Making wine from frozen concentrate

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Wulfonce

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I've been making wine for almost 3 years now and I'm getting bored with the typical white and red grape kits. My latest kit was a raspberry wine which turned out very tasty. That being said, I'd like to branch off into some more exotic flavors.

Money is getting tight with the holidays coming and I'm nearly out of wine. Is it possible to make wine with frozen cans of juice concentrate? The stuff you can buy in stores for as little as 60 cents a can? I know the quality probably isn't there, but as long as it tastes ok, that's good enough for me. I'm the kind of person that likes to get drunk occasionally without spending a lot of money. lol :tank:
I do have some better quality wines in storage, but I like to save that stuff for company.

There's some interesting kinds of concentrate available. Peach, Mango, Pineapple, Cranberry, Raspberry, Pear, Apple ect. I would assume that different combinations could make some half decent wine? Any recommendations?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Old-Orchard-100-Juice-Berry-Blend-Frozen-Concentrate-12-fl-oz/22257678

If this is even possible, my next question is how many cans do I need for a 6gal batch? The cans are 12oz and a gallon is 128oz. How many gallons of concentrate do I need?
 
Using juice concentrate is a good way to see if you like certain flavored wines. Its easy and fun. And mainly CHEAP. Being on a tight budget it's my only way of making wine for the moment.
 
I have a 6 gal. batch of old orchard apple/cherry going in the primary as I type. It smells great and I cant wait to taste it.
 
I went for an orange mango combo. 12 cans of mango 5 cans of orange, with another 3 cans of mango I'll save for sweetening later.

It smells awesome! I can't wait to taste it.

It only cost me $18 including the corks chems ect. and judging from what I'm seeing and smelling so far, this might be the best batch I've ever made. Why didn't I try this years ago?

Next batch I'm thinking of trying something with pineapple. :tank:
 
I have used frozen concentrate for about a year now. It works well fast and cheap. Yesterday i started a batch with blueberry puree and i switched the yeast type. My question for the seasoned vets is now that im using puree, how long do i let the build up of puree stay on top?
 
Loobie242 said:
I have used frozen concentrate for about a year now. It works well fast and cheap. Yesterday i started a batch with blueberry puree and i switched the yeast type. My question for the seasoned vets is now that im using puree, how long do i let the build up of puree stay on top?
Click to expand...

I pushed and stirred my blue berry puree daily for 5 days before transferring to a secondary.
 
just racked over some pineapple wine into secondary. Is it usually so tart in the beginning and will it mellow over time?
 
tinknocker66 said:
I have a 6 gal. batch of old orchard apple/cherry going in the primary as I type. It smells great and I cant wait to taste it.
Click to expand...

2013-11-08_211641-61319.jpg


Here's a batch I oaked with med french roast...absolutely delicious!!!

2013-11-08_210608-61320.jpg
 
the oak really improves "mouthfeel" and adds an almost imperceptable sweetness. Also this is an EXCELLENT flavor for jacking...it really concentrates the fruitiness of the flavor.
 
T_Baggins said:
2013-11-08_211641-61319.jpg


Here's a batch I oaked with med french roast...absolutely delicious!!!

2013-11-08_210608-61320.jpg
Click to expand...

How long do you oak it for? can I add the oak after the second racking to make up some of the loss in volume? How long should I keep the chips in if adding at that time? I've never done this before.
 
Hi guys, I'm very new to understanding wine brewing vs beer brewing and had considered this route to start (mainly for cost reasons).

Does anyone have a good step-by-step for concentrate brewing?
 
5 gallons of whatever flavor juice you like
5 lbs C&H sugar (the pink and white bag)
7 tsp Yeast nutrient
7 1/2 tsp Acid blend
1 1/4 tsp Wine Tannin
5 campden tabs
1 packet Lalvin EC-118 Yeast
5/8 tsp ascorbic acid

First off, I see a lot of posts around here that attempt to debunk the use of EC-118. I've only brewed apple, so I (and MANY HAPPY friends) can say, it works just fine and if you rack properly there won't be any "OFF" flavor, even when consumed straight out of the secondary.

Toss everything but yeast and ascorbic acid into the primary, let stand 24 hrs.
Rehydrate yeast as per instructions on packet, add to primary.
I use an empty "double bubble" airlock on my AlePale for the first few days. Every now and then during the 7-10 day period, I swirl the bucket and then gently push in the center of the lid and release a few times (Instead of a towel etc...)

I didn't notice any real bubbles until about 48hrs.

Re-rack into carboy and let stand 21+ days, then rerack. My 1st batch cleared (in my opinion) very nicely without pectic enzyme. We drank about 4 liters the first night, straight from the carboy... oh BOY!
After another week we drank 3 gallons ....sheeesshhh.... It was that darn good!
I made 1 bottle.
Be sure to add the ascorbic acid if you plan to bottle, but this is a quick brew and tastes so good fresh...I don't see how anybody could possibly bottle it before drinking it all!
ENJOY
 
tinknocker66 said:
How long do you oak it for? can I add the oak after the second racking to make up some of the loss in volume? How long should I keep the chips in if adding at that time? I've never done this before.
Click to expand...


