Rookie wine experiment

[TenForward]

99% of the time all welches juice has persertives (Sorbate) in it so it cant go through fermentation during shelf life. in this case you will end up where you started with plain grape juice. Also it wont taste like a sandwich it will pick up notes of concord grape flavors just like a concord grape. best thing is to use wine grapes or juice they have more fermentable sugars and more of a complex flavor offering.

"Q. Do Welch's juice products contain preservatives?

Welch’s ready-to-drink 100% Grape Juice and juice cocktails do not contain any preservatives. However, Welch’s ready-to-drink 100% White Grape Juice does contain the preservative potassium metabisulfite, which is added to prevent browning and maintain color. Welch’s 100% Sparkling Juices and Sparkling Juice Cocktails also contain potassium metabisulfite, as well as the preservative sodium benzoate. Many of our frozen concentrates and shelf stable concentrates contain sulfites to maintain flavor and color."
http://www.welchs.com/about-us/contact-us/frequently-asked-questions/product-faq#2

 

[buMbLeB]

"Q. Do Welch's juice products contain preservatives?

Welch’s ready-to-drink 100% Grape Juice and juice cocktails do not contain any preservatives. However, Welch’s ready-to-drink 100% White Grape Juice does contain the preservative potassium metabisulfite, which is added to prevent browning and maintain color. Welch’s 100% Sparkling Juices and Sparkling Juice Cocktails also contain potassium metabisulfite, as well as the preservative sodium benzoate. Many of our frozen concentrates and shelf stable concentrates contain sulfites to maintain flavor and color."
http://www.welchs.com/about-us/contact-us/frequently-asked-questions/product-faq#2

Just confirming that the concord grape juice is preservative-free aside from ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Also, I've made a very nice wine from the White Grape juice just by airing it out under a paper towel for a few hours with shaking beforehand - Yooper explained to me that the K-meta won't really inhibit the yeast, but I think it's a different story with sodium benzoate.

 

[eadavis80]

I'll ask again...

Can I rack my wine if it's at 1.000 or should I wait for it to get below that number? Two days ago it was at 1.002.

 

[Wooden]

Yooper has a recipe for Welch's grape juice wine.

I know it is important to a) make sure it does not have preservatives besides citric acid, and b) adjust expectations accordingly. It will not taste like a Cab or Merlot obviously.

However, I have heard it can be very good, just very different from what you would normally expect a red wine to taste like. I wouldn't expect a ton of complexity. Concord grapes have a flavor all of their own.

Yooper likens her Welch's wine as having a "Mogen David"-like taste. I would search the forum for her recipe and see how yours compares. There's a few others on here too.

It is important she understand this will be much different so she does not get discouraged from winemaking when this comes out to taste very "different".

Alternatively, it is increasingly common to see 1 gallon and 3 gallon batches. That could be a good size to start out with. I have also heard of others using say a cheap 6 gallon kit, and making some adjustments to make a 5 gallon kit of higher quality; perhaps you could do something like that with a 3 gallon kit to make a killer wine that would fit in your bucket for a primary.

Keep in mind though you will want to have a secondary to rack to; a carboy of sorts. I know there are big glass gallon wine jugs that you could buy, drink and use as a secondary fermenter, or buy them at your LHBS for about $5.

Also, if you want to a bigger primarily fermenter for a 3 gallon batch that you would ultimately use need a 3 gal carboy for, you could use 4 gal plastic food grade buckets from the local supermarket Bakery dept. as a primary. These are the Donut Glaze, Chocolate Frosting or Bavarian Creme filling buckets.

Often times they will give them away for free, or charge like $2 for including a lid, reasonably clean and they are of very good quality. I use these for sap buckets for male syrup and as a primary for what will end up being a 3 gal batch of wine in my secondary. To make a hole for the air lock you can just drill a hole and use a rubber grommet (about 25 cents at LHBS) and boom you're ready.

Cheers,

Wooden