Welch's Grape Juice Wine

Just read all 1040 posts over the last two days. I'm about to try this. I've made mead but never wine, but I guess mead is honey wine, eh? Anyhow, after going through all of these posts I figured I was entitled (aren't we all entitled ) to post here. Anyhow, it gives the thread a bit of a bump for wine-newbs like me.

If I can find some white grape/peach I'm going for a gallon of it and probably a gallon of the regular concord. We'll see. First I've got to look through my old (seven-year-old) mead making supplies that have been sitting on the sideline for quiet a while. I know I need to get some yeast, but I'm wondering about the additives and their shelf life. Gotta get around to taking inventory...

Intheswamp said:

Just read all 1040 posts over the last two days.

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That's commitment right there!

I have one of these Welch's Wines going right now. It's been in secondary for about 5 months and I should be going into bottles soon.

BB

Brandon Boyd said:

That's commitment right there!

I have one of these Welch's Wines going right now. It's been in secondary for about 5 months and I should be going into bottles soon.

BB

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Yeah, and I think I'm going to need new glasses after reading through all of it!!!!

I've been reading this thread and was wondering if anyone has experimented adding Welsh's grape juice to beer during fermentation. I am using Nelson and Hallertau Blanc in a pale ale and was wondering about adding some grape juice...if anyone has tried it, how was it? Do you get some grape notes through the fermentation?

Lalo said:

I've been reading this thread and was wondering if anyone has experimented adding Welsh's grape juice to beer during fermentation. I am using Nelson and Hallertau Blanc in a pale ale and was wondering about adding some grape juice...if anyone has tried it, how was it? Do you get some grape notes through the fermentation?

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Are you trying to recreate Malt Duck? (I've wondered about that, myself)

z-bob said:

Are you trying to recreate Malt Duck? (I've wondered about that, myself)

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I never heard of Malt Duck! I just googled it, and a review was not very promising: "...if you enjoy grape juice, you could do worse."

Actually I am looking to add some grape notes to a beer (in addition to Nelson and Hallertau Blanc hops) and was wondering, short of adding some late harvest Riesling juice to the fermentor, if it could be done cheaply with store-bought grape juice. I'm sure someone has tried this before but I haven't found any record searching this forum and elsewhere. BTW, I think Malt Duck adds the juice at bottling, so they must kill the yeast first to avoid refermentation. I'd need to add it during fermentation to avoid bottle bombs later!

Cleaning out my pantry and found a 2L bottle of Welch's I bought for my mom (she passed a few months ago) I'm not crazy about drinking it, so thinking I might try making some wine out of it. It's either that or pitch it, and I am thrifty by nature. lol. Stay tuned!

My wife hates concord grape juice and jelly. She like the grapes and the wine made out of them tho. Go for it.

I'm told it will likely turn out fairly sweet, which suits me fine. Was a bit worried that it didn't start bubbling right away (impatient hellcat is impatient, what can I say) but this morning it was getting busy!

You can make this super simple and cheap without all the pomp and circumstance with no equipment and 3 ingredients.

A bottle of Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine
1-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of yeast (champaign or plain old bread yeast)

1. Dump out 2 cups of the grape juice from the Welch's bottle.
2. Add the sugar and yeast to the same bottle.
3. Put the lid on tight and shake well for 2 minutes.
4. Back off the lid a half turn, so you can hear air escape when you squeeze the bottle.
5. Store in a dark place at over 65ºF for 30 days.

Now pour into a glass slowly so as not to upset the sediment that's on the bottom and enjoy!

At 30 days mine was more rocket fuel than wine. At six months it was decent, but as it gets older it is getting much smoother.

I did this using apple juice. in about 12 days I would up with something at around 11.8% after I back sweetened. It doesn't taste like bread, just the best apple juice I've ever had (not as sweet). Note While it says 3 cups of water it was actually 1 1/2 cup. I don't know why I typed 3.

