Author Topic: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?  (Read 1448 times)

Gulfgardener

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Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« on: November 16, 2022, 10:18:08 AM »
Has anyone had luck turning their tropical fruit into a beer, wine or liquor?  If so, what did you use and how did it turn out?  I was thinking about maybe trying to make something from persimmon (fuyu or fully ripened astringent variety) or maybe loquat.  I know someone has to have made mulberry wine here lol.  How about a Jabo wine? Mmmm!

Jaboticaba45

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2022, 10:26:31 AM »
Jaboticaba
I’ve seen people make it.
I haven’t I can’t drink lol
But others have and it seems to be pretty easy as they ferment super fast.

roblack

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2022, 10:48:41 AM »
I drink a lot of kombucha made from fruits. Currently drinking Gamboge (yellow mangosteen). Past flavors include dragon passion fruit, mango passion fruit, bignay, lychee, jaboticaba, and cacao. Low alcohol content, and tastes way better than beer, wine, or liquor. Kegs are the way to go.

Aaron

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2022, 11:59:56 AM »
jabo wine ftw. It comes out hot pink and tasting like fruit punch.

Oolie

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2022, 01:36:18 PM »
Are you looking to ferment, or to preserve excess fruit?
I've made very good whiskeyesque liquor by preserving guavas under clear liquor. Let it sit in a dark place for 6+months and the liquor will change to a light brown color and takes on many of the flavors associated with bourbon as well as tropical notes.

For fermenting you can buy SCOBY online to make various types of light alcohol drinks like kombucha.

JR561

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2022, 02:00:08 PM »
Mead would be where I would start.

Not that complicated.

Finca La Isla

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2022, 02:55:45 PM »
I’ve made wine with lots of my fruit. Frequently I add sugar if the brix is low or non existent. I add bread yeast to batches of about 2 gallons. Takes 5-10 days to ferment. I have a copper still from Portugal bought on Amazon that nicely converts the wine into brandy. I’ve done this with ginger as well. Nutmeg is a favorite. It’s made with the husk/fruit not the seed or mace.
Peter

Gulfgardener

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2022, 03:17:00 PM »
These are some great ideas! Thanks, I'm going to see about buying a scoby now lol.

 I'd love to make a mead but honey is a little expensive I think. Last spring, I tried to see if a beekeeper would put a hive on my property but unfortunately my neighbors spray for mosquitos and the keeper said it was a no go. 

@Oolie - Interesting about the liquor. Did you cut them up in small pieces or keep them in larger chunks?

JR561

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2022, 04:30:05 PM »
Its been so long since Ive brewed, this thread might be the reason I start back up home brewing.

Didnt have any access to any rare fruit back then.

Oolie

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2022, 08:43:32 PM »
I left them whole.

Galatians522

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2022, 09:35:56 PM »
What about vinegar? Any of you brewers have a recommendation for going the next step in the process? I was thinking of using cane juice like they do in Asia.

Finca La Isla

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2022, 09:59:14 PM »
Bananas make great, full flavor vinegar.
Put them in a bucket for 2 weeks, remove the fruit, then decant the liquid into bottles.  Leave the caps on the bottles loose.  With time the vinegar will clarify nicely.
Peter

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #12 on: November 17, 2022, 06:53:57 AM »
loquat should make a good wine. If you put pits in vodka for about 6 months it will taste like cherry liquor.

HibachiDrama

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #13 on: November 17, 2022, 09:24:59 AM »
I made starfruit wine with just starfruit, water, sugar, and champagne yeast. It turned out like a dry, slightly fruity sake. Not sure if there is a better way to preserve the starfruit taste...

Oolie

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #14 on: November 17, 2022, 01:14:40 PM »
If you're into craft beer there are plenty of good examples of fruit lambics out there.
I've tried loquat lambics before, and while good, the point in my mind of a lambic is to introduce tart/tannic/acidic character like with cassis or raspberries, or alternatively dry aromatics like white peach.

There are loquats with strong aromatic character, as well as mildly tannic (astringent) ones, but I've never sampled a lambic prepared with these types of loquats. The usual loquat type which is what the brewer most assuredly had on hand tend to be mild but balanced, which means they have little to offer as a brew highlight, and are much better used in a preparation that highlights the fruit itself with specific focus to the delicate balance already present as well as the soft pulp texture. Loquats preserved in agar are my favorite.

