Welch's Grape Juice Wine

Made a batch Saturday per the recipe except 5 Concord grape, 2 white grape, and a a gallon of apple juice.....small town, small supermarket...made do with what I could get. Gotta say, the must tasted great!

Pitched the yeast Sunday morning...by the time I got home from Church, it was a geyser of bubbles, yeast were working hard. I did proof the yeast and added increasing amounts of must....kinda like a beer starter. It worked!

Held off on the acid blend based on Yooper's advice.

Also started a 5er of ApfelWien, it is perking away too. This fermenting stuff is too much fun. 12 gallons of wines and three of beer....bet I did not drink a whole six pack last year and now GALLONS!!??

A report--
It's not bad, but it's not great. And to tell the truth, a bottle of Welch's Wine gives me the Green Apple Quick Step if you know what I mean. (I don't measure my intake in glasses, I measure it in bottles). I'll probably try it again, but I won't use champagne yeast, I'll use a yeast that dies down around 14%. Right after doing the Welch's wine, I did a "Juicy Juice" cherry wine with champagne yeast and after 6 months, it's STILL giving off a bubble through the fermentation lock every 4 or 5 minutes. Champagne yeast is definitely for cider or champagne--not for wine.

There's no tannin is this recipe. Do you need it? Or is there enough in the concentrate?

To answer your question, yes, you can add tannin to this concord recipe.

I'm trying a "lipstick on a pig" version of this. I gave it a full complement of additives for a 5 gallon batch:
- 0.4grams of Lallzyme EX
- 5.2 grams of Opti-Red
- 6.5 grams of Tannin FT Rouge
- 2 oz. of Toasted French Oak Chips
- Pasteur Red Yeast

Adjusted pH - 3.11 from 3.03
Adjusted TA - 6.9 g/L from 10.5
Adjusted O.G. - 24.8 Brix

Nutrient Schedule
- 2.0 of Fermaid O at pitch
- 6g of SuperFerment at 19.2 Brix
- 6g of SuperFerment at 12.5 Brix

MLF inoculated on 3/8/15.

So far it tastes okay. It's "foxy" "musky" or "grapey" as concord tends to be. This most likely will not diminish with time. So I probably have 5 gallons of dry Manischewitz on my hands. I plan on aging this with some StaVin oak cubes. 2.5 ounces for 6 weeks.

I'll update when it goes in the bottle in a few months.

Need help? Bought bottle of White Grape Juice with no preservatives or additives. Put in yeast, and sugar and nothing happened. I'm using rapid rise bread yeast and the only notice effect was a thin layer of foam and tiny tiny micro bubbles.

I wouldn't worry, if you have micro bubbles you have fermentation taking place

akjayden said:

Need help? Bought bottle of White Grape Juice with no preservatives or additives. Put in yeast, and sugar and nothing happened. I'm using rapid rise bread yeast and the only notice effect was a thin layer of foam and tiny tiny micro bubbles.

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Goofynewfie said:

I wouldn't worry, if you have micro bubbles you have fermentation taking place

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AKJayden, Goofynewfie is correct, what you're seeing is most likely fermentation. However, instead of using bread yeast I'd suggest using a wine yeast, especially one with that exhibits a killer factor (to kill the bread yeast). http://www.scottlab.com/products-115.aspx#killer is a good place to go to start learning about killer factors exhibited by yeast.

The two yeasts that I know exhibit a killer factor off the top of my head are:
K1-1116
EC-1118

The reason I would try to "kill" the bread yeast and ferment with a wine yeast is that you don't know:
- the alcohol tolerance of bread yeast
- how it will flocculate (yeast compaction following fermentation) and might prevent clearing.
- don't know what off-flavors will be produced by bread yeast.

This is only a suggestion, feel free to ferment this batch with bread yeast and see how it turns out.

Dave

Started a gallon batch of this yesterday afternoon with a new-to-brewing friend.

Never done wine before but this is a great, simple first step. Pitched at 5pm w/EC-118, and we had fermentation by midnight - that stuff goes! Didn't take an OG reading (too much of a hassle with 1-gallon batches, IMHO) but as long as it's tasty, I'm not stressing too hard about the ABV.

Thanks Yooper!

I've made this wine several times but I'm curious if anyone has used this recipe as a base for a port wine? If so, how'd it turn out?

It's about to go down!

What is that written on the top to the smaller bucket?

Long story short, for some reason I call my fake (for fun) wine company "Hershel's Hobo Wine Co."
The small 2 gallon fermenter that I use to test new recipes in I call "The Woobie" or Hershel's Woobie". And it always seems to produce some really good/strong "Hobo Hooch". Hince the "Hershel's woobie ain't foolin' around!"
Basically, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I think of funny crap to keep myself amused

Gonzo_Don said:

Champagne yeast is definitely for cider or champagne--not for wine.

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A lot of commercial wines are made with EC-1118, which is a champagne yeast.

On top of that, most champagne is less than 11% ABV.

