How to Make Feijoa Wine at Home
Feijoa is a common fruit and is often seen scattered on the ground beneath a feijoa tree in the garden, especially during the summer season. Consider putting feijoas to good use by making some delicious wine out of them.
Prep time: 3 days
Fermentation time: 126 days
Total time: 129 days
Yield: 1 botle
Utensils: Wine bottles, Fermentation bin, Large buckets, Potato masher, Spatula, Thick cloth, Cheesecloth
Ingredients:
Feijoas: Enough to yield 1-1/2 kilos of feijoa flesh
Sugar: 1 kilo
Water: 4 litres
Campden: 1 tablet
Tannin: 1/4 teaspoon
Malic acid: 1/4 teaspoon
Tartaric acid: 1/2 teaspoon
Pectic enzyme: 1-1/2 teaspoon
Wine yeast: 1 package
Yeast nutrient: 1 teaspoon
Instructions
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1
Place the feijoas in the freezing compartment of your refrigerator. When frozen, thaw the fruit and scoop out the flesh. This way you will be able to extract more feijoa flavour during the fermentation process.
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2
Transfer feijoa flesh to a large bucket and mash it properly with the help of a potato masher. Mashing the feijoa flesh will further break it down which means you will have more fruit juice during fermentation.
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3
Add water to the mashed flesh and then add sugar. Stir the contents of the large bucket with a spatula until the sugar you added is completely dissolved. It is now time to add remaining ingredients, i.e. tannin, malic acid, tartaric acid and pectic enzyme.
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4
For killing bacteria and inhibiting the growth of yeast, add a crushed Campden tablet to the contents of the bucket.
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5
Cover the bucket’s opening with a thick piece of cloth and set the bucket aside for three consecutive days. Be sure to thoroughly stir the contents of the bucket in the morning and evening each day.
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6
Use cheesecloth large enough to properly strain the mixture. Use a clean bucket for this purpose.
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7
Mix one tablespoon sugar and 60 ml luke warm water to the yeast and set it aside for about 15 minutes. This will start the yield. Once started, add both yeast nutrient and wine yeast to the contents of the bucket.
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8
As before, cover the bucket’s opening with a piece of cloth and set it aside for another 6 days for the primary fermentation to start.
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9
Carefully siphon off the wine of the sediment collect at the bottom of the bucket. Transfer wine directly to a fermenting bin and then secure it with the air lock.
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10
Set aside the bin in a cool, dark place for yet another 30 days.
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11
Open the bin after 30 days, siphon the wine and discard the sediment as before, air lock the bin and for one final time, set aside the fermenting bin for a further 90 days. After the aforesaid time period, the feijoa wine will be ready.
