Ready in 1 week?

[Neeb]

My friend is convincing me to drink this grape juice wine although, it has only been a week. Does highest ABV really peak first 24-72 hrs? It still has very thin foam line at top and I am guessing we will be consuming a lot of live yeast. It is not making a bubbly sound like it did for several days. I need some feedback so I can convince my friend to wait, maybe scare them a bit. The last one I made gave me terrible gas also, how can that be avoided?

 

[JimRausch]

Some friend

 

[JimRausch]

Ok, a little more seriously, 1 week wine is no where near finished. It won't hurt you, but it'll taste like poop. Let him drink it if all he wants is to get smashed. Have a taste, then drink some good stuff.

 

[Neeb]

Thanks, I read a small number of times that ABV peaks the first week to 24-72 hours yet still it doesn't mean the yeast has consumed all of the sugars. Yet... it begs me to questions, no one wants to drink unconsumed sugars, or yeast. but do those sugars actually matter when it comes to ABV or just a small fraction of ABV but mainly taste? Obviously drinking extra sugar will result in a stomach ache and unpleasantly, but how do those extra sugars really turn the drink into more alcohol when it dies as it creates it. So I guess it's two questions, when the yeast peak at a certain ABV and when the yeast also just have extra sugar to consume, are they truly different when it comes down to the few percentiles? I personally have tried the cheap store bought wines compared to the 10-20$ ones and have seen no difference. Is that just the age tricking me?

 

[JimRausch]

Depending on the yeast strain used, the amount of nutrients available, and the fermentation temp, fermentation can be finished in a week or so. But, that doesn't mean the result will taste good. That initial hot and heavy fermentation can (and usually does) produce byproducts that the yeast need to clean up. Also the maturation process relies on yeast settling out as well as bits and pieces of the original fruits, and other compounds such as tannins, esters, and phenols are changed. Time is an ally.

 

[Neeb]

Thanks again, just one more question. Wondering if can you mix juice with water to create a thinner wine? Or is this a bad idea?

 

[Tennessee Brew]

Thanks again, just one more question. Wondering if can you mix juice with water to create a thinner wine? Or is this a bad idea?

Well I am totally new to this but I mixed juice with some wine and worked fine for me. The initial wine I did not like so I began to experiment with flavors, decided on an apple mango mix as the original was banana and to me I like those flavors. The result is very good. IMO there is no wrong when it comes to making what YOU like. I also experiment with lots of things like Cotton candy wine, Jolly Rancher etc. I'm sure there will be people on here looking at my post like -.- but hey this is an experiment and that is the fun in it.

 

[Neeb]

You mean you mixed water in? Or juice? I am thinking of adding elderberry and it comes in a tea packet (non bleached organic.) I am wondering, do you think I should heat steep the tea or just add it in completely throughout the whole fermentation process. I think heat steeping it might give too much tannic flavor. Although, I also think that cold brewing it in the ferment might either not end up doing so much to the overall flavor profile. Or maybe the actual tea bag might put an off flavor in.

What do you think?

I don't want to get this confused with actual tea although I have seen a video where he put a glass of strong black tea in his wine. Not really a fan of a caffeine alcohol mix. Also maybe the tea bag won't be sterile enough somehow for what ever reason. Is that a possibility? Thanks for the reply, let me know your thoughts.

 

[JimRausch]

IMO there is no wrong when it comes to making what YOU like.

Amen brother (or sister)!

 

[JimRausch]

I am thinking of adding elderberry and it comes in a tea packet

You could try cold steeping vs. hot steeping and see if there is a flavor difference. I did this once with a hibiscus tea once. Decided I liked the hot steep better, so I hot steeped 3 or 4 bags (for a 1 gallon prickly pear mead) and then added the resulting liquid. Result was a beautiful boost in red color, but I can't honestly say there was much flavor change.

 

[Neeb]

I realized that the elderberry tea has no nutritional value. So maybe it would be worth using a small amount of black tea to give the yeast some real tannins, plus it has bergamot infused. Maybe 4 tea bags per gallon? Do you think I should add yeast hulls in, could that result in higher ABV?

One of the containers I cleaned out from previous brew still has a bit of purple.. maybe Krausen at the top stuck and I cannot get it off. Would it be fine to just leave it there any still make the brew? It has been sanitized and will be a 25% tea 75% juice wine.

 

[Tennessee Brew]

I have a Juice wine started, its slow getting going. My OG is 1.070 and I am thinking the yeast is slow to start because perhaps it does need a tad bit of water. Water is good for yeast, like any living organism we need fresh water to survive. I may add a bit to see if it helps. Update to come.

 

[Neeb]

It should go fine without water, you can add bread yeast to juice without adding extra sugar and it will turn out although it is worth it to add more sugar and use a better yeast strain. What I did was shake the jubeezus out of it so it would foam up almost spewing out of the container before adding the yeast. I would then add the yeast on top of the foam and lightly swirl, and for the first 48 hours I would shake it intensely 4-6 times a day. Just understand the limit so it doesn't foam over, maybe take the air lock off immediately after shaking for a second or two. Then I stopped touching it completely. I will admit it only made a bubbling noise (not airlock noise) for only few days and only started after the first 48 hours or so, although it definitely kept fermenting after that just not as an immense of an indication.

I am a beginner so nothing I typed above means anything but just sharing the way I expressed my love onto the juice before it turned to wine, I think it helps, sort of like cooking. Just try to have a good nights rest without obsessing over the ferment like I seem to have a problem with since I started very recently.

 

[JimRausch]

I have a Juice wine started, its slow getting going.

Are you sure there's no sorbate or benzoate added to the juice? That would definitely slow things down.

 

[Tennessee Brew]

Are you sure there's no sorbate or benzoate added to the juice? That would definitely slow things down.

Yeh I always double check it. The problem (i think) was low water content. We added about 1/4 of the total volume in water and it started right up. Hopefully it wont cut the flavors any.

 

[Neeb]

Also what I said I do not assume that you do not already know. Anyway I decided to change things up and not do tea, I do not want to say specifically what I am doing because it may jinx it. I will let you know the results and it will probably take at least 3 weeks. Although I will most likely, 100% positively, only let it go a month before drinking.