B1GDave said:

Long story short, for some reason I call my fake (for fun) wine company "Hershel's Hobo Wine Co."
The small 2 gallon fermenter that I use to test new recipes in I call "The Woobie" or Hershel's Woobie". And it always seems to produce some really good/strong "Hobo Hooch". Hince the "Hershel's woobie ain't foolin' around!"
Basically, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I think of funny crap to keep myself amused

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*stands & applauds*

My fake brewery is called Tri-County Run Brewing. I can relate! But my FVs have stickers on them, not named other than #1, #2, & #3.

B1GDave said:

Long story short, for some reason I call my fake (for fun) wine company "Hershel's Hobo Wine Co."
The small 2 gallon fermenter that I use to test new recipes in I call "The Woobie" or Hershel's Woobie". And it always seems to produce some really good/strong "Hobo Hooch". Hince the "Hershel's woobie ain't foolin' around!"
Basically, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I think of funny crap to keep myself amused

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I named my batch Rocket Fueled Ghetto Wine. It's got a kick, and not bad tasting.

B1GDave said:

Long story short, for some reason I call my fake (for fun) wine company "Hershel's Hobo Wine Co."
The small 2 gallon fermenter that I use to test new recipes in I call "The Woobie" or Hershel's Woobie". And it always seems to produce some really good/strong "Hobo Hooch". Hince the "Hershel's woobie ain't foolin' around!"
Basically, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I think of funny crap to keep myself amused

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I use those same buckets and the image on the side (you can see it in the background) of mine I wrote "Nobody puts baby in a bucket" so I may have too much time on my hands too!

EDIT: Posting before thinking. Sorry 'bout that.

For all of you veterans out there; what is a good final gravity for a sweet red wine from Welch's juice? I am looking for something along the lines of Liberty Creek Sweet Red.

blackhammer said:

For all of you veterans out there; what is a good final gravity for a sweet red wine from Welch's juice? I am looking for something along the lines of Liberty Creek Sweet Red.

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I don't know that wine, sorry.

I don't like sweet wines, but I think it's a matter of taste. Something not even very sweet would be way too sweet for me.

Do you have any of that wine you like? If so, you could take an SG reading and see what it is.

I actually prefer dry wines. Im a fan of Petite Sirah, Shiraz, Zinfandel and the like myself. My wife however LOVES Liberty Creek Sweet Red! I don't have any of this wine on hand at the moment, but that is probably the best route. This wine had stalled at 1.06 (with EC-1118) and I warmed it, added nutrient, more yeast (Montrachet) and eventually a yeast starter (Montrachet) and it is almost done (three bubbles per minute). Liberty Creek is QUITE SWEET and, for some reason, taste very much the same after three days(My wife doesn't drink much).

Thanks Yooper

I'm fermenting this right now. I scaled it up to 5 gallons. I'm on a mission to find the lady something she likes. I've failed a few times now though she does like the skeeter pee alright. She likes sweet wines so I'll sweeten it. I also plan on kegging and making it a sparkling sweet red. If she doesnt like it I'll still drink it lol.

@yooper

Any idea what might be floating in my welches wine? First time making wine... The wine taste great btw!

I have no idea- I can't really tell anything from the picture.

Are you referring to the orangish-brown things in the lower left part of the pic? Maybe some bits of grape skin from the juice? Not unusual for a bit of skin to find its way into Welch's juice.

I bought 3 gallons of Newman's (Kirkland) grape juice today to make a 3 gallon batch. I've been reading about Concord grape wine, and it's acid enough that winemakers dilute it with water to cut the acidity (or add potassium bicarbonate); they call it ameliorating. Yooper's recipe does that by only use 2 cans of concentrate for a gallon. I'm gonna use 71B yeast because it will reduce the malic acid, and I might use the local hard alkaline water to top up when I rack to the secondary.

How long before this is drinkable? Jack Keller says Concord wine has to age to 2 years. What about 2 or 3 months?

Has anyone tried carbonating this? I think sparkling Concord grape wine used to be called "Cold Duck", but don't know how good that would be dry instead of semi-sweet. I'd like to put up a few 1L swing-tops for New Year's...

z-bob said:

I bought 3 gallons of Newmann's (Kirkland) grape juice today to make a 3 gallon batch. I've been reading about Concord grape wine, and it's acid enough that winemakers dilute it with water to cut the acidity (or add potassium bicarbonate); they call it ameliorating. Yooper's recipe does that by only use 2 cans of concentrate for a gallon. I'm gonna use 71B yeast because it will reduce the malic acid, and I might use the local hard alkaline water to top up when I rack to the secondary.

How long before this is drinkable? Jack Keller says Concord wine has to age to 2 years. What about 2 or 3 months?

Has anyone tried carbonating this? I think sparkling Concord grape wine used to be called "Cold Duck", but don't know how good that would be dry instead of semi-sweet. I'd like to put up a few 1L swing-tops for New Year's...

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I bottled mine after 4 months, didn't carbonate. It tastes great. Draw a sample at 2 or 3 months and see if it tastes OK. I don't think you need 2 years for this.

I used EC-1118, which handles the acidity and high gravity quite well. I think 71B should do fine.

