Welch's wine

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GeneDaniels1963 said:
I have a shed behind the house. It is not ideal, the temp fluctuates too much, but its the best I have. And none of my wine is really lone term 2-3 years is about it.
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Ever age a batch in an oak barrel?
[emoji57]
 
ChuckB68 said:
Looks like my mix is finally putt-puttering away! My Italian neighbor dug a hole and kept the wine bottle on a string to keep it cold while working in the yard. Maybe follow a similar idea?
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I don't think I would go to that trouble unless it was really hot, and I did not have A/C in the house to ferment inside. Most ferments are fine at temperatures most people find comfortable. Only if my house was over 80F would I worry too much about it.

That said, I like to do colder ferments if at all possible. When I can I ferment outside. When I do I start the ferment in the house, then move it outside when it gets to rolling along good. Right now I have 3 gal of blackberry cider going outside, with daytime highs in upper 50s and 60s, nights in the 40s mostly, but even drop to 30s sometimes. The cider is doing great!
 
bmd2k1 said:
Ever age a batch in an oak barrel?
[emoji57]
Click to expand...

No, don't have a barrel and am too cheap to buy one ;-)

And to be honest, my homemade ciders and wines are so good I don't feel terribly pressed to try to improve them. I really think my cider is far superior to anything I can buy around here.
 
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GeneDaniels1963 said:
No, don't have a barrel and am too cheap to buy one ;-)

And to be honest, my homemade ciders and wines are so good I don't feel terribly pressed to try to improve them. I really think my cider is far superior to anything I can buy around here.
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What are ur go to yeast(s)?
 
I used Notty or Safecide for ciders, and mostly wild ferments for my wines. I seems I have some really nice wild yeast in my little berry batch.

I know some are very skeptical about wind ferments, but all my wild wines have turned out great. The only problem I've ever had was with some perry I made with wild yeast. It was really funky, but still drinkable. In fact, one friend loved it so much he is trying to reproduce that exact funk. But my wild ferment wines are always smooth, ferment to completion well, and age nicely in 6-12 months.
 
GeneDaniels1963 said:
I used Notty or Safecide for ciders, and mostly wild ferments for my wines. I seems I have some really nice wild yeast in my little berry batch.

I know some are very skeptical about wind ferments, but all my wild wines have turned out great. The only problem I've ever had was with some perry I made with wild yeast. It was really funky, but still drinkable. In fact, one friend loved it so much he is trying to reproduce that exact funk. But my wild ferment wines are always smooth, ferment to completion well, and age nicely in 6-12 months.
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Ever add any acid blend post fermentation to ur Welch's vino? (...or any other post fermentation tweaks...like wine tannin etc)
 
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Think I'm gonna try a few different things with this my first batch -- bottled plain, bottled with acid blend & aged in oak barrel -- see how they turn out after 6months & 1yr. [emoji111]
 
bmd2k1 said:
Think I'm gonna try a few different things with this my first batch -- bottled plain, bottled with acid blend & aged in oak barrel -- see how they turn out after 6months & 1yr. [emoji111]
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My guess is they will all be good, just some better than others. But to be honest, I don't think I would go as far as to age in oak barrel with Welchs's wine. i would save that much trouble for something really special like a heavy bodied blackberry, maybe even making it a port
 
I moved mine from a bucket to a carboy last night. I checked the gravity with a hydrometer and it was already .99-something (it was at the very top mark) I added an ounce of sugar to scavenge the oxygen, and in a couple of weeks I'll rack it again and add some sulfites. Then bottle a few weeks after that. The hydrometer sample tasted pretty harsh at this point; mostly it was sour and still kinda yeasty. Not vinegary, just tart.

This one is progressing a lot faster than normal. I wonder if it's the Fermax nutrient instead of just DAP like I usually use?
 
bmd2k1 said:
Think I'm gonna try a few different things with this my first batch -- bottled plain, bottled with acid blend & aged in oak barrel -- see how they turn out after 6months & 1yr. [emoji111]
Click to expand...


After a bit more research on Oak barrel aging - learned that the smaller the barrel the faster the aging -- so my 2L barrel takes 80days to age what would take 1yr in the standard 53gal barrel -- who knew. So gonna give er a shot and we'll see how it plays out :)

This maiden voyage batch is only 10days into fermenting -- guessing it will take 45ish days to reach the 14%-ish that is D47's alcohol tolerance point. (atleast that's how long my faux ice ciders take fermented in the mid-low60F range)

Cheers!
 
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2L barrel? Never heard of such. But if that will cut down the time to just 3 months or so, give it a try. Never know till you do.
 
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Blacksmith1 said:
looks like the same barrel my LHBS has for $150. The site doesn't mention shipping.
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The 10L is about $20 to ship to me in Michigan...

U can toss one in your cart...get all the way to the end of process...it will tell ya shipping $$....then just don't hit submit. [emoji111]
 
Anyone else making Welch's vino on a regular basis & what techniques/protocols are you using?

(My 1st batch is about 2weeks into fermentation using D47...I'm anticipating about 40ish days to hit the 14% mark...which is the alcohol tolerance point.)
 
I've been doing various fruit juice brews. Basically using regular wine making protocals. Some with added sugar, some plain juice, and 2 with a homemade freeze concentrate. So far they are turning out ok. Most of them are still Aging
 
Day28 SG is 1.036 - so approx 13% ABV. Sample beaker has lots more bubbles than cider. Tastes pretty dang good at this point...bit of sweetness upfront & small bite/dryness on back of tongue. Gonna let it finish at D47's 14% alcohol tolerance & then cold crash & rack for bulk storage.

