freeballer
Member
Has anybody on here tried making wine with regular old welches grape juice? If so what did you do and how did it turn out?
Welches Grape Juice Wine
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Cheesefood
Well-Known Member
freeballer said:
It's great, especially if you're planning on serving 4-10...
...Years.
I'm 99% sure that Lorena has, and that it turned out well for her. Strikes me that it might make a pretty tasty, fruity wine, something to be drunk young and not necessarily aged forever.
I made it, had one glass and tossed the rest out. To get an idea, pour a glass of unfermented juice and add a small shot of Everclear or similar.
That's what your finished wine will taste like, possibly a little less sweet. Ecccch.
That's what your finished wine will taste like, possibly a little less sweet. Ecccch.
Todd
Well-Known Member
Cheesefood said:
How much sugar do you normally need to add to this, if any? I'm reading for apple juice it is about a pound per gallon, are grapes similar?
Wine is made from pure grape juice- not sugar. The more you put the less it will taste like wine. Double eccccch.
Cider with a pound per gallon will give you a good buzz, but won't taste much like cider any more. Triple ecccccch.
Cider with a pound per gallon will give you a good buzz, but won't taste much like cider any more. Triple ecccccch.
Rumor has it that BrewPastor ferments Welch's and uses it for communion.
Try this:
...Cheesefood said:
Yep, I've made it. It's actually pretty good. Just make sure you use the 100% juice. (It's on the label). And no added corn syrup, etc. Here's the recipe:
Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine
2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate
1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 1 gallon
wine yeast (any, but I like Montrachet)
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.
This is not "fine wine", more along the lines of Mogen David. We drink it with dinner and/or when friends come over and we all like it. You can use white (niagara) or purple (concord) grape juice for a white or red wine. I've heard that other people use white grape/peach or white grape/raspberry the same way but I've never tried that.
Lorena
Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine
2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate
1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 1 gallon
wine yeast (any, but I like Montrachet)
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.
This is not "fine wine", more along the lines of Mogen David. We drink it with dinner and/or when friends come over and we all like it. You can use white (niagara) or purple (concord) grape juice for a white or red wine. I've heard that other people use white grape/peach or white grape/raspberry the same way but I've never tried that.
Lorena
ahoym8e said:
I read the mean that this will make geat prison hooch.
mew said:
mine [purple welches] have turned a shade of red/purple... not good with colors. Just picture it getting a little lighter and clearer.. that is the color it turns. As stated below, the color doesnt change that much.
The purple grape juice makes wine that is purple. The white grape juice makes wine that is white. There isn't any magical color change that happens except for maybe getting clearer when the particulate drops out. My dandelion wine is a pale golden yellow, my rhubarb wine a blush color. My Welch's grape (purple) is purple. You are fermenting juice, so you get fermented juice (wine) when it's done.
Lorena
Lorena
Humpidydoo
New Member
I just bought the ingredients to make wine from welches, and I have a few questions. Does this make a sweet wine, or semi-dry? I'm thinking about trying a couple of things:
First, going by the recipe posted by Lorenae. Second, I thought it would be fun to experiment by adding some oak chips to the next batch and find out what happens. Would you suggest that I keep the same amount of the sugar listed, or add less than the 1 and 1/4 lbs. I've never had Welches wine, so I don't really know how sweet or how dry it is.
Last of all, I have some acid blend here and I've had it for a long time. Does it go bad after some time, or should I go buy some more. I'm really looking forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks!
First, going by the recipe posted by Lorenae. Second, I thought it would be fun to experiment by adding some oak chips to the next batch and find out what happens. Would you suggest that I keep the same amount of the sugar listed, or add less than the 1 and 1/4 lbs. I've never had Welches wine, so I don't really know how sweet or how dry it is.
Last of all, I have some acid blend here and I've had it for a long time. Does it go bad after some time, or should I go buy some more. I'm really looking forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks!
It makes a very dry wine (tart) but can be stabilized and then sweetened. I don't know how long acid blend lasts, sorry!
well just found it on sale ay the store so I got 10 waited till they melted pored them in with 1 cup water each one mix with whisk pore in demijohn till it filled half way poured half a bag of sugar into a pot of warm water wait for it to turn clear then pour it on top of the welches pitch some yeast gonna find out in 30 days
screwgunner
New Member
12 cans white grape welches
24 cans water
4 pounds sugar
4 candom tabs
1 pack wine yeast
4 teas. potasium sorbate
make alittle over 4gal. very high in alc sweet and very good
mix water and juice and suger mix till all suger is liquid add 4 crushed candom tabs let sit over night mix and yeast air lock . When bubbles stop add 4tease spoons potasium sorbate. let sit over night and start racking.
24 cans water
4 pounds sugar
4 candom tabs
1 pack wine yeast
4 teas. potasium sorbate
make alittle over 4gal. very high in alc sweet and very good
mix water and juice and suger mix till all suger is liquid add 4 crushed candom tabs let sit over night mix and yeast air lock . When bubbles stop add 4tease spoons potasium sorbate. let sit over night and start racking.
