Mr.Lobotomy
New Member
Hello,
First time posting, this seems like a pretty good place to get input so I am hoping to get some ideas from the community.
The objective is to make a pineapple wine worth drinking preferably sparkling. I have looked at the 2 recipes I can find on here for pineapple wine and I think I've pretty well met both recipes in terms of end result and disagree with their assessments of "good taste". One of the recipes is quite simple and very similar to what I have done, one has a lot of additives nutrient, energizer etc. etc. that don't really affect flavour AFAIK but who knows maybe you can correct me.
To qualify things I am a fairly new brewer but I don't think this is an issue of ingredients or actions ruining it. I've used good quality juice, frozen pineapple that I enjoy eating regularly, yeast that I have enjoyed using before, Lalvin 71B, D47 and EC-1118 as well as all of my practices being the same as they have been with other brews that have turned out fine.
I'll elaborate on what I've done below and see what the community has to say.
Taste wise I prefer boozy/dry if this helps at all as well.
I have completed 3 trials with pineapple wine.
1st attempt I used roughly .7 gallons of Dole pineapple juice, enough white sugar to bring the starting gravity to 1.10 and I added dried mangoes to bring it up to a reasonable level in a 1 gallon large mouth fermenter. Fermented to 1.0 gravity. In secondary I racked into 3 1L mason jars and popped a cut up habanero into 1 on of them. This was obviously a bit ambitious for a pretty new brewer but it itself turned out drinkable. Definitely has a stale water flavour and barely any pineapple flavour. The mango really dominated the whole batch including the habanero branch, but of course the habanero branch had the added heat which at least drew some attention away from the dishwater taste. This used EC-1118.
2nd attempt 1 gallon batch same roughly .7 gallons juice, white sugar to 1.10 gravity, using 71B. My thoughts were EC-1118 gets hate for being champaign yeast that doesn't add anything besides high ABV and good carbonation so I wanted something that might have fruity esters included and 71B was finally in stock in my area so I hopped on it. 71B absolutely demolished the sugar, it finished fermenting in a week but I left it to de-gas and hang out in the glass 1 gallon fermenter for approx 3 weeks before racking. It then sat for 2 more weeks in mason jars. Stale dishwater, very minor pineapple taste. Of course this is young but I'm not convinced the taste will come back on it's own. I have some bottle aging now.
3rd attempt 2 gallon batch 1.5 gallons juice, white sugar to 1.10 SpGr, frozen pineapple that was thawed to fill fermenter. Using D47 known for its fruity compliments AFAIK. 2 Weeks initial fermentation, 3 weeks secondary. Dishwater with the added bonus of 1 1/4 inches of sediment in the bottom of the fermenter this time.
So what is the issue here ? Is pineapple just difficult to get a flavour out of on it's own ? Should I be using extracts or other flavour enhancers ? Has anyone else achieved a pineapple wine they like ?
I have 2 1 gallon fermenters empty right now and am willing to give any good suggestions a go for the greater good and advancement of our knowledge of this mystery prickle fruit booze.
First time posting, this seems like a pretty good place to get input so I am hoping to get some ideas from the community.
The objective is to make a pineapple wine worth drinking preferably sparkling. I have looked at the 2 recipes I can find on here for pineapple wine and I think I've pretty well met both recipes in terms of end result and disagree with their assessments of "good taste". One of the recipes is quite simple and very similar to what I have done, one has a lot of additives nutrient, energizer etc. etc. that don't really affect flavour AFAIK but who knows maybe you can correct me.
To qualify things I am a fairly new brewer but I don't think this is an issue of ingredients or actions ruining it. I've used good quality juice, frozen pineapple that I enjoy eating regularly, yeast that I have enjoyed using before, Lalvin 71B, D47 and EC-1118 as well as all of my practices being the same as they have been with other brews that have turned out fine.
I'll elaborate on what I've done below and see what the community has to say.
Taste wise I prefer boozy/dry if this helps at all as well.
I have completed 3 trials with pineapple wine.
1st attempt I used roughly .7 gallons of Dole pineapple juice, enough white sugar to bring the starting gravity to 1.10 and I added dried mangoes to bring it up to a reasonable level in a 1 gallon large mouth fermenter. Fermented to 1.0 gravity. In secondary I racked into 3 1L mason jars and popped a cut up habanero into 1 on of them. This was obviously a bit ambitious for a pretty new brewer but it itself turned out drinkable. Definitely has a stale water flavour and barely any pineapple flavour. The mango really dominated the whole batch including the habanero branch, but of course the habanero branch had the added heat which at least drew some attention away from the dishwater taste. This used EC-1118.
2nd attempt 1 gallon batch same roughly .7 gallons juice, white sugar to 1.10 gravity, using 71B. My thoughts were EC-1118 gets hate for being champaign yeast that doesn't add anything besides high ABV and good carbonation so I wanted something that might have fruity esters included and 71B was finally in stock in my area so I hopped on it. 71B absolutely demolished the sugar, it finished fermenting in a week but I left it to de-gas and hang out in the glass 1 gallon fermenter for approx 3 weeks before racking. It then sat for 2 more weeks in mason jars. Stale dishwater, very minor pineapple taste. Of course this is young but I'm not convinced the taste will come back on it's own. I have some bottle aging now.
3rd attempt 2 gallon batch 1.5 gallons juice, white sugar to 1.10 SpGr, frozen pineapple that was thawed to fill fermenter. Using D47 known for its fruity compliments AFAIK. 2 Weeks initial fermentation, 3 weeks secondary. Dishwater with the added bonus of 1 1/4 inches of sediment in the bottom of the fermenter this time.
So what is the issue here ? Is pineapple just difficult to get a flavour out of on it's own ? Should I be using extracts or other flavour enhancers ? Has anyone else achieved a pineapple wine they like ?
I have 2 1 gallon fermenters empty right now and am willing to give any good suggestions a go for the greater good and advancement of our knowledge of this mystery prickle fruit booze.
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