Putting Welch's grape juice on JAOM cake

beninan · 02-06-2012, 03:28 AM

I was suggested an idea to put Welch's grape juice, basically this recipe:http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/welchs-grape-juice-wine-21093/, onto the yeast cake of my 5 gallon batch of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead.

In a few days I'll be racking out of the primary (it has been sitting since 10/23/2011), into another carboy to help keep the bread yeast behind. I've been wondering what to do with the oranges from the JAOM. Initially I was thinking of making some sort of an alcoholic fruit pie, but today I was suggested to make a super simple sangria with it. So that's what I'm going to do.

When I rack it out, I'm expecting there will be at least 1/2 of a gallon of mead-yeast-orange slurry left behind that will have the grape juice poured on top. I'm not sure if the bread yeast is any good now, but I do have more yeast on hand that I can pitch if if doesn't take off. I'm planning on adding 2-3 gallons of grape juice to the slurry.

I do have a batch of the Welch's grape juice wine that I made about 8 months ago, so I do have something to compare it to.

Let me know what you all think and if I should change the volume of 2-3 gallons. I'll try to keep you updated on the results.

DoctorCAD · 02-06-2012, 11:45 AM

I'd throw the bread yeast away and get some wine yeast, but that's just me.

**sudsmcgee** · 02-06-2012, 11:52 AM

The one time I racked apfelwein on top of a yeast cake it came out terrible.

**Yooper** · 02-06-2012, 02:20 PM

Yeast is cheap- I would NEVER reuse wine yeast because of the potential for off-flavors.

beninan · 02-06-2012, 08:56 PM

I thought about the yeast problem, but I'm not sure what I can do about it.
I'm pretty sure the bread yeast is probably dead, and I do have more wine yeast that I can pitch, I just don't think I can get the old bread yeast out while leaving the oranges and remaining mead behind, unless someone has some suggestion on how to do so.
It's in a carboy, and the oranges were packed into the carboy opening, so getting them out of there is going to be tricky enough.
What I was thinking about doing was adding the grape juice on top of all the slurry in the fermenter, pitch some more wine yeast, let it sit for a week, and rack it out again to hopefully leave the oranges and yeast behind. I guess what I'm really looking for is some way to collect the remainder of the mead. I know a week isn't that long, but I also don't want to leave the wine sitting on top of the potentially dead bread yeast for very long.

beninan · 02-06-2012, 11:38 PM

I decided to do something with it anyway, because the grape juice was cheap.
I added 2 gallons of grape juice and 1 lb of sugar, without splashing (funnel with a tube going all the way to the bottom), on top of the remaining slurry. All I really want is to suck up the remaining mead. I haven't added yeast yet. In hopes that the bread yeast is dead, I'm going to let this sit for 2 days to allow the bread yeast to fall back out of suspension. Then I'll rack it into my 3 gallon fermenter and pitch some wine yeast.

Sorry if you think I'm rejecting anyone's comments, but my intentions are NOT to reuse the bread yeast. All I really want is to blend a grape juice wine with the remaining orange mead.

I couldn't resist performing the experiment

, and if it fails, it was only cheap ingredients after all.

beninan · 02-07-2012, 09:06 PM

Updating again:
After having it sit overnight, fermentation did not pick back up and all the yeast has dropped out, just as I was hoping for. Tomorrow I'll rack it off the old yeast/fruit and pitch some wine yeast.