape juice.  Put it in a pot on the stove, heat it and add a few pineapple rings for flavor.  Keep tasting it until you have a slight Pineapple taste.  Then stop.

I am not familiar with Prickly Pair wine but I'd check the acid content.

The only other thing I can suggest is to make sure your supplies are well  sanitized before you start, which I am positive you do since you have carboys.  Carboys are usually a sign of someone who has been in the hobby for quite a while.

In the meantime I will check my references for those types of wine and see if I can give you any other pointers.

[jvs]

Update:  I found something about Pineapple and Prickly Pear wine.  

Apparently Pineapples do not have enough natural sugars in them to support fermentation.  The addition of Inverted Sugar is necessary.  Out of a 5 gallon batch only a half gallon would be pineapple juice, which would make it just flavored water.  It may be better to flavor a white grape wine with pineapple juice to get away from using Inverted Sugar.   Acid Content is also a problem, which is probably why so little juice is used to make the wine.


As for Prickly Pears....

It's almost the same story as Pineapple except alot of regular white sugar needs to be added over time, not inverted sugar.   Out of 5 gallons, only 2 gallons is Prickly Pear Juice.


You may want to make one gallon at a time until you find something that works.  Since I mostly make wine from fresh fruits or berrys that are in season, I usually only make wine in one gallon glass jugs, unless a whole bunch of berrys come in at the same time, which normally doesn't happen.  

I used a 5 gallon carboy once last year for Blackberry, the rest was made in one gallon jugs.  (I have 30+ of them, and always lookin for more.)

[hardertr]

I guess I'll have to retire my carboys to beer making again.  At least until I get this wine thing down.

It's funny how my grandfather used to be able to whip up 5 gallons of mustang (grape) wine in no time.  No test kits, measuring tools, or additives were ever used (just juice, water, sugar and bread yeast).  And all mixed together in a BUCKET to boot.  Sanitation consisted of keeping cheeses cloth over the bucket to keep MOST of the flies out.  MAN...that was good stuff.

Thanks for the input on the pineapple and prickly pear.  I had pineapple wine in Germany, and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.  Tried to make it myself...and it tasted like I soaked a loaf of bread in water for 6 months.

[jvs]

It's funny how my grandfather used to be able to whip up 5 gallons of mustang (grape) wine in no time.  No test kits, measuring tools, or additives were ever used (just juice, water, sugar and bread yeast).  And all mixed together in a BUCKET to boot.  Sanitation consisted of keeping cheeses cloth over the bucket to keep MOST of the flies out.  MAN...that was good stuff.

Well........I don't use a bucket or cheesecloth, but I do use glass jugs.

I don't have test kits, measuring tools or use additives either.  It was when the wine hobby became a marketable past time that beginners began think they have to buy all that stuff.  I don't hold it against somebody for trying to make a living, but before the last half of the 1900's nobody bought all those tools and chemicals for making wine.  I can make a gallon for under $1.50 doing it the old way.

Wine making is an ancient process and I can assure you that the Romans didn't use Campden Tablets.   Your Grandfather is basically right, all you need is a vessel and something to keep the bugs out.