Easy Pineapple Wine Recipe

Pineapple wine is an easy-to-make-at-home fruity wine that gets served for Christmas, Easter or other family gatherings. Here’s how we do it here in Bombay.

Ingredients for the Pineapple Wine

But first, the list of ingredients we use.
800 grams pineapple
2 litres water
750 grams sugar
20 grams yeast – we use active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
50 ml warm water
2 pods vanilla – Optional
1 egg for clarification or 1 sheet gelatin or 5 drops milk – Optional

Steps to make the Pineapple Wine

Start by cleaning the pineapple and chopping it into small pieces. Get rid of any overripe pieces as these will make the wine bitter. Some people also use the skin of the pineapple to make wine, and you can too if you want to.

Proof the yeast by adding it to a bowl with sugar and 50 ml warm water and leaving it aside for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, the yeast starts to bubble, which means it’s active.

In a large ceramic jar (we call them barnis) add your 2 litres of water and the 750 grams of sugar. Next, add in your proofed yeast and stir. Then add in the chopped pineapple and vanilla pods and stir with a wooden spoon.

On the first day, you might need to stir the wine 3 or 4 times to release the gasses as the levels rise.

After that, stir the must (wine mixture) daily to release the carbon dioxide. Oh, and try to be smarter than we are and use larger barnis. This picture is of the time when the wine almost overflowed because the carbon dioxide inside made the pineapples rise to the top and all the gas was pushing upwards.

Also, these barnis come with ceramic lids which are good to use. They will keep the oxygen out and help release the carbon dioxide slowly. If you’re not using barnis, tie a cloth around the top of your glass jar or cover it with a balloon.

And if you’re wondering whether you have to stir the wine, you don’t have to. But it’s recommended. Stirring the wine gets rid of the excess carbon dioxide that might be suffocating the yeast. It also gives them access to a bit of needed fresh oxygen, get rid of sulphites, and keep your sugars moving. You don’t need to know this, it’s just here if you’re interested. So carrying on…

We sometimes keep a small jug for testing outside, so that we can see how the wine is doing. It’s not a necessary step. Just depends on whether you want to see how the wine is progressing or not.

After 7 days of stirring, strain the wine into a large glass jar or steel vessel.

Taste the wine to confirm that it’s fine. If it’s sweet and fruity, you’re good to go. If by chance, your pineapple has lent the wine some of its bitterness, you can back-sweeten the wine by adding in 200 grams of sugar. There’s no need to worry about it being seen. The remaining yeast will gobble up the sugar over the course of the next few days, and your wine can soon be on its way to your glass.

Now the important notes before bottling the wine. When the wine is just formed, it’s quite cloudy. So take a glass or decanter and fill it with the pineapple wine, then add just a teaspoon of the white of an egg to it and stir well. Add this wine back to your glass jar or steel vessel and stir the wine. Next step is bottling it and waiting another 7 days to drink it! (The egg white will help the dregs settle and clarify the wine till it becomes clear like below.)

If you’re a vegetarian and can’t use eggs, use a sheet of gelatin instead or 4 to 5 drops of milk to clarify the wine. Don’t add too much, mind you!

And that’s it! Wait another week, and your wine is ready to drink. If you can’t wait for the wine to clarify, you can actually drink the wine now itself. It just depends on how much patience you have. Wink wink!

Easy Homemade Pineapple Wine Recipe

Abby

In India, we're used to making pineapple wine at home for festivities. This version of the pineapple wine is easy to make and can be ready in 2 weeks.

4 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30 mins

Fermenting Time 7 d

Total Time 7 d 30 mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine Indian

Servings 3 litres

Ingredients

  

• 800 g Pineapple
• 2 l Water
• 750 g Sugar
• 20 g Yeast Preferable Active Dry Yeast

To Proof The Yeast

• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 50 ml Water Warm

Optional Ingredients

• 2 Vanilla Pods Optional
• 1 tsp Egg Whites Optional (See notes forveg substitutes)

Instructions

 

To Proof The Yeast

• Add 1 tablespoon sugar and the 50 ml water to a small vessel or pot.
• Add in the yeast and stir briskly.
• Leave alone for 10 minutes till the yeast starts to bubble. (While the yeast is proofing, you can chop the pineapple.)

Prepare the Wine Must

• Pour 2 litres of water into your ceramic or glass jar along with the sugar.
• Chop your pineapple into small pieces and add to this jar.
• Add in the proofed yeast mixture.
• Add in two vanilla pods that you have slit open. (Optional)
• Stir the wine with a wooden spoon, cover and leave aside.
• On the first day, you may need to stir 3 or 4 times to release the excess carbon dioxide formed.
• On the next 7 days, stir once a day. (We usually do it every morning at the same time.)
• After 7 days, strain the wine into a large steel or glass jar.
• Taste a bit of the wine. If it's sweet, then perfect. If the pineapple has somehow turned the wine a tad bitter, back sweeten it by adding in 250 grams of sugar. There's no need to stir too much, as the last of the yeast will eat the sugar over the course of the coming week.

Clarify The Pineapple Wine

• Take some of the pineapple wine in a small glass or decanter.
• Add in a teaspoon of egg white and stir well. If you're vegetarian, add in a sheet of gelatin or 5 drops of milk instead.
• Add this mixture back to the pineapple wine and stir.
• Bottle the wine and leave aside for 7 days before drinking.
• Chill and serve!

Notes

If you’re a vegetarian and can’t use eggs, add a sheet of gelatin to the wine mixture or 4 to 5 drops of milk to clarify the wine.