I put them in on about 11/4/13 , as you can see I just dumped them in, I bottled about 12/18/13. The chips sank so I just siphoned right off the top of them at bottling. I think i waited till the 3 rd racking because i was still getting some fermentation at the second. I'm sure it won't hurt to add during some part of the fermentation cycle. I just had no clue my self how long to or when to oak it, but it turns out what I'd done worked out fine, maybe next time I won't use so much, maybe a quarter of the bag.
 
So, I just checked the local Walmart and the lowest I found concentrates for was $1.57, but have seen posts where guys quote $0.68...am I missing something or just have bad luck?
 
WoodHokie4 said:
So, I just checked the local Walmart and the lowest I found concentrates for was $1.57, but have seen posts where guys quote $0.68...am I missing something or just have bad luck?
Click to expand...

It's $2 each for me....
 
It's at least $1.79 at my Wally store. I have read a lot of posts looking for a pineapple, orange, apple cider, and I can't get a consensus from any. Does anyone in this forum have experience with pineapple and orange juices to ferment? Any help/information at all will be appreciated. It is the Dole brand, if that makes any difference. I hate to throw away $6.00 in ingredients by finding out a made a poor choice.
 
I have been experimenting with different juices for making ciders, which is the saem thing just with beer yeast, and so far everything has been drinkable. Make a gallon batch and try it!

I did try an orange pineapple cider recently, and it tasted muuuuch better backsweetened and carbonated than the hydrometer sample.

You can ferment any flavor juice frozen or bottled, any brand, just make sure its 100% juice and doesnt have preservatives in it. go for it! I routinely used whatever juice is on sale, and some of the cheapest ones turn out the best

Heres I would make a pineapple orange apple cider from concentrate.

1 Gallon Jug
2 cans apple juice concentrate
1 can pineapple orange concentrate
1 tsp nutrient
1 packet nottingham Ale yeast
1 can Pineapple orange to backsweeten

Thaw juice, throw all ingredients (except yeast) into fermenter with water to make a gallon. Use warm water to get temp to 70ish. Take hydrometer reading. Typical cider is 1.50-1.060 OG. Pitch yeast and shake gallon jug vigorously.
Afix blowoff hose/airlock.

After 10 days-2 weeks, check gravity. If its 1.015 or below, transfer to bottling bucket, add the second can of Pineapple Orange juice, and bottle. Stovetop pasteurize when desired carbonation is reached, usually 3-6 days.
 
Ok guys... Need your input. I just picked up some Old Orchard Apple Cherry concentrate after I couldn't find any white grape raspberry. What recipe are you following? I will be using a 6 gallon glass carboy as my primary. From what I have been reading the following is what I would need. This was pulled from the Welch's Frozen grape juice wine recipe.

Is the wine tannin and ascorbic acid necessary?

15 11.5 oz cans Old Orchard 100% frozen juice concentrate
5 lbs granulated sugar to start then test SG and adjust to 1.080 to 1.090
7 tsp acid blend (or if possible test and add acid blend to TA .60)
5 tsp pectic enzyme
7 tsp yeast nutrient
2 1/2-tsp bentonite (only if you will be doing the fast clear method)
water to make 5 gallon
wine yeast


1. For fast clear method, add 20 cups hot water to bottom of sanitized primary. While stirring the water slowly sprinkle the bentonite into the water. Continue to stir for 30 seconds to ensure complete dispersal making sure to break up any clumps.
2. Open and stir in all the cans of Welch's Juice to primary. rinse cans with a small amount of warm water and add to primary.
3. Bring 5 quarts water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and stir into primary with the frozen concentrate.
4. Add additional cool water to make 5 gallons.* (If you are adding oak chips add them now approx 1/2 oz per gallon toasted oak.)
5 . Check and Adjust sugar if necessary to an SG of 1.085 to 1.090.
6. Add the acid blend, or if possible test acid and adjust to .60 TA
7. When cooled to room temp, add pectic enzyme and nutrient.
8. 12 hours later add Yeast.
9. When SG drops to 1.010 rack to clean sanitized carboy.
10. Allow to finish fermentation in the carboy for 2 weeks to 1 month until the SG is stable at around .990-.995.* Make sure all fermentation is finished.
11. Do not rack at this time leave sediment.* Stabilize by stirring 1 campden tablet per gallon and 1/2 tsp Potassium Sorbate per gallon into 1/4 cup of cool water and add to the carboy of wine. Stir the wine vigorously for 3-4 minutes to help degas the wine, use a Fiz-X and VacuVin if you have them.*Wait 5 minutes then Stir again VIGOROUSLY for another 3-4 minutes. Repeat several more times if necessary, it is important to completely degas your wine before moving to the clearing stage. Then add the recommended amount of Sparkloid (follow the instructions that come with the package) (Super Kleer will also work, but I like sparkloid for welchs wines) and stir again vigorously for another 2-3 minutes to degas and drive off the CO2. (You don't usually need to add any further campdens or potassium metabisulphite to this wine because welchs does come with SO2 added and is usually sufficient to protect the wine for many years... I only add it at the stabilizing stage)* Then top up and allow to clear for 2 weeks..* When clear rack to a clean carboy and let stand for 30 days..* After 30 days taste to determine if you want or need to sweeten..* If sweetening is desired add sugar syrup to taste or 1.005 and allow to sit another 30 days. When the second 30 days is past either rack or filter the wine into a clean sanitized carboy..* Let sit for 2 weeks and bottle..* This faster method will put the wine in the bottle in 90 days.
 

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