General questions as a rookie

[Granrey]

Hi Guys,

I'm new into wine making. I just finished my second batch. I have couple questions:

1) I want to make wine exclusively from juice and/ or concentrate. What are the cheapest options? I have started from Welch and other cheap brands of juice you get in bottles. I'm curious if there are bulk options similar in price or cheaper.

2) I also noticed lots of variance in sugar content in some juices. Low sugar content juices tend to get sort of slushy when you at the sugar to be @ 18% alcohol for final gravity. What is your experience on this? for instance Welch grape juice is 41g/0.26L=
165g/L but sousop from Rubicon is 27g/0.25L= 108g/L

 

[hounddawg]

Hi Guys,

I'm new into wine making. I just finished my second batch. I have couple questions:

1) I want to make wine exclusively from juice and/ or concentrate. What are the cheapest options? I have started from Welch and other cheap brands of juice you get in bottles. I'm curious if there are bulk options similar in price or cheaper.

2) I also noticed lots of variance in sugar content in some juices. Low sugar content juices tend to get sort of slushy when you at the sugar to be @ 18% alcohol for final gravity. What is your experience on this? for instance Welch grape juice is 41g/0.26L=
165g/L but sousop from Rubicon is 27g/0.25L= 108g/L

hi and welcome
for that ABV you need for a yeast EC-1118 OR K1V-1116
you'll need a hydrometer to get your SG sugar level that makes you ABV, check out this site www.colomafrozen.com
Dawg

 

[mikewatkins727]

Tho this is a person opinion, shoot for 11 - 12% alcohol and backsweeten to taste. I can't imagine drinking 18% and enjoying it. I shop around for juices and experiment making wine. Vintner's Harvest is just one source I'll mention along with Walmart. Also, I'll put a plug in for Labelpeelers.com for supplies. Maybe this will help

 

[hounddawg]

Tho this is a person opinion, shoot for 11 - 12% alcohol and backsweeten to taste. I can't imagine drinking 18% and enjoying it. I shop around for juices and experiment making wine. Vintner's Harvest is just one source I'll mention along with Walmart. Also, I'll put a plug in for Labelpeelers.com for supplies. Maybe this will help

i shoot much higher on my ABV, but to keep it smooth with fresh fruit or berries i go double to triple the amount of fruit/berries. in concentrates i mix double the amount called for, then i age everting allowing a country wine that is smooth, very tasty and kicks like a Missouri mule, my skitter pee port runs a ABV of 25% but tastes like very good lemonade, you don't taste the alcohol, lemon and pineapple both hide very high ABV's
Dawg

 

[Rice_Guy]

Dawg has found a good source with Coloma.
Do a search for a local vinters club, we do juice buys and members wind up growing more than they need.
Craigs list has fruit at harvest season.
Get to know your produce manager, club members occasionally get a case of mangos, bananas, etc cheap

 

[Granrey]

hi and welcome
for that ABV you need for a yeast EC-1118 OR K1V-1116
you'll need a hydrometer to get your SG sugar level that makes you ABV, check out this site www.colomafrozen.com
Dawg

Why is a hydrometer needed if I already know the sugar content in the juice?

Also, a good yeast like EC-1118 used as per nufacturer guidelines should complete the primary fermentation in two weeks or less?

 

[Rembee]

1) The hydrometer is needed for final calculations of ABV. This calculation will give you an accurate ABV.

2) Generally speaking the EC 1118 should be finished within a week or 2. There are a lot of variables to why this is or to why it may take longer.

 

[winemaker81]

Why is a hydrometer needed if I already know the sugar content in the juice?

In addition to what @Rembee said, a hydrometer is the one sure-fire way a home wine maker can determine a fermentation is done. When the SG is 0.998 or lower and it hasn't changed in 3 days, fermentation is done. There is no more sugar to ferment.

Expanding beyond the question: When the SG is higher than 0.998, the fermentation is probably not done. If the ABV is above the level the yeast can tolerate, fermentation may be done, but yeast has variance so it's hard to be positive unless jacking the ABV above 18% with distilled spirits. This is one reason why most home wine makers ferment their wines dry, stabilize, then backsweeten. Fermentation is controlled and there will be no surprises, e.g., no volcano-in-a-bottle which happens when fermentation restarts after bottling.

One problem with commercial beverages is they often contain preservatives, including potassium sorbate -- which is what we (home wine makers) use to stabilize wines prior to backsweetening. The preservatives negatively affect fermentation -- I've made Welches, and never got it to ferment dry. 100% natural juice with no preservatives is a much better choice. However, it will cost more so if cost is an issue, it may not work.

Search this site for Danger Dave's Dragon Blood and Skeeter Pee. Those threads may provide ideas.

 

[Granrey]

thanks for the answers

 

[Scooter68]

One more point - The listed limit for a yeast Alcohol content is under laboratory conditions. Your results can vary widely based on a number of factors not limited to but including - Room Temp and Acidity. So I've had wines that I wanted to end up at about 16 -16.5% ABV but in fact ended up at 13% and sweet. Why ? I can't tell but the temps seemed good, Acidity seemed good as well as having fresh yeast (EC-1118) But sometimes too much or too little nutrient perhaps or not adding it at the right time.

If this was simply a 'paint-by-the-numbers" type of hobby, it would be a lot less fun but as it is the process takes some time to figure out and then a curve comes your way and whiff - you miss you target.

One method to push the ABV up is to step feed the wine so that the yeast isn't overwhelmed. I'm about to do that with a blackberry wine that I hope to turn into a dessert wine with an ABV of 17-18%. I will also have to sweeten it up before bottling but first I have to get the ferment rolling along and with the room temp around 62 degrees I have to use towels around the buckets and place the bucket next to heater vents on the floor.

Again this hobby isn't a super simple one as some You-Tubers would have folks believe. Takes some time and effort to get consistent results and that's part of the fun.