So does grape juice tend to hold onto CO2 more than AJ? Is that why I see peeps talking about degassing vino? Though like many things I see mixed views here on HBT re needing to do it.

0425191203.jpeg
 
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bmd2k1 said:
...and raisins if you're gonna use em should tossed into primary, right from the start?
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Or early in secondary- I've done it both ways and it doesn't seem to matter, as long as you have enough headspace in primary- raisins sort of float and can clog up the airlock if you're using a carboy. Not that I know that from experience or anything................:)
 
GeneDaniels1963 said:
I just made a batch of regular welch's wine. Even right after racking it is quite good. Here is what I did:

1/2 gal Welch's
1 can Welch's concentrate
20 chopped raisins
red star white yeast (its all I had on hand)

It started out at 1.108 and fermented out to 14.5abv in 21 days. At this point it tasted just like any $10 bottle of table wine. But I back sweetened with 1/2 cup of concentrate and it is great!

I can't believe how easy it was to make a decent wine. I am making a gal right now, just to make sure it was not a fluke. If all goes as well, I will make a larger batch and age it. I bet it will be outstanding :ban:
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I have a question. What are you, or anyone else, using to strain the fermented wine? I've made this many times but always struggle with straining.

I generally use three cans of welch's with water, 2lbs of sugar and a packet of yeast. Haven't tried the raisins but I think I will.
 
vsawmike said:
I have a question. What are you, or anyone else, using to strain the fermented wine? I've made this many times but always struggle with straining.

I generally use three cans of welch's with water, 2lbs of sugar and a packet of yeast. Haven't tried the raisins but I think I will.
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What's to strain? There's a good bit of sediment after a couple of weeks, but it goes to the bottom and stays there. You transfer the wine from one bulk container/fermenter to another several times, leaving almost all the sediment behind each time.
 
vsawmike said:
I have a question. What are you, or anyone else, using to strain the fermented wine? I've made this many times but always struggle with straining.

I generally use three cans of welch's with water, 2lbs of sugar and a packet of yeast. Haven't tried the raisins but I think I will.
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Using D47....after cold crashing the lees should be like a very thick caramel syrup...so I'll just rack right off em -- no filtering needed [emoji57] What yeast do you use?
 
z-bob said:
What's to strain? There's a good bit of sediment after a couple of weeks, but it goes to the bottom and stays there. You transfer the wine from one bulk container/fermenter to another several times, leaving almost all the sediment behind each time.
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The gunk at the bottom. It's also a bit hazy closer to the bottom you get. Also what is your best way to kill the yeast if you want to bottle?
 
bmd2k1 said:
Using D47....after cold crashing the lees should be like a very thick caramel syrup...so I'll just rack right off em -- no filtering needed [emoji57] What yeast do you use?
Click to expand...

Can you explain that in plain talk? Novice at the technical terms. I've made many batches but never got into the technical side of it. I just make it to taste. I've bottled it before after hearting to kill the yeast. Just not sure if that's the best way.
 
Also how long do you leave yours fermenting? I do mine about a month in a cabinet in my laundry room. I try to keep the temp a constant 70-72 degrees. I use the red star yeast last time by the way. I really want to order some wine yeast.
 
vsawmike said:
Can you explain that in plain talk? Novice at the technical terms. I've made many batches but never got into the technical side of it. I just make it to taste. I've bottled it before after hearting to kill the yeast. Just not sure if that's the best way.
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D47 is a dry wine yeast with an alcohol tolerance around 14% & tends to leave things fruity with a really nice mouthfeel. (I ferment in the low-mid60F range.) It has great flocculation -- meaning it forms nice solid "gunk" (aka lees) at the bottom. Some yeasts are much better at this than others. Cold crashing = tossing fermenter in fridge to help facilitate flocculation. So with the caramel syrup like lees/gunk...they stay in the fermenter when I rack/transfer the wine/cider/whatever to a different container...and I don't need to filter anything. Some folks rack multiple times.
 
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vsawmike said:
The gunk at the bottom. It's also a bit hazy closer to the bottom you get. Also what is your best way to kill the yeast if you want to bottle?
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I don't kill the yeast. I wait until it has finished and almost all of it has dropped out, (I'm not sure it ever *completely* drops out), then I bottle it. I like my wine dry. If it's too dry, I'll add a pinch of sugar when I drink it.

However, if you look up the recipe for "Skeeter Pee", he tells how to stabilize the wine with Campden tablets (or K-Meta) and potassium sorbate (it takes both) so it can be back-sweetened and then bottled safely.

HTH
 
Anyone else make a larger than 1gal batch of this....like I'm doing? (Mines about 4.5gals)
 
z-bob said:
Couple of months total for fermentation and bulk aging/clearing. No, I don't like oak in wine. (might be okay if it's subtle, but it's never subtle)
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What's ur go to yeast for this vino?
 
Well....after 36days it appears the D47 has pettered out a bit over 13%...4days w/o a drop in SG...and had swirled vigorously daily...so into the fridge to cold crash prior to racking into smaller 20L Speidel. Once it returns to room temp I'll toss 2L into oak barrel to age.

At this point the vino already tastes great -- interested to see how it matures over time...& to compare oak barrel-aged vs non.

Cheers [emoji111]
 

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