Unlike Intheswamp, I tapped out after 16 pages. I'm anxious to get started, but still have questions about matching my equipment to the process. I want to make a 5 gal batch using frozen white grape, and bottled white grape/peach juice (that ended up being white grape, apple, pear, and finally peach juice) I have several plastic brewing/bottling buckets that are 6 gallon +headspace. I have one 6 gal glass carboy, and one 5 gal Better Bottle carboy with spigot. I've read several posts that say the initial fermentation that is done without a stopper (for aeration purposes), can be followed by an extended fermentation after the airlock is installed ON THE SAME VESSEL. It seems that by definition, any container large enough to allow vigorous fermentation would have too much head space for the rest of the process. I had planned on using the 6 gal bucket for initial plus extended fermentation, and then siphon to the 5 gal carboy for aging/clearing, and, hopefully, bottling using the spigot. I don't have a "napkin" that would fit a 6 gal bucket, so would a large paint straining bag (that I use for filtering wort) do the job? I'm resisting using the 6 gal carboy for primary to avoid the hassle of cleaning it afterward. The buckets are so much easier to clean.
So, talking myself thru this as I go: I suppose the plan would be to start in the 6 gal for the first few days, then rack to the 5 gal carboy to finish fermentation. If I get buildup of lees, I would need to rack back to a 6 gal container, clean the 5 gal of the lees, then rack back into the 5 gal to continue, and repeat if needed. Is that too many transfers, or as Yooper says, am I overthinking it ??

You are overthinking it. And a paint strainer won't do much.

You have a 6 gallon bucket? Use that for 5 gallons of juice. Add your sugar, nutrients, yeast, etc, and let it ferment until it dies down. You don't really even need an airlock, just a lid, but don't snap it down *all* the way around even if it doesn't have a gasket. (it will blow the lid off. I've never had that happen but I've come close, and that was a lid without a gasket) After a couple of weeks rack it to your 5 gallon carboy, leaving as much of the lees behind as you can but don't worry about getting some in. Now you want an airlock. I also add a tablespoon or two of sugar to the carboy so the yeast scavenges the oxygen right away.

If the 5-er is not quite full enough, top it up with a little more juice (apple, grape, doesn't matter) or water. Better yet, start with 5 1/2 gallons of juice. Then when you fill the carboy, pour whatever is left into a canning jar and put it in the fridge for a couple of days for the lees to settle out and compact. Now carefully pour it off the lees and drink it!

Thanks for the quick reply. It looks like all my lids have holes drilled for airlocks. Is this where the cotton ball trick comes in? The lid is just sitting on top, (not snapped down) and the cotton ball in the hole to keep bugs out. I like the 5-1/2 gal idea. Also, I think I'll hold back one can of the frozen white grape for possible sweetening at the end, and substitute a can of frozen apple in the original recipe.

if you lid is drilled for an air lock, use an air lock. I just use an undrilled lid, snapped down about halfway around.

Yooper said:

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

Edit- note! You may want to skip the acid blend, at least at first, as some results say this wine is too "tart".

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.

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Why do you say “pour into secondary”...why not pour into primary fermentation bucket and rack from there after it clears?

FlyEaglesFly said:

Why do you say “pour into secondary”...why not pour into primary fermentation bucket and rack from there after it clears?

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Because after fermentation slows down, you want to protect it from oxygen. That’s the point to put it into secondary and airlock.

FlyEaglesFly said:

Why do you say “pour into secondary”...why not pour into primary fermentation bucket and rack from there after it clears?

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From the context, the word "secondary" really should say "a gallon jug" Carboys and glass gallon jugs are usually used as secondaries. Buckets are often used as primaries. This recipe skips the primary vessel because the juice is already extracted from the crushed fruit so "secondary" is probably not wrong, just poor wording. It is still not sealed at first to allow a little oxygen as the yeast is taking hold. While the fermentation is going strong you don't really need an airlock because the CO2 coming off will keep enough oxygen out. When that slows down, you need an airlock to keep the oxygen out.

You can use a jug for the whole process because it has a narrow mouth and doesn't let in much air. You really shouldn't use a bucket for the whole fermentation because i has such a wide mouth -- even if you do seal it up tight, you will let too much air in once the fermentation slows down every time you take the lid off even briefly.

I'm a bit late to the party, but been making this wine about a year now, around three batches.

I get the large plastic containers of juice, take a tall glass out, put a cup of sugar in, some lalvin yeast, and ferment IN the container! Makes clean up VERY easy as you just throw it out. I am not complicated and do not add any thing but the sugar and yeast. I also made mead for years with the same simplicity, prison style.

I drilled a hole in the cap for a bung that was a bit smaller, fit right in. I kept the caps for subsequent batches.

