OP
OP
It sounds like your lees aren't completely settled out yet.
Welch's Grape Juice Wine
- Thread starter Yooper
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It sounds like your lees aren't completely settled out yet.
TheLadybugTree
Well-Known Member
I follow this logic. I usually hope to keep away from drinking my wines for at least 6 months.. My issue here is that the fermentation time seems forever, and I thought leaving the wine on lees was bad.
The longest I ever fermented was 3 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary.
OP
OP
You can go 45-60 days between rackings, as long as lees are forming. You don't want to go more than about 45 days on lees 1/4" thick or so, but a couple of weeks is fine.
hbhudy
Well-Known Member
Yooper could this ready to drink in a little over 90 days? Also would adding some oak chips give it a little more "aged" feel or taste?
Could it be back sweetened with Strawberry Juice? Kid of making a blush'ish wine?
Edit::
Just made this and OG is 1100.. I will top it off after racking to see if we can get the gravity more in line with the expected OG.. I would hate to have table wine rocket fuel.
Could it be back sweetened with Strawberry Juice? Kid of making a blush'ish wine?
Edit::
Just made this and OG is 1100.. I will top it off after racking to see if we can get the gravity more in line with the expected OG.. I would hate to have table wine rocket fuel.
wolverinebrewer
Well-Known Member
I made this on 9-21 and bottled into 10 beer bottles last week. I tried it this week and was very impressed. This is good.
I made a new batch yesterday and added 1 more can of juice and backed off on the table sugar a few ounces. I'm trying to get a little more grape flavor.
I also used EC1118 yeast this time.
So, thanks Yooper for a great recipe.
Rhubarb is up next.
I made a new batch yesterday and added 1 more can of juice and backed off on the table sugar a few ounces. I'm trying to get a little more grape flavor.
I also used EC1118 yeast this time.
So, thanks Yooper for a great recipe.
Rhubarb is up next.
jdgapc
Well-Known Member
wolverinebrewer
Well-Known Member
wait and see the difference a few months will make
I don't think it will last that long. Ten bottles of 2 servings each with the holidays coming up will go fast.
I think I'll do a 5 gal. batch next if I don't do 5 gal. of raspberry lemonade or apfelwein.
thadeus_d3
Well-Known Member
I'm a noob that misread the instructions and stabilized after ~35 days. Have I ruined the wine?
OP
OP
Not if it was done fermenting by then.
thadeus_d3
Well-Known Member
I wasn't paying very close attention, so I'm not entirely sure. However, I followed your exact recipe, except I made a 6 gallon batch. How long does it usually take to ferment?
OP
OP
It takes as long as it takes. Each fermentation is different- it depends on the temperature for example- so it is impossible to say when yours would be done with any certainty. However, if it's clear and no longer dropping lees, you can say it's done, plus 30 days is more than likely long enough. I use my hydrometer to know for sure.
thadeus_d3
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the speedy responses. I'll try to forget about it and let this baby age as long as possible. Last question- I bought some oak cubes that I debated on using for this wine. Can I still use them after I stablilized the wine? I don't think that stabilizing will make a difference, but I wanted to check before making another rookie mistake.
OP
OP
That would be fine. It will still pick up oak.
Chaos_Being
Well-Known Member
Hello all- I've been away (from this forum, and from brewing in general) for quite some time and have been getting back into (brewing) again lately. Back on page 17 of this thread, from last january, I posted about starting a batch of this wine. I ended up having an issue with a stuck fermentation, added champagne yeast, and then...well, life got crazy in a not so great way, and my wine got forgotten. For a long time. I finally got around to doing something with it in the middle of summer of this year. I racked it to a new container, topped it off with 1.5l of Yellow Tail cabernet/merlot, and added 1.5oz of medium toast french oak. Bad juju in my life continued, and it sat on the oak for much longer than I had planned. I bottled it a week before Thanksgiving The final product has a bit of a sherry note up front (probably from oxidation from sitting around for so long with too much headspace in the carboy, but this IMO isn't bad, it reminds me of a sherry my dad brought home from Spain once,) followed by a vanilla oak note, then the foxy concord grape taste, finished with a bit of woody and red-wine-ish tannic bite.
Overall, it turned out to be a surprisingly complex and interesting wine, especially considering the strange mix of ingredients that ended up going into it, and the extended period of neglect! I figured I'd finally share my end results here, nearly two years later
The final product has a bit of a sherry note up front (probably from oxidation from sitting around for so long with too much headspace in the carboy, but this IMO isn't bad, it reminds me of a sherry my dad brought home from Spain once,) followed by a vanilla oak note, then the foxy concord grape taste, finished with a bit of woody and red-wine-ish tannic bite. Overall, it turned out to be a surprisingly complex and interesting wine, especially considering the strange mix of ingredients that ended up going into it, and the extended period of neglect! I figured I'd finally share my end results here, nearly two years later
AudaciousAlechemist
Active Member
Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary.
