Im trying to make a beginners wine(please help)

[Beginner_at_Work]

I am trying to make a beginners wine using fruit juice concentrate I will buy from the store, either grape or apple. I had a few questions, please help.

I bought some champagne yeast and Im trying to reach 18% abv which is what i was told that the highest it can reach:

1. how much sugar would I add to the juice, lets say 1l of welch's grape juice?

2. How much of the champagne yeast would I add to the fruit juice to get 18%?

 

[z-bob]

Instead of trying to get 18% (although I do understand the appeal), how about going 9% and making twice as much? It will be faster and it will taste better.

2) The whole packet in 4 to 6 gallons.

 

[Beginner_at_Work]

Instead of trying to get 18% (although I do understand the appeal), how about going 9% and making twice as much? It will be faster and it will taste better.

2) The whole packet in 4 to 6 gallons.

thank you, and you are correct. i can do that too........ but are you saying it probably wont reach as high as 18%? I actually bought a hydrometer so ill measure the abv

and ill add the whole packet as you mentioned, and how much sugar would i add to that?

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

You can get 18 nut it will be strong tasting like rubbing alcohol for a long long time. Look at the recipe section on this forum for sugar amounts.

 

[jakenbacon]

Good luck man don't let them run you off this time on this thread. I can't help you but what I have seen with this site, my LHBS and experienced brewers, you do it their way or no way. F*** that, make your beverage and report back....

 

[z-bob]

It will take a very long time to reach 18%, and then you'll have to let it age for a while to be drinkable.

I don't know how much sugar, your hydrometer will tell you that.

 

[mash-mongrel]

thank you, and you are correct. i can do that too........ but are you saying it probably wont reach as high as 18%? I actually bought a hydrometer so ill measure the abv

and ill add the whole packet as you mentioned, and how much sugar would i add to that?

Use your hydrometer to get the amount of sugar necessary, add sugar, check balling. Keep adding sugar till your potential alcohol by volume is 18% stirring all the while. Add sugar slowly till you get the idea of how much sugar does what to the hydrometer.

18% will take 4 weeks to ferment, a week or two to clear where a 9% will take half that time as instructed by Z-bob.

Start the yeast in a jar with a little warm water and sugar before you add it to the juice and sugar, this will get things going a lot faster.

Kirklands Concord grape juice found at Costco makes a really nice wine, it is everyone's favorite around here. We are just starting to drink what I made in 2009 and age is well worth it. Age turns a juice flavored wine into a full-bodied, complex, fine wine.

 

[madscientist451]

Here's a handy chart that shows how many ounces of sugar/gallon to reach a certain gravity reading:
http://beer-wine.com/learning/how-adjust-specific-gravity

I've tried the apple juice/sugar and champagne yeast thing and I thought the resulting wine was harsh with alcohol phenols that really made it undrinkable, even after a long aging period. If you need to try it for yourself, go for it. The champagne yeast ferments all the way to dry, there won't be any apple flavor at all.
A more drinkable apple cider can be made by using frozen apple concentrate found at your grocery store. I also like using "real apple"
brand juice found in the cold juice section. Every now and then they have it on sale for $3 for about 59 oz. I like using WL oo2 ale yeast, it leaves some apple flavor and ferments clean. You can also try 1118 white wine yeast.
I made 40+ gallons of hard cider about 10 gallons of perry last fall, and still have about 150 lbs of frozen apples for ice cider when the weather breaks.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Both forums are connected. Youve been locked over at the other one. Probably be locked here soon.

 

[1977Brewer]

He actually asked the right questions this time though.

 

[marco5150]

just keep feeding the yeast till the yeast gives up,,, after several trys you will learn when to stop. Many yeasts like to be feed slowly so just feed it a bit at a time.

 

[calmingapple]

They lock you for asking how to reach 18% ABV?
That floors me. Say it ain't so :-(

Both forums are connected. Youve been locked over at the other one. Probably be locked here soon.

 

[calmingapple]

I actually attempted to get an almost 18% reading on my apple wine when I first started out (just to see).

Champagne yeast tolerates up to 18% abv if I am not mistaken. Tastes like crud though in the end lol

just keep feeding the yeast till the yeast gives up,,, after several trys you will learn when to stop. Many yeasts like to be feed slowly so just feed it a bit at a time.