For persimmons, there are plenty of good examples of fruit out there with strong tannic character and some aromatics (California Maru comes immediately to mind, but there are others), so certainly there's potential for using them to make a nice lambic addition.

Galatians522

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2022, 09:39:22 PM »
Bananas make great, full flavor vinegar.
Put them in a bucket for 2 weeks, remove the fruit, then decant the liquid into bottles.  Leave the caps on the bottles loose.  With time the vinegar will clarify nicely.
Peter

Very interesting, I had not thought of bananas. Thanks!

Tropheus76

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2022, 10:56:00 AM »
As the only fruit I seem to be able to get lots of, I think mulberry wine might be interesting. I still have bottles and bottles of mead. Chocolate mead is my favorite, but you have to age it for at least 2 years. You use hershey's cocoa powder though. The end product turns a beautiful dark amber color and tastes delicious and nothing like chocolate. Its a very mellow mead. The mass produced crap mead you buy in stores tastes nothing like a properly aged mead from a brewer.

pineislander

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2022, 03:26:28 PM »
This youtube channel has many recipes for liqueurs made with fruits.
I have made wine and vinegar with many fruits. It isn't so hard and most turn out ok, some very good.
The recipe for dragonfruit liqueur uses the peels.
Pineapple wine you use the peels, so you can get extra products out of fruit this way beyond the pulp.

https://www.youtube.com/@licor

pagnr

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #18 on: November 18, 2022, 07:44:59 PM »
I have tried home made Banana wine, Mango Wine, Jaboticaba wine, others too on the same night, but the fruit varieties a bit hazy as the last bottles came out.
Don't forget Japanese Umeshu from green picked Ume plums.
Davidsonia plums can produce a dry red wine.
Gin is turning up in Australia based on Bush botanicals including wild Citrus.
Apples can be fermented for home brew Scrumpy Cider, so there might be some options there with other fruit.
There are a few types of Plum wine from Eastern Europe at my Liquor store.
Distilling hard Liquor would also be an option, might have interesting characteristics.

Galatians522

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2022, 07:56:13 PM »
I have tried home made Banana wine, Mango Wine, Jaboticaba wine, others too on the same night, but the fruit varieties a bit hazy as the last bottles came out.
Don't forget Japanese Umeshu from green picked Ume plums.
Davidsonia plums can produce a dry red wine.
Gin is turning up in Australia based on Bush botanicals including wild Citrus.
Apples can be fermented for home brew Scrumpy Cider, so there might be some options there with other fruit.
There are a few types of Plum wine from Eastern Europe at my Liquor store.
Distilling hard Liquor would also be an option, might have interesting characteristics.

In Florida, even owning distillation equipment without a license and inspection is highly illegal. Even for personal use or fuel production. I guess that is what comes of a long history of bootlegers making rum from sugarcane. Actually, I have it in good authority that Al Capone used to get his liquor not far from where I live whenever he was in Florida. The place was called Dynamite House (for reasons obvious to the customers shortly after purchase).

JoshuaTilaranCR

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #20 on: November 19, 2022, 08:26:14 AM »
I used to distill at home and I've had ideas for flavored "rums" for a long time since I've been living in Costa Rica. I think I would first start out by distilling evaporated cane juice into a rum. The flavors that come over from the cane are really good. Then you can do one of two things, soak fruit in the rum and redistill to get a rum with the fruit essence or take the finished clear rum, soak the fruit in it and then sweeten. For anyone interested in home distilling there's a forum with amazing safety information and recipes that you can look up. There's even recipes for things you can make without having to distill your own alcohol.

zands

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Re: Tropical Fruit for Beer, Wine, or Liquor?
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2022, 03:16:07 PM »
Has anyone had luck turning their tropical fruit into a beer, wine or liquor?  If so, what did you use and how did it turn out?  I was thinking about maybe trying to make something from persimmon (fuyu or fully ripened astringent variety) or maybe loquat.  I know someone has to have made mulberry wine here lol.  How about a Jabo wine? Mmmm!

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