Fermentation Log #3: Apple-Pineapple-Grape Wine

Started (Sept 29th 2024) by measuring the following ingredients for specific gravity and mixing them in a 5 gal bucket:

• 1.89L of apple juice (President's choice); measured 1.045 sg; expected 1.041 sg
• 0.57L of No-Name grape punch concentrate; measured 1.172 sg (at 10c); expected 1.137 sg
• 1.29L of non-sweetened pineapple juice; measured 1.052 sg; expected at 1.045 sg

Total volume of unsweetened juice: 3.75L. Expected gravity: 1.0566. Measured gravity: 1.066 (at 16c).

To sweeten; mixed 666mL of water and 2kg of sugar on stove-top @ ~70c. Volume created ~2L. Added 500mL of this mix to juice. Brought sg up to 1.102. It was expected that 950mL of this mix would bring up sg to 1.102. Not sure why this happened, but probably a misinterpretation of "Density of aqueous solutions" graph by The Engineering Toolbox. Implied sg of 3:1 sugar:water mix by weight is 1.372.

Expecting following specifications:

• Total acidity: 4.568g/L
• Citric acid: 1.36g/L (probably unresonable since all the juices have added citric acid)
• Tartaric acid: 0.744g/L
• Malic acid: 2.16g/L
• 3.43pH
• 13.5% ABV after primary ferment; 12.3% after backsweetening
• Additional 0.41L of backsweetening mix to be added
• Final residual sugar: ~62g/L (very sweet)

Wanting to increase tartaric acid up by ~2.9g/L to match Jam Jar Shiraz, but that seems excessive. Planning to add 1g of tannins to start.

Added 1 tsp of yeast nutrient indirectly to batch

Added 1g of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast to batch.

Sept 30th 2024: Nice healthy yeast activity. Fruity smell. Hint of pineapple, but mostly grape.

Oct 1st 2024: Insane yeast activity. Smells of fake apple scent used in dish detergents

Oct 2nd 2024: Yeast activity has died down a little bit

Oct 3rd 2024: Yeast activity has slowed to the point that the surface is no longer covered in bubbles completely. Racked wine into 1 gal container. Was expecting closer to 1.5 gal. SG is now 1.000 - 0.998.

Ratings:

• Appearance: 0/3 - Objectionable. Cloudy. Persian #CA3433 or Indian Red #CD5252
• Aroma: 2/6 - Acceptable. Soapy. Pungent. Musty. Apple. Slight hint of apple with acidic cleaning-product like body. Bit of alcohol. Still smells drinkable.
• Taste: 2/6 - Acceptable. Light bodied. Dry. Thin. Activity. Hot. Tingle. Mouthcoat.
• Aftertaste: 2/3 - Good. Drying. Pucker. Furry.
• Overall impression: 0 - Poor
• Acceptable: 6/20

Tastes between a very young rose or a very messed up cider. Smells like cleaning product. Planning to rack again on Nov 3rd.

Redid calculations based on new sg measurements. 0.29L of sugar water is required to increase final sugar content to 62g/L and sg to 1.024.

Oct 11th 2024: measured Jam Jar Shiraz to have a sg of 1.019. Alcohol is at 12.5%. Fermentation has almost stopped. No bubbled in air lock, but occasional small bubble in solution. Cloudy appearance. Possibly regretting addition of pineapple juice.

Oct 26th 2024: almost no bubbles in the liquid at this point. Still cloudy appearance, but possibly getting lighter? Unsure.

Nov 3rd 2024: racked to another 1gal glass container. Added 0.29L of 3:1 xylitol:water mix by wt. Measured new sg to be 1.021; expected 1.024. Took sample and placed airlock.

• Appearance: 2/3 - Good. #782e29. Clear with peach-ish color.
• Aroma: 4/6 - Good. Pungent. Nail polish/vinegar. Little bit of garlic. Yeasty. Apple. Floral.
• Taste: 3/6 - Pleasant. Chemical. Medicine. Fruity. Rose. Malic fruit. Little bit earthy.
• Aftertaste: 2/3 - Good. Pleasant. Light bodied.
• Overall impression: 1.5 - Good.
• Good: 12.5

The best way to describe this drink is to say it smells like the sauce they put on potatoes at a Greek resteraunt. Tastes like a rose though.

Nov 15th 2024: Bottled into 5x 750mL bottles.