Welch's Grape Concentrate and Grape Concentrate Cocktail

zeegadget · 05-23-2009, 05:46 PM

Hi All.... I just joined because I was interested in making wine from Welch's
grape juice concentrate. My ingredients were picked up in a few trips to
the grocery store and that is where I screwed up. I picked up 4 cans of
the grape juice concentrate on the first trip. On the second trip I grabbed
6 cans of the Welch's Grape Cocktail Concentrate. Now I have a 5 gallon
batch of this in a 6 1/2 gallon glass carboy. Did I really screw up using
the cocktail concentrate?

Tom
SW Pennsylvania

**summersolstice** · 05-24-2009, 12:36 PM

You're probably ok. From what I seem to remember from the strange US packaging laws, a "cocktail" is something less than pure juice and can include other ingredients, most likely more sugar and water. As long as you took gravity readings and you know where you began, you should be ok.

pizzaman · 05-24-2009, 12:43 PM

Here's the ingredients list from a welch's grape juice cocktail:

Filtered Water, Grape Juice, Grape Juice from Concentrate, Calcium Gluconate, Malic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Calcium Lactate, Potassium Metabisulfite, Sucralose (Splenda Brand), Acesulfame Potassium. No Artificial Flavors Or Colors Added.

I'm not positive, but some of those extra ingredients not found in the regular juice may be preservatives which would inhibit fermentation. Whenever buying juice I try to be sure it has nothing but water, concentrate, and ascorbic acid just to be on the safe side(these are the only ingredients in the non-cocktail welch's grape juice).

**summersolstice** · 05-24-2009, 05:00 PM

Well, the Potassium Metabisulfite is certainly a preservative and the Sucralose may impart some off flavors but since you've already begun, might as well see it through. If it's fermenting the K-meta shouldn't have hurt it much.

mmadmikes1 · 05-27-2009, 06:01 AM

I'd worry more about the Sodium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C). I have used both to stabalize wine in past.

brewthunda · 05-27-2009, 06:25 PM

The sucralose suggests that you bought diet or light or reduced calorie juice cocktail. Which means the sugar content on those cans is way down, so you're not going to get much alcohol from the cans of cocktail.

But as summersolstice said, "As long as you took gravity readings and you know where you began, you should be ok."