Shame on you!
Showing posts with label mango wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mango wine. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Mango wine review
I bought a bottle of mango wine. It was terrible. My first clue that it was not going to taste good was the label, which stated it was grape wine with natural flavors. Apparently "natural flavors" means flavors made in a chemical plant in New Jersey. The whole thing tasted bad and after chocking down a glass I just dumped the rest of the bottle. Yeah, coming from the guy that buys jugs of Carlo Rossi...
Shame on you!
Shame on you!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Mango wine conclusion and epilogue
I couldn't wait any longer. I am thirsty. Time to see if the mango wine is spoiled or successful. I cracked it open. It fizzed and is bubbly as soda pop. I am amazed by this bit of magic and will probably be amazed for a while. The nose was a bit sour. The same sort of sour that my first batch of pruno had. The taste is ok. It has the mango flavor. The apples came out really strong. It is a bit too dry. Maybe next time I will actually measure the sugar? Hey, before you sass me my grandmother never measured the sugar when she baked lasagne and it tasted great. Measuring isn't how it's done.
So was it contaminated? Possibly. It is just a hint of sour, lingering in the back, probably coming in from the nose. There is some acid from the apples, and of course the mango notes that dance on the back of your tongue. As it aired out and "breathed" the sourness dissipated a bit. Still a bit too dry and acidic for what I hoped to achieve. The fact that it wasn't too sour and it seemed to air out suggests that it might have been from the heat, but I can't say for sure. Maybe I've just drank too much rotgut wine to really tell?
I will admit that this mango juice wasn't the best mango juice I've ever had. It was a blend, and I recall mangos were second on the list of ingredients behind apples. Again I probably should have used the white wine yeast. Oh well; I learned a lot from these experiments as I look to make the best tasting and cheapest pruno possible. Contamination can add sour notes to the hooch and one should take as much care as possible to sterilize every piece of equipment. Also brewing is affected by the heat, and you should either avoid brewing when it is 95 degrees or find some way to mitigate the heat like pack it in and icewater bucket or move the project to the storage locker in the basement. I think the flavors would have mellowed if I would have let it sit longer, but time is not on my side.
If you can do me a favor, please steal all the sugar packets you can from restaurants and the like and mail them to me. Thanks.
So was it contaminated? Possibly. It is just a hint of sour, lingering in the back, probably coming in from the nose. There is some acid from the apples, and of course the mango notes that dance on the back of your tongue. As it aired out and "breathed" the sourness dissipated a bit. Still a bit too dry and acidic for what I hoped to achieve. The fact that it wasn't too sour and it seemed to air out suggests that it might have been from the heat, but I can't say for sure. Maybe I've just drank too much rotgut wine to really tell?
I will admit that this mango juice wasn't the best mango juice I've ever had. It was a blend, and I recall mangos were second on the list of ingredients behind apples. Again I probably should have used the white wine yeast. Oh well; I learned a lot from these experiments as I look to make the best tasting and cheapest pruno possible. Contamination can add sour notes to the hooch and one should take as much care as possible to sterilize every piece of equipment. Also brewing is affected by the heat, and you should either avoid brewing when it is 95 degrees or find some way to mitigate the heat like pack it in and icewater bucket or move the project to the storage locker in the basement. I think the flavors would have mellowed if I would have let it sit longer, but time is not on my side.
If you can do me a favor, please steal all the sugar packets you can from restaurants and the like and mail them to me. Thanks.
Mango wine status update
The mango wine started to smell of sulfur. There are 3 possible explanations:
1. Contamination. I did not disinfect the airlock tubing, and the batch was possibly contaminated this way.
2. The heat. It has been hot and the high heat may have thrown off the fermentation.
3. The yeast. The wine yeast I bought, Red Star Montrachet, reputedly releases a sulfur smell.
Thus far I have tried to keep the brew cool with those freezer packs you put on your head. The smell diminished. I have also racked the wine into a new vessel, recharged it with more sugar, and sealed the cap so that it will naturally carbonate. Now I really regret not going with champaigne yeast.
Additionally I recharged the old vessel with more sugar, frozen orange juice and orange juice pineapple concentrate, and more water. It is again fermenting. Because I was able to reuse the yeast, the costs are much lower than I previously thought. I can either calculate that this batch costs a dollar less or that both batches cost fifty cents less. Someone call my accountant.
1. Contamination. I did not disinfect the airlock tubing, and the batch was possibly contaminated this way.
2. The heat. It has been hot and the high heat may have thrown off the fermentation.
3. The yeast. The wine yeast I bought, Red Star Montrachet, reputedly releases a sulfur smell.
Thus far I have tried to keep the brew cool with those freezer packs you put on your head. The smell diminished. I have also racked the wine into a new vessel, recharged it with more sugar, and sealed the cap so that it will naturally carbonate. Now I really regret not going with champaigne yeast.
Additionally I recharged the old vessel with more sugar, frozen orange juice and orange juice pineapple concentrate, and more water. It is again fermenting. Because I was able to reuse the yeast, the costs are much lower than I previously thought. I can either calculate that this batch costs a dollar less or that both batches cost fifty cents less. Someone call my accountant.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Mango wine
The problem with wine is that it is made from grapes. Grapes are ok, but not my favorite fruit. So why grapes then? Why not wine out of whatever fruit you wish? How will it taste? Wine flavors represent the grapes that spawned them; I image the flavors of wines made from other fruits to represent those original flavors well. Wouldn't coconut or mango wine be great? I mean if plum wine is a delightful but rare taste of Asia, why not the flavors of the tropics?
So I went to the grocery store and bought some mango juice. It has some other juices, I think apple. Whatever. I will try fermenting that and will comment in a week or two when I have some wine. I even shelled out a buck for wine yeast to eliminate the sour flavor of the first batch of pruno.
Cheers.
So I went to the grocery store and bought some mango juice. It has some other juices, I think apple. Whatever. I will try fermenting that and will comment in a week or two when I have some wine. I even shelled out a buck for wine yeast to eliminate the sour flavor of the first batch of pruno.
Cheers.
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