Welch's Grape Juice Wine

That is strange the grape juice alone is 1.062 and I didn't add any water to dilute it.

 

That should be correct and that is what beersmith is showing me it should be. That's why I'm confused as to why your gravity went up to 1.100 after only 7 ounces of dextrose. Are you sure you only added 7 ounces ?

 

Yes I think it was that the wine was fermenting and the bubbles raised the hydrometer up? When I measured it last night before pitching the yeast it was 1.088-1.090. Then this morning while fermenting I measured it again at 1.110. And yes I am pretty sure it was only 7 ounces of table sugar. I measure out 20 ounces and then weighted what I had left at 13 ounces. I messed with beers smith and got the same answer as well as a online website that suggested 8 ounces of sugar to get 13% ABV if I start with .75 gallons of must at 1.062. So I will just let it do it's thing and wait and see.

 

All right so everything seems good but I ended up with only .75 gallons of wine in a 1 gallon carboy. So I have a half gallon carboy I can siphon it into and just do something with the rest. Or could I add equal amounts of grape juice and water to top off or will that dilute the wine or make it rocket fuel. Thanks.

 

Will that make it to High a ABV since I used champagne yeast won't it just keep fermenting and making more alcohol.

 

I see that makes perfect sense thanks so much. This is my first wine ever and I am pretty excited. Thanks again.

 

I hate to ask this, but I have not seen this question answered (if it was I apologize),,,, Can you use Juice Cocktail? Or does the recipe need to use 100% juice?

 

DON'T use the cocktail; it has all kinds of preservatives in it, which will inhibit fermentation. If you can't find the 100 percent juice, then use the one that has ascorbic acid added to it. The thing you need to look for and avoid are the juices/cocktails that list sorbates or sulfites.

 

I am going to try this one tomarow.

Roger

 

Ok I have a questen. Can you just pich the yeast right away and not wait 12 hours befor puting the yeast in.

Thanks Roger

 

I have 6 gallons of white grape/peach in process. I racked to the secondary, added 6 Campden tablets, degassed it and discovered that I didn't have any potassium sorbate on hand. That was a week ago. Is it OK to re-rack onto potassium sorbate at this stage or should I just leave it alone, bottle it and drink it/give it away as is? I will be back-sweetening, so I am wary of kicking off a new fermentation.

 

Good to know...and just in time to keep me from running out to my LHBS

Thanks very much.

 

Just mixed up three gallons of this stuff. One gallon original concord and two gallons of white grape juice. Going to pitch Montrachet in the morning.



Has anyone else tried this and what are your results?

 

Just made a similar batch. It was my first wine and I made it because I was bored. My recipe was.

13 cans of frozen apple juice
1 cup of honey
1/2 cup of blackstrap
1/3 cup of sugar
I boiled everything but the juice with a little water then added it to the juice in my ale pail and topped off to 5g and pitched Lalvin EC-1118. I let ferment for 2 weeks then primed with honey and bottled. It's been in the bottles for about a month now.

 

I tried one about two weeks ago it has good carbonation but not much flavor. I don't remember what the gravity readings were but I think I came with 5%abv when I did know. Any suggestions for adding some flavor.

 

I know this post was forever ago but I did the recipe tonight except with cranberry grape (welches) and intentionally upped my OG to roughly 1.118-1.12. I used the exact same yeast and am hoping my yeast chokes out around 1.010 or 1.015, Looking to have a nice sweet wine that packs a punch...good for drinking and getting


I will update in roughly 30 days to see what my final SG is and let ya know how it taste, I plan on bottling and leaving for 1-2 months before consuming after that.

 

Have a question about this recipe. I did up a batch of this about 4 moths ago, and it is still in my secondary. Just curious if this ever actually gets "clear" as in you can see through it, or if it just finishes like other deep reds and is more opaque than clear?

 

I am new to the site and am attempting to make this wine. I have a question about the yeast, do i use the whole packet? using Lavin EC-118. Thanks agian and have enjoyed reading through the site!

Toby
Columbus, NE

 

Thanks, its bubbling away!!

 

have made lots of different variations of this... im getting the most feedback for a raspberry apple grape.. its has a great tart too it..
props yoop!!

