Strawberry guava

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johnnyv
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Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

I am starting this thread to chronicle my experimentation with fermentation and distillation of strawberry guava fruit.

Psidium cattleyanum var. cattleyanum is the most common guava type grown in New Zealand. The Feijoa(pineapple guava) Acca sellowiana is more common but is not actually a true guava, also its skin although technically edible is unpalatable unlike the strawberry guava.
In the tropics it is a highly invasive weed but in the sub tropics it is just vigorous. In Auckland which would correspond to between USDA zone 10a and 10b one five metre tree produced over 100kg of fruit this season so I am hoping it ends up making something nice, it makes very good jams and chutneys.
Also unlike a lot of fruit seeds guavas are completely edible so macerating the entire fruit is viable.
At about 12% non fibre carbohydrate I thought it would be safe to add some sugar to the ferment. If the flavour turns out good I will probably try a non sugar ferment next season when I should have a much larger fermentation vessel and make a true brandy.

I have two ferments underway currently.
1) 17 kg guava
10 lt water
6 kg white sugar
20g yeast nutrients
10 g calcium carbonate
14 g EC1118 yeast
3 days of stirring the cap once morning and evening then straining into a smaller fermentation vessel under airlock, 20 lt after straining out pulp.

2) 20 kg guava
10 lt water
6 kg white sugar
20 g yeast nutrients
10 g calcium carbonate
14 g EC1118 yeast
20g yeast nutrients
2 days if stirring the cap once morning and evening then added 8 kg extra guava and did a further 2 days mixing twice a day before straining into air locked containers.

The second batch with the longer time before straining certainly smelled more boozy than the first batch, however once transferred to the air locked vessels it was apparent that little CO2 production was occurring.
I reasoned that with the higher fruit content compared to the first batch the acidity might be too high as strawberry guavas are a rather acid fruit. I added 10g powdered calcium carbonate and gas production took off very quickly.

I did not measure SG of the starting mix, it is like a very thick soup.
After straining the 2nd batch was 1.03, the first is currently 1.01 after two weeks and still steadily producing CO2.
Temperature between 18 and 22 C(64-72 F) which should be fine for EC1118.

I must get some pH testing strips.
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strawberry guava sliced2.jpg
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

Well I did the stripping run of the first ferment using my boilers pot still head.
My boiler is 30 Lt insulated stainless steel, switch between 1 and 2 kw heating.
My pot still head seems far more relfux like than I expected even on full power, after 100 ml foreshot the next 300 ml was close to 70% ABV after temp correction, the final 300 ml was 13% ABV(finish temp 98.2 C).
Total collected about 5 Lt of 45% ABV. I thought my spirit hydrometer was possibly wrong but I checked using a bottle of Smirnoff and it read accurately.

The final 300 ml was well into the wet cardboard territory, the previous 2 x 300 ml had a lot of nice guava smell.

Once the second ferment is dry and cleared I will strip that one and then combine with the first and dilute to 30% ABV for the spirit run.
I will definitely need to blend in some tails to get any guava judging from where the guava smell was coming out in the strip.
Shine0n
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by Shine0n »

Also look for mid-late heads, I'm my experience the flavors hide there and will make an entrance after some time.

Do you plan on keeping it white or will you use a sort of wood to age with?

I have a massive cherry tree and will harvest in the next few weeks, I have no earthly idea how I'll age it but I'll go with it and decide what to do later. I can always add the wood if I choose but I can't remove it once done.

Let us know how this goes
Shine0n
Stargazer14
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by Stargazer14 »

Johnny, following your post, let us know how things turn out. Maybe age some white and some on oak for a future description.
johnnyv
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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

Shine0n wrote:Also look for mid-late heads, I'm my experience the flavors hide there and will make an entrance after some time.

Do you plan on keeping it white or will you use a sort of wood to age with?

I have a massive cherry tree and will harvest in the next few weeks, I have no earthly idea how I'll age it but I'll go with it and decide what to do later. I can always add the wood if I choose but I can't remove it once done.

Let us know how this goes
Shine0n
Stargazer14 wrote:Johnny, following your post, let us know how things turn out. Maybe age some white and some on oak for a future description.
I plan on doing both white and wood, a bit more tails and late heads in wood.
I actually have some seasoned guava wood and am wondering about cutting some up and roasting/charring it.
Plenty of seasoned plum wood and grapefruit wood as well which I use for smoking and toasted french oak.

