Plums vary a lot in sugar and acid, from sharp cooking plums to sweet dessert types. Enter your fruit below and check the result with a hydrometer if you can.
Hydrometer targets
Take the stones out, or at least leave them whole. The kernels contain compounds that can release cyanide, so never crack them into the fermenter.
White sugar to add for a dry wine, using a typical amount of fruit and average ripeness. Ripeness changes these figures, so use a hydrometer for an exact amount.
| Strength | 4.5 Lwith 2.48 kg fruit | 10 Lwith 5.50 kg fruit | 1 US galwith 4.6 lb fruit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% ABV | 598 g | 1.33 kg | 1.11 lb |
| 12% ABV | 777 g | 1.73 kg | 1.44 lb |
| 14% ABV | 956 g | 2.12 kg | 1.77 lb |
Above about 13%, add the sugar in stages. The calculator shows you how.
Choose ripe, even slightly soft fruit, and cut away any rot. Halve and stone the plums, then freeze them if you have space, because thawed fruit releases its juice more readily.
Recipes commonly use about 2 to 3 kg per 4.5 L (4 to 6 lb per gallon). The lower end makes a light wine with reasonable flavour, and the upper end adds body.
Plums are rich in pectin, which leaves a lasting haze, so use pectic enzyme before adding yeast. Follow the rate on your packet. Very sweet plums can be low in acid, so taste the must and consider a little acid blend if it seems flat.
This page is for fermented plum wine. Japanese umeshu is a different drink, made by steeping unripe ume fruit and sugar in spirit, so this calculator doesn't apply to it.
Most fruit has far less sugar than wine grapes, so country wines need added sugar. How much depends on the fruit and how ripe it is. That is why the result shows a range. A hydrometer reading of your must removes the guesswork.
Target gravity = 0.996 + ABV ÷ 131.25. One gram of sugar per litre adds about 0.384 gravity points. Fruit sugar uses typical values per fruit. Acidity is a rough estimate from typical fruit acid, so measure it with a kit if you can.