 

Yooper,

Ok so today was day five and bubbling has slowed down. took read and got a reading of 1.002. I racked into secondary and have placed an airlock on it. Starting SG was 1.096

My question is how long to i wait til i stablize and do i need to add any clearing agents to it?

thanks

 

thanks for quick responce!!

so do i need to keep checking SG to see if reading stays the same? And that is approximately 60 days, then stabilize. Now for storage during this stage, do i want it in cooler temps or same as I have had it in for primary. 64-66 has been my tempature range, but i can move to basement to get it closer to upper 50's

thanks again

 

Thanks for the help!!

 

I have a couple of 1 gallon glass bottles to use for the fermentation. Can you add water to bring to one gallon after primary fermentation has settled down in order to keep it from bubbling out of the bottle or do you need the gallon volume to start?

 

Scratch that, they are 3L bottles. Can i still use yooper's recipe but make 3L instead of the full gallon? Will it just be stronger?

 

Read all 56 pages of this and then decided it's time to sign up. I started Yooper's (thanks Yooper!) recipe on Tuesday (times 5) so...

Sanitized with potassium metabisulfate

6 1/4 lbs of sugar (used organic sugar)
10 cans of Welch's concord concentrate (said 120% vit C)
2 tsp ascorbic acid (went less than prescribed out of caution)
2 tsp pectin enzyme (ran out)
5 tsp yeast nutrient
Spring water topped up to 5 gal.
Red Star Montrachet yeast (started in water for 10 hours before pitching, didn't take) tried activating again with new pack for 15 min. and it took almost immediately. Stirring twice a day.

Otherwise followed instructions as posted and it seems to be doing well, lots of activity.

OG before yeast: 1.101 @ 62F (then used a space heater to bring it up to 70F)
SG after 24hours: 1.07 @ 76F (6F Above thermostat reading - all on its own!)

This is my first attempt at making any fermented beverage.

 

Yooper! Awesome thread... thanks for all the tips and advice, I've learned a lot from this thread.

Here's the recipe and process I went with on my first batch of Welche's Wine

3 Gallons Welches 100% Grape Juice (Juice not concentrate cans... expensive rookie mistake -_-)
6 and 2/3 cups of table sugar
2 Yeast packets of Pasteur Red

Left in primary for 16 days then

degassed
added one crushed campden tablet
added one pack of isinglass for clarification, then racked to secondary

I plan to let it age for for a total of 90 days from brew day and then add one more crushed campden tablet and bottle.

When I taste tested on day 16 I loved it! It has quite a "bite" to it which I think is from the high abv%. I hope it mellows out with some aging.

I was wonder what tips everyone had to improve upon this recipe for future batches as I am looking to make this have an even more complex taste?? (oak chips, raisins, something else?) I'd love to hear what everyone has to say about it.

Should I let it age in bottles or in my better bottle?

ALSO!!! I tried my hand at making a little over a gallon of wine from apple juice on the same day. It tastes like wine with apple juice poured in not what I was going for. Who knows what some age might do to it though. Does anyone have any good apple based drink recipes as well?

 

1 month update - here are my notes:

After 48 hours from adding yeast SG was 1.04 @ 70F

After 72 hours SG was 1.02 @ 69F

@ 84 hours SG was 1.012 and I racked into secondary and airlocked (1/2 way through 4th day)

On day 18 I reracked and airlocked, SG was .998 @ 65F and I topped off with bottled spring water.

Today (Day 31) SG was .996 on the dot. I reracked and added 5 crushed campden tablets and 2/3tsp (maybe a little more) of potassium sorbate and again airlocked. It tasted pretty good, easily could drink as is, not much bite, not completely dry and somewhat but not overly tart. I plan to leave it a week or so and then back sweeten a sample to taste and try to match SG when I'm where I like.

Thanks for the wealth of information available here - sorry if I'm dredging up a tired thread.

andrew

 

Made a gallon of this yesterday, well pitched the LALVIN 71B-1122
I let it sit over night for about 14 hours then pitched the yeast after rehydrating at
105 degrees. Today, some 28 hours later I have zero activity at 69 - 70 degrees F
I presume it will take off eventually, just a little on the cool side.

 

I made 5 gallons of this stuff and bottled a few weeks ago. It's fine... not terrible - about what I'd expect for under $1 a bottle. Does it get a little less alcohol tasting with a bit of age? Or is it pretty much done now?