Racking does help but you don't need to if you are careful with the sediment. One juice container makes three bottles of wine.

Be careful to take enough juice out if you do it this way, it ferments like crazy the first couple days. One morning we woke up to find grape stains ON THE CEILING if that tells you anything

I've had experienced wine snobs say it's a good wine. My wife loves it the most out of my wines - I make blueberry, strawberry, and peach, which are all fairly good. Sure, it has a concord grape flavor to it, but we find that to be a bonus!

I'd recommend this wine for absolute beginners, easy and fun.

Anyone have success making this recipe (or something similar) into a sparkling wine by bottle carbing? I just pitched a gallon version of the recipe using red star champaign yeast cuz it’s what I had on hand. I’ve had success back sweetening and bottle carbing cider, but never with grape products.

Thoughts on bottle carbing?

I have fermented cheap Concord grape juice using ale yeast without adding any sugar, and I bottle conditioned it like beer. It tasted okay, but I haven't been tempted to try it again (if I do it again I'll use wine yeast) because fermenting apple juice with just a little added sugar tastes better and is cheaper.

What I have been tempted to do is see if I can recreate Malt Duck using pale malt, a little bit of hops, and frozen concentrated grape juice. Even tho' I am tempted to try it, it's going to take a while before I get to it because brew days are precious and I don't want to waste one.

Fern0022 said:

Anyone have success making this recipe (or something similar) into a sparkling wine by bottle carbing?

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White Grape Sparkling Wine, started 20210403

14 cans 12oz Winco Frozen White Grape Juice Concentrate

20210403
Poured concentrate into primary bucket
Added 2 ½ gallons water
Hydrometer reading: 1.090 SG
Added 3 campden tablets

20210404
Added 2½ tbsp pectic enzyme
Added Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

20210413
Hydrometer reading: .990
Racked, very little sediment
Added 1 tbsp sparkolloid dissolved in 1 cup water

20210423
Added 1½ cups sugar and bottled – 17 750ml bottles
Added ½ tsp pink “brew glitter” to 4 bottles

20210704
Opened an un-glittered bottle and sampled.
Truly a ‘sparkling wine’.
Maybe a hair too much bottle pressure.
Very white-grapey flavor.

20211113
Opened an un-glittered bottle and sampled.
Bottle pressure fine.
Flavor improving.

I mixed up a pyment version of this a little over a week ago.

Day 1
3 cans Old Orchard brand grape concentrate (concord grape)
9 cans of water per the juice label
20 oz additional water
Honey to bring it to SG 1.090 (sorry, didn't measure)
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp potassium bicarbonate
1/2 tsp wine tannin (from grape skins)
This resulted in about 1.5-1.6 gallons of must in the primary

Day 2 morning
1 pkg 71B yeast, rehydrated with GoFerm

Day 2 evening
1 tsp DAP
1/2 tsp LD Carlson yeast energizer

Day 3 evening
1/2 tsp bentonite dry

Degassed daily for 4 days.

Day 9 (today)
SG 1.000 (about 11.8% ABV)
Taste is remarkably good for how young it is.
Racked into secondary, with 1 campden tablet and 10 medium toast American oak cubes

Someone may ask why I put the bentonite in primary, this is something I do with all meads, and it seems to help them clear.

Another may ask about the tannin in primary. The idea was to make it a little more wine-like rather than grape juicey. It may have been a wasted effort, as the bentonite may have stripped it. Probably I'll save tannin additions to afterwards next time, if I use bentonite.

The potassium bicarbonate I learned from the mead world, from the BOMM recipe. I use it in all meads, including this pyment. It is said to stabilize the PH of the ferment.

I did not add the acid blend, and so far I think that was the right decision.

I expect to rack again in 2-4 weeks, and sweeten with honey as desired at that time (stabilized first, of course). Based on what I tasted today, I doubt I wil sweeten much, if at all. It has a little residual sweetness, surprising considering the SG.

Adding my own spin on cheap grape wine:
1 gallon Lidl (store brand) grape juice, 3 quarts of H2O, 1.1 lbs sugar, and a bit of nutrient. OG 1.062. Pitched a cider yeast that always ferments dry. Once fermentation starts, add 3 wild berry zinger tea bags. These get let behind after when racking to secondary. Wine ends up like a dry, fruity, light red.