Not sure how it would taste carbonated. You could always bottle some carbed and some still and compare the flavor.

I've used EC-1118 and 71B for cider; the EC-1118 was too tart and the 71B wasn't; same juice. Don't know how they would have been if I aged them 6 months or so instead of drinking it all in a few weeks

I'll bottle some still and some carbed and see how it goes. I can always add a squirt of sugar syrup to my glass if it's too dry (that's what I did with the 1118 cider) Thanks.

MaxStout said:

Are you referring to the orangish-brown things in the lower left part of the pic? Maybe some bits of grape skin from the juice? Not unusual for a bit of skin to find its way into Welch's juice.

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Yes! I cold crash & it tastes great.Just dont know whats floating in it lol

z-bob said:

I've used EC-1118 and 71B for cider; the EC-1118 was too tart and the 71B wasn't; same juice. Don't know how they would have been if I aged them 6 months or so instead of drinking it all in a few weeks

I'll bottle some still and some carbed and see how it goes. I can always add a squirt of sugar syrup to my glass if it's too dry (that's what I did with the 1118 cider) Thanks.

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Interesting about the 71B not being so tart. I might have to try that on the next one.

Hey Yooper thanks for the recipe. I've been looking for a recipe my lady would like. She likes sweet wines so I sweetened it. I've tried a few other recipes that i thought we would both like and had little success. This one is a keeper.

I know 1.095 is a magic number for winemaking, but what happens if I don't add sugar and just ferment it with wine yeast?

I haven't taken a gravity reading yet because I haven't opened the jugs, but from the nutrition label (160 calories per 8 ounces) it should have an OG of about 1.07. That would make a weak-ish wine, about 9.5% ABV. It may not keep very well, but won't it be ready to drink a lot sooner? It doesn't necessarily have to keep well unless it needs to be aged.

I'm extrapolating awfully far using just one data point...

z-bob said:

I know 1.095 is a magic number for winemaking, but what happens if I don't add sugar and just ferment it with wine yeast?

I haven't taken a gravity reading yet because I haven't opened the jugs, but from the nutrition label (160 calories per 8 ounces) it should have an OG of about 1.07. That would make a weak-ish wine, about 9.5% ABV. It may not keep very well, but won't it be ready to drink a lot sooner? It doesn't necessarily have to keep well unless it needs to be aged.

I'm extrapolating awfully far using just one data point...

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Right- it'll be fine, just with lower ABV and won't age as long. That's about it. I'm not sure how high an ABV would have to be in this juice to keep it from tasting like, well, Welch's grape juice. I haven't tried it because I wanted a "wine" and not an alcohol juice, if that makes sense.

That's what's so great about this wine. At full strength (mine's around 14%), it most certainly does not taste like Welch's juice. When I offer it to guests, they ask something like, "Oh, is this like Manischewitz?" When they find that it isn't, and it is a nice, dry wine, they like it. It's been a crowd-pleaser around here.

Yooper said:

Right- it'll be fine, just with lower ABV and won't age as long. That's about it. I'm not sure how high an ABV would have to be in this juice to keep it from tasting like, well, Welch's grape juice. I haven't tried it because I wanted a "wine" and not an alcohol juice, if that makes sense.

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I looked up Andre' Cold Duck online, and it's 10% ABV, which is about where Concord grape juice will end up after you add the priming sugar. I think I'll look for a bottle (For Science!) and see how I like it. I think I've had it before but don't remember if it's sweet or semi-dry.

I *just* thought of this, so it might be stupid: I've got 3 gallons of juice, I can ferment it w/o sugar, then when I'm ready to bottle it, hold back a gallon and rack that into a gallon jug with a cup of sugar and stick an airlock on top.

I bought a bottle of Andre' Cold Duck. It's just a *little* too sweet, but I like it. If I can make something close I'll be really happy.

Very new at this. All recipes are using can frozen Welch's Grape concentrate, can you get the same results using (2) 64 oz. 100% juice. If so, is there a change in the ingredients?

actonup said:

Very new at this. All recipes are using can frozen Welch's Grape concentrate, can you get the same results using (2) 64 oz. 100% juice. If so, is there a change in the ingredients?

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I think you can do that, and should be equivalent, since reconstituted concentrate makes the same end product. It's just a little cheaper to buy the concentrate.

You might have to add a little water with bottled juice. The recipe at the top of the thread used 2 cans of FCGJ, which only makes 3 quarts of juice not 4.

I just added the yeast to my first attempt to making this, after the enzyme had it's 12 hours overnight to work. Excited to see how it turns out!

One question, which I couldn't find anyone else asking with the "Search in this thread" button: Has anyone tried adding oak chips to this wine in secondary?

SquidPope said:

I just added the yeast to my first attempt to making this, after the enzyme had it's 12 hours overnight to work. Excited to see how it turns out!

One question, which I couldn't find anyone else asking with the "Search in this thread" button: Has anyone tried adding oak chips to this wine in secondary?

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It's not a very bold wine- it's very concord-y. I wouldn't think it would hold up well to oaking.