6 gallon Regina grape juice (let them sit)

[bigsetzerfan]

I buy the 6 gallons of Regina Cab and Zin juice. The place I buy it says a guy comes in and buys 5 or 6 buckets and doesn't even open them. He sets them in a cool place for six months and opens them up and bottles wine. I assume it tastes good. Anyone ever hear or try that?

 

[djrockinsteve]

No I always wait 8 hours for it to warm up @65 degrees. Add pectic enzyme and take my readings.

12 hours later yeast and nutrient. Etc.

Sitting that long on its gross lees isn't good. To each his own.

 

[robie]

I agree with Steve. That would be a recipe for disaster. I would think the juice buckets would explode.

 

[MalvinaScordaad]

Actually the covers have a pressure relief valve to let out the building C02 Gas. One year a long time ago a nearby distributor got these pails with covers without the valves. Covers were blowing up 15 feet in the air. Quite Funny if you didn't get hit in the head. A worker ran around with a drill and made holes in the cover. The real lesson is if you buy a bucket and the cover is dished in an upward manner and not totally flat the fermentation has already begun. This renders any hydrometer reading useless. I am not the least surprised that some farm animals make wine without ever taking off the cover and let it finish on its own.
Malvina

 

[djrockinsteve]

Why would you risk fifty bucks of juice. It is important to get it off of the gross lees. Other problems develop over time as this sediment begins to decompose however slowly it may be.

Myself ill remove my wine a few days after its thru fermenting. He can do his wine his way.

 

[rjb222]

We have a distrbuter here that does the same tells people that you don't need to do anything just pop the valve when done consume. Tasted some of his mung water poor qulity no care taken and yet people still get their stuff there trying to save some money. To me it makes no sense.

 

[Runningwolf]

First off bigsetzerfan welcome to the forum. I agree with all the comments above. There all a lot of recipes and methods for making wine from the old country and our ancesters. Some of it is great and the rest is as described above. We are here to carry on the tradition of winemaking but to improve on the methods of the past.

Here's a great idea for you. Buy a pail and make it just as you were instructed as it could be made. When it's finished take a bottle back to them and ask them to sit down and share a glass with you. Next make a bottle based off of opinions here and compare the results. You winemaking will go from zero to hero in no time flat.

Better yet, just skip the the part of making wine as your supplier mentioned.

 

[bigsetzerfan]

Thank you everyone and especially runningwolf. I am not going to do what he suggested one guy did. It just seemed to easy. I am very new at wine making. I am a chemist by profession and I hear they are notorious for over analyzing things. The recipe they gave me when I bought the juice calls for zero testing of the process. Let it ferment in the bucket with the lid cracked open for a week or two. Rack it into the carboy and install an airlock. When the bubbles stop, cork the carboy and rack every couple of months or when sediment forms. Bottle and enjoy within 12 months. I hope it works out.

 

[Julie]

Thank you everyone and especially runningwolf. I am not going to do what he suggested one guy did. It just seemed to easy. I am very new at wine making. I am a chemist by profession and I hear they are notorious for over analyzing things. The recipe they gave me when I bought the juice calls for zero testing of the process. Let it ferment in the bucket with the lid cracked open for a week or two. Rack it into the carboy and install an airlock. When the bubbles stop, cork the carboy and rack every couple of months or when sediment forms. Bottle and enjoy within 12 months. I hope it works out.

Ok this is what I would do:

Take a hydrometer reading when you get the bucket of juice home, record that. Then if you can take an acid test or ph test, do that, normally the juice buckets are balanced but you should know what the acid level is. Ferment to below 1.010, then rack to carboy, leave it until fermentation is done, when hydrometer reads below 1.000. At this time you can calculate your ABV. Then rack again, add k-meta at this time and let it age in the carboy with an airlock on it. Rack every 3 months and add k-meta at that time, until your wine is totally clear, then bottle.

The advise you were given has a 50/50 chance of working out that way. Personnally I don't like those odds, so I would try my best to have a 100% chance of coming out good.

 

[MalvinaScordaad]

Ok this is what I would do:

Take a hydrometer reading when you get the bucket of juice home, record that. Then if you can take an acid test or ph test, do that, normally the juice buckets are balanced but you should know what the acid level is. Ferment to below 1.010, then rack to carboy, leave it until fermentation is done, when hydrometer reads below 1.000. At this time you can calculate your ABV. Then rack again, add k-meta at this time and let it age in the carboy with an airlock on it. Rack every 3 months and add k-meta at that time, until your wine is totally clear, then bottle.

The advise you were given has a 50/50 chance of working out that way. Personnally I don't like those odds, so I would try my best to have a 100% chance of coming out good.

There are a couple of problems with your plan. First There is the strong likelihood that the bucket has already started to ferment making that hydrometer reading useless. If that is so then it makes determining the PH and TA somewhat difficult. In the second case at the end of fermentation you say you can calculate your ABV How do you do that?
Malvina

 

[djrockinsteve]

Actually you can get an initial gravity reading even after fermentation. It's chemistry. You would have to search this forum on how to I do not recall.

Luc I'm sure would know.

 

[Rocky]

Actually, determining ABV after fermentation is complete is simple. Take a known quantity of the wine, say, 100 ml and put it in a sauce pan. Turn up the heat and heat the wine to about 180 degrees F and hold it there for about 10 minutes. Alcohol boils at about 173 degrees F. Let the wine cool and re-measure the volume. The missing part will be the alcohol. For example, if you take a 100 ml sample, perform the above and re-measure it to be 88 ml, 12 ml of alcohol have boiled off and the wine was 12%.

 

[Rocky]

Your method is hardly accurate.
Malvina

It is accurate enough for me. I doubt it is any less accurate than using a hydrometer. I just want to know if my wine is around 13% or around 11%; I don't need to know that it is 12.155482795257458525896%.

 

[ibglowin]

And just like your good friend Marty.........

Your outa here.

So long HeShe otherwise known as Malvina.

Why don't you mind your own business?
Malvina