Need help! Used rapid rise bread yeast with white grape juice no additives or preservatives. Saw no results, only updated results are a thin layer of foam and tiny tiny microbubbles. What did I do wrong? I know I should've activated the yeast first but I'm new so I spaced it, also, the water is room temp.
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I wanted to comment on the original question and make some observations, but first I'll speak to akjayden.
Akjatden, first of all, you need to supply more information if you want a reasoned reply. All we know is you used white grape juice and bread yeast. How much juice? Any other ingredients? When did you pitch the yeast? If it was yesterday, you're jumping the gun---it takes time. If it was last week, the yeast was old and whatever viable cells were in there are just now reaching a culture density to be noticeable. The fact that you have foam and bubbles means it is fermenting. I invite you to visit my website (http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/) and click on "The Basic Steps." There are similar tutorials on homebrewtalk.com and elsewhere. A little knowledge is very helpful. Lastly, buy some wine yeast. Bread yeast is for prison/barracks/dorm wine where wine yeast is usually not available or no one wants to go buy some.
To the original poster, people have been making Welch's wine since Welch's first started making grape juice (1869). The quality of the wine depends on the skill (or luck) of the winemaker. I have a dear friend who passed away last month who made wine for decades using only Welch's frozen concentrates and additives sufficient to make a 12-14% balanced wine. He astounded many of his peers by winning many Best of Show awards at competitions with his simple Welch's red or white 100% grape juice frozen concentrate wines. When some of us were discussing problems with our vineyards, he'd nonchalantly say, "I was at the supermarket yesterday and looked at the frozen concentrates. My vineyard is doing fine."
To Mikey, all I can say is you either don't know how to make a balanced wine from concentrates or you do and had a winemaking problem you didn't recognize and remedy. To condemn any kind of wine because you haven't tasted a good one is only understandable if no one else has ever tasted a good one.
Akjatden, first of all, you need to supply more information if you want a reasoned reply. All we know is you used white grape juice and bread yeast. How much juice? Any other ingredients? When did you pitch the yeast? If it was yesterday, you're jumping the gun---it takes time. If it was last week, the yeast was old and whatever viable cells were in there are just now reaching a culture density to be noticeable. The fact that you have foam and bubbles means it is fermenting. I invite you to visit my website (http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/) and click on "The Basic Steps." There are similar tutorials on homebrewtalk.com and elsewhere. A little knowledge is very helpful. Lastly, buy some wine yeast. Bread yeast is for prison/barracks/dorm wine where wine yeast is usually not available or no one wants to go buy some.
To the original poster, people have been making Welch's wine since Welch's first started making grape juice (1869). The quality of the wine depends on the skill (or luck) of the winemaker. I have a dear friend who passed away last month who made wine for decades using only Welch's frozen concentrates and additives sufficient to make a 12-14% balanced wine. He astounded many of his peers by winning many Best of Show awards at competitions with his simple Welch's red or white 100% grape juice frozen concentrate wines. When some of us were discussing problems with our vineyards, he'd nonchalantly say, "I was at the supermarket yesterday and looked at the frozen concentrates. My vineyard is doing fine."
To Mikey, all I can say is you either don't know how to make a balanced wine from concentrates or you do and had a winemaking problem you didn't recognize and remedy. To condemn any kind of wine because you haven't tasted a good one is only understandable if no one else has ever tasted a good one.
buzzerj
Well-Known Member
Akjayden you just got responded to by a very learned winemaker. Do what Jack Keller suggests. Check out his very informative website and his blog. I have spent many hours reading his informative posts and everyone uses Jack's recipes as a baseline for making their own. It's easy to make good wine. You start by reading what Jack tells you to do. You can't go wrong doing so. Jack has forgot more than most people learn about this fascinating pastime.
broken-arrow
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How important is temperature when making wine?
This is an old thread! Every few years it wakes up again 
And I didn't know Jack Keller was a member here.
Ferment at room temperature and you should be good. If you're making fine wine, maybe the temperature is important (depends on the yeast) but I don't think it's as important as with beer.
Yooper's recipe in post 10 looks good, except I would leave out the acid blend, especially if you're using purple Welch's (it's too acid to start with) And the pectic enzyme won't hurt anything but it's not necessary because you have all juice with no skins or pulp. Good luck.
And I didn't know Jack Keller was a member here.Ferment at room temperature and you should be good. If you're making fine wine, maybe the temperature is important (depends on the yeast) but I don't think it's as important as with beer.
Yooper's recipe in post 10 looks good, except I would leave out the acid blend, especially if you're using purple Welch's (it's too acid to start with) And the pectic enzyme won't hurt anything but it's not necessary because you have all juice with no skins or pulp. Good luck.
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z-bob, I bounce in every now and then when I have some spare time. Spare time has become a rare luxury.
buzzerj, a very belated thank you for the kind words.
buzzerj, a very belated thank you for the kind words.
ForsbergFotos
Amatuer
I've got a Wild Welch's Concord awaiting bottling at the moment. Last sample was very good, next time I am thinking I need to do more than a gallon.
