PSUolive
Member
Hey guys my name is Allen and I am new to the whole wine making thing. I got into wine making last summer and have tried 3 batches of wine (6 gallons each) and now I have come to you wine making Pros with the hope that you can help or point me in the right direction.
Fist off I will give you the wine making recipe/directions that I got my from friends dad who used to make wine all the time. Since it was my first time trying this I wanted to start off with low cost but not skimp on the equipment.
Recipe/directions I was given. This is for a 6 gallon batch of wine.
Day 1:
*14 cans Welchs Grape juice frozen concentrate (YES its not the real deal and YES this summer I will be making several wines with fresh hand-picked fruits)
*5 gallons water
*2.5 tsp acid blend
*3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
*5 tsp yeast nutrient
*5 tablets sodium bisulfate
*6 cups sugar
*1 pack of montrachet yeast
*Then Airlocked
Day 14:
*First Racking into glass carboy
*Racked every 30 days until clear.
*Once clear. Sweeten with 4lbs of sugar dissolved in water or until it is as sweet as you want it
*Finally Bottled and corked with sanitized bottles and corks
Equipment
I bought 3 of each and I Sanitize everything before and after use with 1 step sanitizer.
*7.9 Gallon Fermenter and Grommeted Lid
* 6 Gallon Glass Carboy
I also have all the extras, carboy brush, airlocks,stiring spoon, auto siphon etc...
Please correct me if I am doing anything wrong or missing any steps!
Now onto my questions and I apologize if these seem like dumb questions.
1.Can wine be made from Welch's grape juice from the bottle or is the frozen concentrate best to stick with?
2. How much sugar should be added at the beginning to achieve a sweet wine that is around 10-11% ABV
3.I read that the corked bottles must lay on their side for 2 weeks or so before they can be stored upright. Is that correct? (I don't have a large wine rack in my basement yet so keeping them on their side for months is a little difficult.
4. Can Glass carboys be used as primary fermenters so you can see what is going on inside without having to take the lid off the plastic fermenter?
Any feedback will be a great help!
Thanks
Fist off I will give you the wine making recipe/directions that I got my from friends dad who used to make wine all the time. Since it was my first time trying this I wanted to start off with low cost but not skimp on the equipment.
Recipe/directions I was given. This is for a 6 gallon batch of wine.
Day 1:
*14 cans Welchs Grape juice frozen concentrate (YES its not the real deal and YES this summer I will be making several wines with fresh hand-picked fruits)
*5 gallons water
*2.5 tsp acid blend
*3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
*5 tsp yeast nutrient
*5 tablets sodium bisulfate
*6 cups sugar
*1 pack of montrachet yeast
*Then Airlocked
Day 14:
*First Racking into glass carboy
*Racked every 30 days until clear.
*Once clear. Sweeten with 4lbs of sugar dissolved in water or until it is as sweet as you want it
*Finally Bottled and corked with sanitized bottles and corks
Equipment
I bought 3 of each and I Sanitize everything before and after use with 1 step sanitizer.
*7.9 Gallon Fermenter and Grommeted Lid
* 6 Gallon Glass Carboy
I also have all the extras, carboy brush, airlocks,stiring spoon, auto siphon etc...
Please correct me if I am doing anything wrong or missing any steps!
Now onto my questions and I apologize if these seem like dumb questions.
1.Can wine be made from Welch's grape juice from the bottle or is the frozen concentrate best to stick with?
2. How much sugar should be added at the beginning to achieve a sweet wine that is around 10-11% ABV
3.I read that the corked bottles must lay on their side for 2 weeks or so before they can be stored upright. Is that correct? (I don't have a large wine rack in my basement yet so keeping them on their side for months is a little difficult.
4. Can Glass carboys be used as primary fermenters so you can see what is going on inside without having to take the lid off the plastic fermenter?
Any feedback will be a great help!
Thanks