Concord - pucker up!

[helmbri]

Wondering if there is any advice for my 214 Concord wine that is quite sharp tasting and makes you about pucker up when you taste it don't have any fancy instruments for testing.

It began as pure juice and I did have to add some syrup to get the initial SG in range. I knew that acidity was going to be an issue and my kit results came out to 2.0 for ta. I used 71b-1122 yeast to help counter it and I already it thru cold stabilization and racked it off quiet a bit of tartaric sediment. Its been a month since and the tasting is alcohol harsh with a big pucker up. I'm getting the grapes for free and have made wine with them last year but added fewer pounds of grapes per gallon and more water.

As of now, it appears to be the only batch I've made to date that is un drinkable. Anyone have any ideas on how or if I can salvage the 4 gallons I made this year?

 

[the_rayway]

Have you tested it sweetened? I found that my concord needed quite a bit of sugar to make it palatable. It now tastes like welches grape juice with a hell of a kick (14%, but you would never know until you realize the floor is tilted slightly to the side). I also blended some with a low-acid blueberry wine and people LOVE both of them.

Planning to also see about using some as mix for sangria over the summer.

Home one of these options might help!

 

[grapeman]

Obviously your grapes were nowhere near ripe when you got them. You should not get anywhere near that TA from ripe Concord. What was the brix of the grapes when you got them- my guess would be about 10 or 11 with that TA. Next time insist they are riper or don't take them. You can't make a decent wine with that much acid.

Now that fermentation is done, there is very little you can do to reduce the acid at this point. Like said you could blend with a lower acid wine and sweeten the heck out of it (with proper stabilizing first). It will still have the acid in it. Also what did you check the TA with?

 

[helmbri]

Weather conditions and timing probably were not ideal when the grapes were picked. I used the inexpensive acid titration kit to test the initial TA.

It has yet to be stabilized other than a campden dose after last racking from cold stabilization. I have not sorbated or back sweetened which I did do with last years batch.

I had considered making another batch and blending it out with another wine. I know its just concord and I'm not hoping for anything but a pleasant tasting and easy drinking table wine.

 

[helmbri]

Great question? I have some that I used to adjust on a frontenac batch done pre fermentation. I am uncertain if its proper to adjust post ferment but still pre stabilization. ( aka pre sorbate addition)?

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with Rich and Ray. They probably weren't ready yet. This wine needs racked several times and without filtration it will be a good while before everything falls out. Don't worry about the acid at this time. Cold stabilize it now while it is cold outside. This will also help some of the suspended particles to fall out. When you bring the wine back in, rack it immediately and try not to get any of the sludge on the bottom. If you wait some of the stuff will go back into suspension that fell out with the tartrates. The acid can be balanced out with sugar when you back sweeten.

 

[helmbri]

I've already cold stabilized and definitely dropped out tartric sludge. I was surprised how much.

Thanks for all the ideas! I've not made anything that wasn't drinkable until now .... its humbling.

 

[grapeman]

The potassium bicarbonate can be used post fermentation but it is not recommended to try to bring down more than 3 g/L or 0.3. Let's say after stabilizing it wa 1.7, then you could still only get it to 1.4 or 14 g/L. It will be hard to get it sweet enough to balance, but it might taste alright (but it would still give you a lot of acid in the stomach). I have never had great luck using the potassium bicarbonate without affecting the flavor adversely.

Oh and it is usually calcium carbonate that is used pre-fermentation.

 

[Turock]

We always use calcium carb pre-ferment on our concord to bring the PH to around 3.4. The problem with concord is that we don't like them to get TOO ripe because they begin to lose their flavor. Concord is a higher acid grape, so it's always useful to have a PH meter and pre-test the PH.

 

[LeChat]

Is the wine otherwise drinkable? Does it have good aroma and taste (other than acidity). If it does, it might be worth blending.

I would not waste my time with blending if it was not good outside of it's acidity.


If you have access to cheap California grapes, they are usually fairly low in acid (in the range of .2-.3 acidity sometimes) and you could mix them in a 2:1 ratio with your concord to get a wine in the 0.7-.8 range (assuming 1.7 for concord). Pick a varietal that you think will complement the taste profile.