1 Gallon concord grape juice
1 can concord concentrate
sugar to SG 1.100
Montracet yeast, nutrients as needed
finishing around 1.002, will likely backsweeten with another half can of concentrate
1 Gallon concord grape juice
1 can concord concentrate
sugar to SG 1.100
Montracet yeast, nutrients as needed
finishing around 1.002, will likely backsweeten with another half can of concentrate
Which Concord grape are you using. I use whatever is available and have had great luck with even cocktails. I do add raisins to my primaries though which helps my juice and concentrate wines imo
ForsbergFotos
Amatuer
I used the regular Welch's Concord juice and frozen concentrate
broken-arrow
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Wine is made from pure grape juice- not sugar. The more you put the less it will taste like wine. Double eccccch.
Cider with a pound per gallon will give you a good buzz, but won't taste much like cider any more. Triple ecccccch.
-------------------------------------------
I have made several gallons of fairly good tasting wine with the grape juice. I have sweetened it with honey and although I am not a big wine drinker it tasted pretty good to me. It certainly isn't a fine wine but I would consider it a good party or table wine.
The only problem I have is clearing after a fermentation of about a month. I have syphoned it through cheese cloth and other things into another gallon container and can't get it really clear. It doesn't seem to settle well. Is there some additive that can be used to clear it or am I doing something drastically wrong.
I made some pretty good wine using Welch's purple grape juice and sugar last year, but I didn't use a huge amount of sugar. I also added a little potassium bicarb to reduce the acidity. IIRC, the finished wine was about 9.5% ABV. I have a few bottles left; it was good fresh but it's still improving (probably about peaking.)
Table grapes aren't as sweet as wine grapes so you pretty much have to add some sugar.
Table grapes aren't as sweet as wine grapes so you pretty much have to add some sugar.
Gravity and time do most of the work. Instead of filtering it, when it has started to clear rack it to another container to get it off the sediment. When it clears a little more, stir the dickens out of it to get as much CO2 as possible out of solution, and it should clear pretty fast after that. With my last batch, I added gelatin to clarify it at this point and within a week it was really clear. (this was made with Niagara white grape juice) I racked it one more time and it hasn't thrown any more sediment in over a month so I think it's ready to bottle.
Last weekend I bottled the wine I made with white Niagara grape juice and lots of sugar (and yeast nutrient, etc.) It's definitely wine but doesn't taste very good; no particular faults that I can identify. Does not taste like rocket fuel. It will get better in a few months, right?
I put a few bottles in swing-tops and primed with sugar like I would beer. Even if it doesn't carb, the sugar will do it some good.
Edit: I opened one last night. It tastes *much* better already after just a couple of weeks in the bottle. Next bottle I open will be one of the swingtops, but I going to try to wait another month.
I put a few bottles in swing-tops and primed with sugar like I would beer. Even if it doesn't carb, the sugar will do it some good.
Edit: I opened one last night. It tastes *much* better already after just a couple of weeks in the bottle. Next bottle I open will be one of the swingtops, but I going to try to wait another month.
SleepyCreekBrews
Well-Known Member
I read this , chuckled, and had to give it a try. I scaled to 2 gallons, and pitched D71. Yoop, I'm curious what you mean "stabilize" after 30 days, are you talking about a Camden tablet?
Barolofan247
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Hi . I am new to the group. I never made wine with supermarket juice before.my daughter showed up with 6 bottles of grape juice made from concentrate . Every bottle is 1.36 liters. The juice is pasteurized. Every bottle ingredients : water , concentrated grape juice, concord grape juice and ascorbic acid. Are these bottles usable to make wine . I measured the sugar reading says 1.6 Do i still add sugar?
and if so do I have to add water since the juice already has water
and if so do I have to add water since the juice already has water
@Barolofan247 I know this answer is late; I just found this thread again. That juice will work just fine for making wine. You don't add any water, but you probably will want to add sugar. Or you can ferment it without any added sugar and then bottle it like beer for a light carbonated drink that's about 7% alcohol and ready to drink a lot quicker than most wines.
I just started 4 gallons of wine Saturday, using a mixture of store-bought bottled grape juices. Two gallons of white and 2 gallons of purple. Most of the purple was Kirkland's "not from concentrate", but some was from concentrate and all the white was. (Aldi's brand) I measured the sugar with a refractometer and it was 15.5 Brix, so I added 2 pounds of sugar to get it just north of 20, and a tablespoon of yeast nutrient. I sprinkled a packet of BV7 wine yeast on top, and I did not stir in the sugar until I saw yeast activity. This morning there was a huge head of foam on top, so I gently stirred it to get the sugar off the bottom and I carried the bucket downstairs where it's about 60 degrees.
In about a week I will rack it to a 4 gallon carboy, and probably top it up with a little apple juice or grape juice to fill the headspace. When do I add sulfites, is that when I rack it a second time to get it off the fine lees? I've just ignored sulfites before and the wine turned out good but hasn't aged well (not a problem if you drink it very young), but I'd like to step up my game.