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.[/QUOTE]
This is my first try at making wine and I was super excited to find this recipe!!
Your instructions seem really easy to follow, except, I'm wondering, if the recipe makes 1 gallon, and I add water in the beginning to make it 1 gallon, how much do I top up after fermentation slows? Or do I just need to add enough to keep it a 1 gallon batch?
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.[/QUOTE]
This is my first try at making wine and I was super excited to find this recipe!!
Your instructions seem really easy to follow, except, I'm wondering, if the recipe makes 1 gallon, and I add water in the beginning to make it 1 gallon, how much do I top up after fermentation slows? Or do I just need to add enough to keep it a 1 gallon batch?
OP
OP
Just add water to keep it at 1 gallon, or within about 2 inches of the bung in the carboy/jug.
AudaciousAlechemist
Active Member
Great, sounds easy enough, thanks!!
OP
OP
You'd add oak after the fermentation is over and once the wine is clear.
I don't use bentonite unless it's needed. This wine clears perfectly fine without any finings.
Bentonite is a clay, so I wouldn't have any qualms about using it. (I don't usually use animal/shellfish products in my wines due to vegetarian friends). But what it does is just help pull out proteins. I don't usually have any sort of protein haze in my wines.
If I have a wine that is refusing to clear, I will occasionally use sparkelloid. Sometimes dandelion wine just doesn't want to clear, and sparkelloid will fix that.
Usually, though, a properly made wine will clear just fine on its own. If not, sticking it in a cold place (called "cold stabilization") will usually clear it as well.
Time is usually the best fining agent anyway, so winemaking is a great hobby for procrastinators!
OP
OP
In about 5 days, fermentation will slow down. That's the right time. There will be obvious cues, but you just want to make sure it's slowed down to avoid it going over the top when topped up and airlocked. The SG should be 1.010-1.020 or even lower.
I have found that useing 71B-1122 yeast w/1 1/2 lbs of sugar my alcohol content is between 20-40%.if I use KC-1116 or KC-1118 my Alcohol content is lower. around 11- 14 %. Has anyone tried RC-212 for Red Wine,if so how did that work?as far as alcohol content.
OP
OP
You can if you want. It shouldn't bubble over at this point. But maybe don't top up quite yet, just in case!
OP
OP
I'm sorry, I just don't understand your question. It's not possible to use 71B-1122 and get above 14% , let alone "20-40%". That doesn't make any sense at all.
Yooper - I had to whip up another batch of this yesterday. Last time I did a 2 concentrate / 1 gallon ratio, this time I went with the following trying to achieve a little more flavor in the end while keeping it as dry as possible:
2gal water
4 Grape con
2 Apple / Cranberry con
1lbs Dextrose
1tsp yeast chow
1tsp pectic enzyme
1/2cup love
1 packet Montrachet
Looking forward to another delicious batch!
Also last round I did a bonus gallon batch with pineapple concentrate, figured why not - experimental. It still is really really bad, time didn't do it any justice. Word to the wise, stay away from pineapple, or at least full on pineapple.
2gal water
4 Grape con
2 Apple / Cranberry con
1lbs Dextrose
1tsp yeast chow
1tsp pectic enzyme
1/2cup love
1 packet Montrachet
Looking forward to another delicious batch!
Also last round I did a bonus gallon batch with pineapple concentrate, figured why not - experimental. It still is really really bad, time didn't do it any justice. Word to the wise, stay away from pineapple, or at least full on pineapple.
LoneTreeFarms
Well-Known Member
another way to try and save alittle more flavor on this is to add a few more cans at the end after you've stabilized, i did this with the last batch and it turned out great!!
OP
OP
You'd rack into 1 crushed campden and 1/2 teaspoon of sorbate per gallon, dissolved in some water or some of the wine.
LoneTreeFarms
Well-Known Member
1/2 tsp potassium sorbate and a crushed campden tablet per gallon of wine, i usually pull alittle wine out to mix the powder up then dump it all into the carboy. you usually wait a few days. most say 3 minimum to make sure that it's stabilized. then i usually backsweeten with more frozen cans let that sit a few more days to make sure that it didn't start bubbling again, then bottle.
LoneTreeFarms
Well-Known Member
hey yooper have you ever tried making cherry bounce? i had some at a party last weekend, i googled it today but it seems there are plenty of diff recipes.
OP
OP
No, I've never heard of cherry bounce.
OP
OP
You can if you want! I don't normally use cloth bags, but you certainly can if you want. I just rack off of whatever is in the carboy and don't have any issues.
Sirthomas42
Well-Known Member
Last year I made a gallon of this using the original recipe and a gallon with 1 can of grape and 1 can of white grape rasp. The wife and I cracked a bottle of each this weekend, and OMG they're fantastic. I'm quite pleased. We need to roll off a few 5 gallon batches!
