Juice fermenting guidlines: are there any?

I just started brewing beer at the house and waiting(impatiently) to bottle. I wanted to play around with fermenting juice. I’m not really trying to make anything specific, I just want to see what this stuff tastes like. I’ve read quite a bit different posts on the board about the subject, but none that really answer my questions which mainly are:

What yeast should I use for different juices?

How much yeast should be used per volume of juice or amount of sugar?

How long for primary fermentation before secondary?

If I bottle using priming sugar(or any other sugar for that matter) will I get a sparkling concoction.. or just some really nasty lambic beer?

Fermenting temps?

I’m basically looking for general guidelines or scientific principles of the process as it compares to regular beer brewing.

I’m a total newb, so pardon any infraction on brewing etiquette


Thanks,

Craig

Are you trying to make a juice wine? If so any wine yeast will do, red star montrachet works well for me. What kinds of juice are you thinking of using? Look into joe's quick grape mead, you may like it. It's a quick fermenting mead made from grape juice. Comes out to be about 18% abv and a party favorite around here. I'd say while you're still new at this, stick to recipes until you find one you like than start modifying. If you just start trying to come up with crazy stuff right off the bat that's exactly what you'll end up with.

I love Apfelwein but as a general rule juce is nit fir the impatient......

Love the grape mead Idea.... Going to target RIGHT NOW!

+1 on the Apfelwein. Edwort's recipe is easy and tastes great. I always have a batch fermenting.

Apfelwein is great if you have a year to wait for it to age properly. I suggested the quick grape mead because I thought it was good for the new brewer to see the possibilities with a quick-turnaround brew. Don't get me wrong, I'll drink apfelwein after 1 week in fermentation...but you don't really get the full effect until months to a year down the road, which I have found is true with most fruits as mentioned earlier....there's just something magical about welch's grape juice....

pizzaman said:

Are you trying to make a juice wine? If so any wine yeast will do, red star montrachet works well for me. What kinds of juice are you thinking of using? Look into joe's quick grape mead, you may like it. It's a quick fermenting mead made from grape juice. Comes out to be about 18% abv and a party favorite around here. I'd say while you're still new at this, stick to recipes until you find one you like than start modifying. If you just start trying to come up with crazy stuff right off the bat that's exactly what you'll end up with.

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I really don't know what I was trying to make, I was just traying to say would be made if I played with stuff. Thanks for the grape mead idea. I think I'm going to try that

Craig

csh8428 said:

I really don't know what I was trying to make, I was just traying to say would be made if I played with stuff. Thanks for the grape mead idea. I think I'm going to try that

Craig

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Playing with stuff is definitely fun if you don't mind dumping stuff later on(I speak from experience). I once mixed 64oz Orange Juice with 1.5lbs corn syrup and topped up with water to 1 gallon. About a month later it tasted like a mimosa, now it tastes like vomit to me, though everyone that samples it likes it...they're a bunch of raging alcoholics though so not sure if I'd take their word for it or not. I also have a five gallon batch of Hippie Wine clearing right now....this stuff actually tastes pretty damned good and it's about 18%...the wines I made it out of were absolutely horrible, made them out of fresh fruit and I left the must sitting on top of the fruit for waaaay too long so they all had a sour moldy smell. Now somehow the smell has gone away and it's turning into something drinkable.

pizzaman said:

Playing with stuff is definitely fun if you don't mind dumping stuff later on(I speak from experience). I once mixed 64oz Orange Juice with 1.5lbs corn syrup and topped up with water to 1 gallon. About a month later it tasted like a mimosa, now it tastes like vomit to me, though everyone that samples it likes it...they're a bunch of raging alcoholics though so not sure if I'd take their word for it or not.

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The wife LOVES mimosas, I could save a lot of money with that one. Can you be more specific with what you did?

pizzaman said:

Apfelwein is great if you have a year to wait for it to age properly. I suggested the quick grape mead because I thought it was good for the new brewer to see the possibilities with a quick-turnaround brew. Don't get me wrong, I'll drink apfelwein after 1 week in fermentation...but you don't really get the full effect until months to a year down the road, which I have found is true with most fruits as mentioned earlier....there's just something magical about welch's grape juice....

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Apfelwein needs to age for a year? Ed swears by 4 weeks!