16 replies to this topic

[japanwine]

Hi all,

I found a big 3qt jug of Concord grape juice in Costco from kirkland, by Paul newman.
100% grape juice from concentrate with added water and vitamin c (150%) no artificial colors or anything else.

I like to try and make a wine with this and hoped someone has done this before or know what to do.
I have the following material at the moment.

The juice (3qt)
Hydrometer
campden tablets (10)
ph strips
RED START Montrachet or
Young's Wine yeast super compound
yeast nutrient
citric acid

Can someone be so kind to talk me through the steps I take now?

My idea;

make a solution with the campden tablets (I do not know the measurements)
clean all materials
put x amount of campden in the juice for 24 hours
check the sugar level with hydrometer
add x amount of sugar
check again with hydrometer
make yeast starter with the Young's wine yeast (it has bentonite, diammonium, phosphate, trace vitamins and trace minerals)
Add yeast to juice
cover fermentation bucket with towels
wait x days
siphon into fermentation jug add airlock ?and some campden?
wait x days/weeks/months and siphon again ?and some campden?
bottle ?and some campden?

I guess that is as far as I can figure it all out for now.

[A_perfect_ashler]

Hi all,

I found a big 3qt jug of Concord grape juice in Costco from kirkland, by Paul newman.
100% grape juice from concentrate with added water and vitamin c (150%) no artificial colors or anything else.

I like to try and make a wine with this and hoped someone has done this before or know what to do.
I have the following material at the moment.

The juice (3qt)
Hydrometer
campden tablets (10)
ph strips
RED START Montrachet or
Young's Wine yeast super compound
yeast nutrient
citric acid

Can someone be so kind to talk me through the steps I take now?

My idea;

make a solution with the campden tablets (I do not know the measurements)
clean all materials
put x amount of campden in the juice for 24 hours
check the sugar level with hydrometer
add x amount of sugar
check again with hydrometer
make yeast starter with the Young's wine yeast (it has bentonite, diammonium, phosphate, trace vitamins and trace minerals)
Add yeast to juice
cover fermentation bucket with towels
wait x days
siphon into fermentation jug add airlock ?and some campden?
wait x days/weeks/months and siphon again ?and some campden?
bottle ?and some campden?

I guess that is as far as I can figure it all out for now.

Do you have an acid test kit?

Dave

[japanwine]

Do you have an acid test kit?

Dave

yes I have the acid test strips!

[Tomer1]

The test strips are used to present ph (strength of acids), acid test kit is used to measure total acidity (amount of acids per volume).
If ph shows <3.6 I think you might be in the clear.

I wouldnt use the RED START Montrachet dou to its H2S development tendencies.

Add as much sugar to correspond to the alcohol % you wish the final wine to have.
Since concord is a grapy tasting veriaty I would target a "ligher" style of around 11.5% (sg 1.090).

[Briankos]

First make a mixture of about 8 crushed campden tabs in 1 gallon of water for sanitation...

What I would do, because concord is a strong taste and high acid, test the acid level with the ph strips (I know it measures ph) You will probably end up adding some water to lessen the acid. PH 3.4 - 3.6 is where you want to be. Remember high acid equals low ph and vice versa.

Then add sugar to about 11-12% abv, or 1.08 to 1.09 area. You should not need campden at this point because the juice is pasteurized.

At this point if you have bentonite, add it (clearing agent), and now is the time to add some yeast nutrient.

Make yeast starter.

Monitor sg each day and when sg is down to approx 1.020 or 1.010, transfer to secondary leaving solids behind.(maybe 4-7 days)

leave wine in secondary for another 7-14 days, or until the wine reaches a point under 1.000 steady for 3 days in a row.

At this point you can transfer again leaving all solids behind and stabilize with 1 campden tablet, and some sorbate.

leave to clear (weeks and /or months)

Concord to me need some sweetening before bottling, but that is certainly up to you.

Have fun! Good Luck.

Brian

[gregmg]

Don't add sulfites (campden tablets) at the start. The juice is already sterile, so there's nothing to kill, and the yeast will be happier.
Wait until fermentation is complete.

Greg G.

[japanwine]

Thank you so much guys!
I will do all of the above!

[japanwine]

OK,

Almost as above

I crushed 4 campden tables in half a gallon,
put that into a big bucket and washed/rinsed all material I wanted to use.

Added 300grams of sugar water, which brought the hydrometer upto 208, or potential of slightly above 10%
The ph strips show 3.4 now, I added some water until the color matched 3.4

Yesterday I added nutrient and today I added the package of Young's yeast (super compound) , which has a lot of extra stuff in it. Put an airlock on it and will monitor the next 2 days on any progress.

It is just a very small project for now, but previous attempt with real grapes and all did not work out well. So going back to basic with this.

Any advise for above info?

Also, I am always a bit scared of the whole campden tablet thing. I make the solution and have no idea about the dangers/risks of handling it.

[gregmg]

Also, I am always a bit scared of the whole campden tablet thing. I make the solution and have no idea about the dangers/risks of handling it.

Sulfites (as found in campden tablets) have been used to preserve dried fruit and wine for several thousand years. They are safe to consume in small quantities for almost everyone. In very large quantities sulfites can make you sick or even kill you, but at 4 campden tablets per gallon your solution ought to be safe to drink (though I wouldn't recommend it).

Greg G.

[japanwine]

Greg.

Thank you, that is a big relief. Try google on "campden and safety" and NOTHING shows up.
I guess the same is true for "Strawberries and safety", though the little tablets do seem a little scarier.

I will keep this thread updated with how and what, just for my own reference mostly...

[Briankos]

Japan, you may not get anything on Camden tablets, but you may want to try Potassium Metabisulfite. That is what the tabs really are.

Brian

[japanwine]

Thank you Brian.

The 3qt jug is on my desk now and it is fermenting like mad, I added the yeast yesterday and within hours it started to bubble... right now it is just like I shook my coke bottle.

I have some questions

1) campden, is the smell dangerous?
2) can I drink the wine throughout each step, or do I better wait till it is clear?
3) this is a 3qt jug, would I do the exact same thing if it was a 3 gallon jug? (safe for more sugar)

[japanwine]

Well the "wine" is still bubbling and fermenting.

I like to ask "what now?"

M

[japanwine]

I AM A TOTAL IDIOT!

The wine is fermenting nicely, but today it slowed down. As I like to have more than the 10.5% I decided to add 250gr of dissolved sugar to it and restart the fermentation.

I unscrewed the top, and it smelled good! Really nice, .... (can I taste at this time?)
I topped to the neck with the sugar sollution and QUICKLY added the airlock! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

The wine is on my ceiling, PC, 2 meters through the room! Only lost a little bit and all...
So I put the bottle (3qt) on the sink and start to clean, after I removed the airlock... so it decided to fall into the sink...
I lifted it out and only lost about 5cm of juice.... but

1) any change of contamination in the "dirty sink" by falling into it
2) WHAT do I do now?

M

[gregmg]

You're not an idiot. Everyone does this once. The sugar provided nucleation points for CO2 bubbles to form; the sudden influx liberated a lot of CO2.

Not sure about the sink part. Did it just fall over and lose a little wine? If so, it doesn't seem like there's much of a chance of contamination.

Greg G.