 

[Texconsinite]

It depends on your goals. Just my 2 cents here: The higher the alcohol content, the "hotter" it will taste and longer it will take to be drinkable. For your first wine, I'd recommend you try a lower ABV, that will be drinkable sooner. Otherwise, you make a strong batch, and will be itching to try it, then when you cave and drink it soon itll probably be disappointing and you wont be as eager to make the second batch.

Get your pipeline full with some quicker, less strong wines so you have SOMETHING to drink and marvel at how good it is, before you start trying to make one AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE. Its easier to let a long-term project sit when you have other stuff you can drink NOW. The learning curve on strong wines is soooo much longer too, since there's such a lag before you know whether you made vinegar or something good you want to repeat.

Not saying there only one right way to make wine. Theres not. Ive never made a wine kit or used grape must, yet I've done over 20 different batches. Winemaking just requires patience, and its hard to know if you're doing it right if you cant taste the results. If you're just starting out, do yourself a favor and make it easy and quicker. You will be eager to share it and try some yourself.
Quickest and cheapest way to get started: Make skeeter pee. following the recipe for amount of sugar to add, and making a starter by dumping a cup of sugar, 1118 yeast and some nutrient into 1/2 gallon plastic jug of some kind of 100% juice (grape or apple would work fine). Shake and put a ballon on top for airlock. Easy peasy.
If you follow the instructions and wait for it to clear, it will be veeery drinkable the day you bottle it, and will be pleeeenty strong enough. Trust me . You can expect drinkable wine in under 8 weeks if you go this route.

1-2 Gallon batches are the perfect way to do long-term experiments like max strength wine when you start up, Then its only a few bottles you have to store and not look at for a long time, rather than 16-20 bottles that are gonna take up space for years.

 

[bernardsmith]

Making alcohol is one thing. Making a wine is something very different. Wine (no matter the fruit, the flower or the honey) is about balance: and the balance is on a number of different axes - the ABV , the flavor, and the mouth feel. If you aim for an ABV of 18 percent then the amount of flavor needs to be comparable and the richness of the mouth feel needs to match that as does the sharpness of the flavor. You just want to drink yourself into a stupor? Then none of that matters.

 

[calmingapple]

Texconsinite is right. If you just want to get started and get a decent 'kick' from it then skeeterpee will be a good place to start.

I started out by making a basic apple wine. Bought myself a gallon of 100% apple juice (check the label to ensure it is pure juice). Follow one of Yooper's recipes by searching here on the forum and you will have a easy to follow project.

It depends on your goals. Just my 2 cents here: The higher the alcohol content, the "hotter" it will taste and longer it will take to be drinkable. For your first wine, I'd recommend you try a lower ABV, that will be drinkable sooner. Otherwise, you make a strong batch, and will be itching to try it, then when you cave and drink it soon itll probably be disappointing and you wont be as eager to make the second batch.

Get your pipeline full with some quicker, less strong wines so you have SOMETHING to drink and marvel at how good it is, before you start trying to make one AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE. Its easier to let a long-term project sit when you have other stuff you can drink NOW. The learning curve on strong wines is soooo much longer too, since there's such a lag before you know whether you made vinegar or something good you want to repeat.

Not saying there only one right way to make wine. Theres not. Ive never made a wine kit or used grape must, yet I've done over 20 different batches. Winemaking just requires patience, and its hard to know if you're doing it right if you cant taste the results. If you're just starting out, do yourself a favor and make it easy and quicker. You will be eager to share it and try some yourself.
Quickest and cheapest way to get started: Make skeeter pee. following the recipe for amount of sugar to add, and making a starter by dumping a cup of sugar, 1118 yeast and some nutrient into 1/2 gallon plastic jug of some kind of 100% juice (grape or apple would work fine). Shake and put a ballon on top for airlock. Easy peasy.
If you follow the instructions and wait for it to clear, it will be veeery drinkable the day you bottle it, and will be pleeeenty strong enough. Trust me . You can expect drinkable wine in under 8 weeks if you go this route.

1-2 Gallon batches are the perfect way to do long-term experiments like max strength wine when you start up, Then its only a few bottles you have to store and not look at for a long time, rather than 16-20 bottles that are gonna take up space for years.