Homemade mango wine is an exotic beverage of yellow or orange shade with a characteristic smell of fruits and mild tartness in the taste. You can use both fresh ripe mangos, which are preferred, and canned mango pulp.
It is important that raw materials are not spoilt and are free of rot and mold. Even a small amount of bad pulp can spoil the whole batch of wine. In order prevent must infection with pathogenic microorganisms, it is necessary to rinse the container with boiling water and wipe it dry with a clean, dry cloth before using it. Treat raw materials only with well-washed hands.
Ingredients:
- Mango pulp (fresh or canned) – 1 kilo
- Water – 6 liters
- Sugar – 0.8 kilo
- Citric acid – 5 grams per 1 liter of the must
- Wine yeast
Mangos contain no wild wine yeast (their surface is treated with a preservative for long-term storage), therefore it is necessary to have store-bought wine yeast. You can substitute concentrated citric acid with freshly squeezed lemon juice—one medium-sized lemon contains 5-6 grams of acid.
Mango Wine Recipe
- Peel the mangos and remove seeds
- Blend the pulp (if you’re using canned pulp blend it with juice) until smooth and resembling apple puree.
- Put the obtained mixture in a non-metallic (plastic or stainless steel) wide container—a tub, cooking pot or bucket. Pour in all water and 50% of sugar (400 grams according to this recipe). Add citric acid (5 grams per each liter of the obtained must) and wine yeast (raisin ferment).
- Stir until smooth, tie the neck of the container with cheesecloth, transfer the must into a dark place with a stable temperature of 18-28°C. Leave it for 4 days and stir every 8-10 hours to sink floating pulp.
4-10 hours after the yeast were added, you should notice foam appearing and hissing sound, which means that everything is going fine.
- Filter the must through cheesecloth folded 3-4 times and squeeze the pulp dry (throw it out afterward).
- Add 25% of sugar (200 grams according to the recipe) to the filtered juice, stir, and pour the must into a fermentation vessel. Fill it up to a maximum of 75% of the volume so that there is enough space left for additional sugar portion and foam.
- Install an airlock of any design on the neck of the container.
Fermentation under a factory airlock
- Leave the container with soon-to-be mango wine in a dark place with a temperature of 20-28°C (or cover it with thick fabric).
- 8 days after the airlock has been installed, add the remaining 200 grams (25%) of sugar. To do this, separately drain 200 ml of the fermenting juice, dissolve sugar in it, stir, and pour the obtained syrup back into the fermentation container. Then close the container with the airlock once again.
Depending on the temperature and yeast used, fermentation of homemade mango wine lasts 35-60 days. You can tell that the fermentation process has stopped if the airlock is no longer emitting gas (or the glove is deflated), there’s a layer of sediment at the bottom, and the must is significantly lighter.
If the fermentation process lasts for more than 50 days after the airlock installation, the wine should be decanted and then put under the airlock again to ferment at the same temperature in order to prevent it from becoming bitter.
- Gently decant the fermented wine into another container without hitting the sediment. Taste it and add more sugar to sweeten the taste (optional). You can also increase ABV by adding vodka or alcohol in amounts of 2-15% of the wine volume. Such wine has a longer shelf-life but has a harsher taste.
- Fill the aging vessels with wine preferably to the brim to eliminate the risk of contact with oxygen. Seal them tightly.
- Transfer the wine to a fridge or cellar with a temperature of 2-16°C for aging. If you added sugar for extra sweetness it’s better to keep the wine under an airlock for the first 7-10 days of fermentation. Leave it for at least 6 months (preferably for 9-10 months).
- In case of 2-4 cm sediment layer forming, you should filter the beverage by pouring it through a tube into another container.
Note: Initially mango wine is very cloudy. It takes at least 4-5 months for it to become more or less clear. You can also use bentonite.
- When there’s no more sediment build-up you can bottle the wine for storing.
The shade depends on the color of the pulp
Homemade mango wine’s shelf-life is up to 3 years if stored in a fridge. 10-14% ABV.