rmolledo
Well-Known Member
yes or no? are there legit beverages out there consisting of fermented orange juice/grape fruit juice?
Apparently it is like prison hooch and tastes horrendous.
I had some accidental spontaneous fermentation of neglected tangerines in my dorm freshmen year of college. Everyone thought I spilled Rum on the carpet from the aroma.
I've also had spontaneous fermentation of V8 that I left on the counter for two days. I drank it, and it was had a pleasant mild carbonation and tartness.
You can ferment anything with sugar, so give it a shot and report back.
You mean like Pruno?
Mmmm. Pruno.
I have what I HOPE will be an orange wine in a secondary right now, made from orange juice from our own trees. The recipe I was given at the local froo-froo wine shop called for a lot of cane sugar, water,raisins, with the juice from about 50 oranges. I juiced several hundred, cut the sugar by about 2/3, used the raisins, and didn't add any water. If it ferments fully, I should have ~ 14% wine.
Edit: If it tastes and smells like barf, I will be one dejected puppy. I have been wanting to try this for several years,
Hmm, if orange wine is this bad, could I expect mango wine to be just as putrid?
I wanted to ferment some mango juice, but I'm quite unsure about that after reading this thread haha
when we were kids on the farm we would make stuff in a bucket under our beds (to hide it from ma) with OJ, rice, raisins and bread yeast. yep tasted like crap, worse than crap. but got us a buzz.
I aint makin it again
Well sorry for the long response, I was just letting people who wanted to know, why orange juice tastes like vomit when it ferments and other things don't. Provided they can understand without their brain hurting.
I just created this account for the sole purpose of thanking B&H for his response. I'm not a home brewer. I just found myself googling random questions like "what do you get when you ferment orange juice" and stumbled across this thread.
After reading this ENTIRE thread which is full of conjecture, speculation, best guessing and "I found this under a bed once" responses, I was quite pleased to read B&H's response which was extraordinarily fact based and informative, addressing all the issues on the subject rather succinctly. And sans headache.
And yet his is the only response that got bashed by not one but two other forum goers.
Diaperload: Ironically, your response was not 'Back on topic' as the original topic was "are there legit beverages made from oranges/grapefruits" thus making your response identical to your username.
Snakeridge: .....so do full sentences.
Barley-and-Hops: Please keep up the good work and don't let these guys keep you down.
Which has me wonndering... what if one were to use whole oranges including the peels and rings? Just throw them in the blender, blend, add some sugar and water and ferment on the rind and then use a "brew in a bag" ($3 pillow case vs that expensive specialty ahit) and pour the while lot into the pillowcase and wring out the juice for a secondary to let it sit and age and clear till it let's your know it is ready by clearing completely?I am surprised nobody has mentioned citric acid yet. In college I have tried to make wine and mead out of many different types of fruits because I was so curious since there are very little fruit wines on the market. I started to realize that although there are many other factors at play, the main thing that separates fruits that generally handle fermentation well than those that don't is the principle type of acid in the fruit. This is one of the reasons why fermented fruits like grapes(wine) and apples(cider) hold a much higher place on commercial markets where other fruits like strawberry, kiwi, blueberry etc. is often an added flavor and never the star of the booze. The main acid in grapes is tartaric acid which contributes a lot to color, flavor, balance and stability and is generally considered the most palatable and preferred acid. Malic acid is the main acid in apples (especially green apples) and is also very present in grapes. Malic is very tart but handles fermentation/age well and can be turned into a softer lactic acid via malolactic fermentation. Citric on the other hand is the main acid in oranges, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries etc. and is often considered the least preferable acid in fermented products. Yeast has a nasty habit of converting citric acid into acetic acid during fermentation which is the main acid/flavor in vinegar and is a serious problem. If winemakers ever add citric acid (which is rare and only to reduce excess iron and copper) they never add it before/during primary for this reason. Citric is also considered "flat" in flavor and isn't nearly as nice on the palette as tartaric or malic. It also doesn't have the same stabilizing properties. Orange peels actually have a higher amount of malic than citric and also have a different flavor profile that tends to age much better. This is why most recipes (including marmalade) that involve imparting orange flavor more often call for orange zest rather than orange juice.
Oranges in particular have a hard time holding their flavor and a good orange is always best when its fresh (the same is not true for a good wine grape) Ever notice that fresh squeezed orange juice is always far superior in flavor than frozen concentrate? I suspect that this is because the compounds that flavor orange juice may have a very short shelf life and will degrade rather quickly. I also suspect that when the compounds degrade they turn into much more vile flavors such as the vomit flavor. Anybody with an orange tree might know this but sometimes an orange that is overripe will get stuck in a branch and will continue to age with the peel intact. Fruit that falls on the ground and breaks open is exposed to water, air, soil and microorganisms develop into nasty little white and green mold balls. Fruit that stays in the tree continues to age and will develop a very vile overripe classic vomit flavor that makes you want to puke. I often reach for these to eat as when you catch them early enough they are perfectly ripe, full of sugar and amazing. But when I hit a bad one its terrible. Keep in mind that when the peel is intact the inside of an orange is relatively sterile so this transformation is not the result of microorganism activity but is the result of the natural breakdown of the compounds in the orange. Kind of like how a green banana will change into a brown one. I have found a few commercial sparkling wines that try to mix champagne grapes and orange juice and then ferment it as a sort of "all in one mimosa" they are terrible...give me fresh juice in cheap champagne any day over that.
I have no desire to bash fruit wines here, I have heard a lot of people have been successful making more unusual fruit wines/beers/mead etc. so by no means is it impossible. My own experience has been very disappointing with anything that isn't grapes, apples or barley so I caution any beginners. If I find myself pouring out of the ears with excess oranges I will probably still try to give it a go, but I would never spend a large sum of money/time trying to make it. It is my opinion that if you are neck deep in oranges you are better off inviting your friends over for a mimosa/screwdriver party.
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