I will probably do a number of small experiments and see what I like then decide what to do with the 50+ kg of guavas left in my chest freezer.
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

Stripped my second ferment again discarding 100ml of foreshot, combined with the first strip ended up with 11 Lt total @ 43% ABV.
Diluted to 30% ABV then did the spirit run.
Collected 8 x 200ml jars, by the eighth jar could not readily detect ethyl acetate.
Then 5 x 500ml jars starting at 76% and finishing at 73%.
Finally 11 x 200ml jars, the last 4 jars of which have gone rather cloudy on sitting overnight, final jar at 98C.

Now the really difficult part.
After letting it sit, all jars smell of guava. The hearts are nice but are the weakest in flavour, I am not sure if the heads have more or it is simply the sweet ethyl acetate smell that is tricking my palate into thinking there is more fruit there.
I am sure the tails have much more guava but they also contain a lot more bitter elements the deeper you go.
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NZChris
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by NZChris »

Using a teaspoon and the abvs of the jars, make up representative samples of prospective blends at around 40%, starting with the obvious hearts and working your way out until you find the limits of the heart cut.

Some fruits do have a bit of ethyl acetate in their flavor profile so completely getting rid of it can be a mistake.
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

NZChris wrote:Using a teaspoon and the abvs of the jars, make up representative samples of prospective blends at around 40%, starting with the obvious hearts and working your way out until you find the limits of the heart cut.

Some fruits do have a bit of ethyl acetate in their flavor profile so completely getting rid of it can be a mistake.
If it is to be drunk as is without aging, wood or caramel/glycerol.
The last two of the starting 200mls with all 500mls and the first of the final 200mls is drinkable straight away as a white and I don't normally enjoy 40% alcohol straight but this is pleasant to sip.
If I want to age some on wood would you think more tails or also more heads?
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NZChris
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by NZChris »

We make jelly out of ours :D but mostly they fall on the ground to attract fruit flies and fantails, so my aging experience with them is no better than yours. Someone has to go first and it's probably going to be you. For a preview of what may happen when aging on wood, you could try nuking a batch or two.
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

NZChris wrote:We make jelly out of ours :D but mostly they fall on the ground to attract fruit flies and fantails, so my aging experience with them is no better than yours. Someone has to go first and it's probably going to be you. For a preview of what may happen when aging on wood, you could try nuking a batch or two.
Oh well I will try just didn't want to stuff it up.
But I guess there are plenty more guavas in the future.

Oh an observation on the guava and volatile esters. As soon as you make the mash and for the first 10-14 days of the ferment the smell coming from the air lock is sweet guava after that it changes to musty guava.
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NZChris
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by NZChris »

You don't have to choose only one blend, or only one style of aging, from one spirit run. Many of my first attempts are split into three or four variations. The main thing is to keep good records in case one of the methods is significantly better than the rest.
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

Ok well I have tried medium toast french oak and toasted guava wood both microwaved and I honestly think they significantly subtract from the guava flavor.
Maybe if it was a true guava brandy there would be enough flavor to be complemented by wood aging but with the added sugar ferment I think it is too delicate.
I added very slightly more of the tails than what was immediately nice for sipping to age in glass at 68% ABV.

My brother in law and I did enjoy it with ice as a sipping spirit but would have liked more flavor as the base for a cocktail like a Mojito hence adding the extra tails and aging.

I will leave the guavas in the freezer for the time being and periodically dilute and taste what I have before doing another ferment.
johnnyv
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by johnnyv »

Six week in glass and there is a significant reduction in bitterness and much more guava coming through.
I think this will age well.
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NZChris
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Re: Strawberry guava

Post by NZChris »

A kereru ate most of our late crop. He's welcome to them, we feel privileged to have one visiting our garden and I would rather have that, than a bottle or three of liquor from a fruit I've never fermented anything really nice out of.

Sometimes the wood from the same tree isn't the best to age your liquor on. I tried using some heartwood from my grapevine in a brandy from the same grapes and it was bloody awful. It was just as well it was only a trial, not the whole run. Oak is a lot safer, especially if you don't have a lot in the drinks cabinet.
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