How many frozen concentrates per gallon?

[deano003]

I have done 5 different batches of juice wines and they all have turned out great. I am wondering if I use the frozen concentrate I could regulate the amount Diluted, possibly creating a more robust flavor. How many cans per gallon???

 

[Scooter68]

What kind of juice?

 

[Johnd]

At the very least, use enough cans to give you the SG needed to produce your desired ABV. If you use too little concentrate (watered down) and add sugar to boost the ABV, you may end up with a wine light on flavor in comparison to ABV, an out of balance wine.

The answer to your question is yes. Using more concentrate will increase the “robustness” of your wine. On the other side of the diluted scenario above, too much concentrate may yields a SG which produces a wine with too high an ABV, so proceed cautiously.

For a fruit wine, I wouldn’t shoot for an SG any higher than 1.090, which would give an ABV in the 12% - 13% range. Experiment with 1 gallon of water, add two cans and see what the SG is. Add more til you hit 1.090 with one gallon, then you can figure out how many cans you need to add to each gallon of water for whatever volume you want. Your starting volume should be a little be more than your desired ending volume when you start fermenting, but after a few rackings, you should get pretty close to your planned ending volume.

 

[deano003]

What kind of juice?

100% fruit juice

 

[deano003]

At the very least, use enough cans to give you the SG needed to produce your desired ABV. If you use too little concentrate (watered down) and add sugar to boost the ABV, you may end up with a wine light on flavor in comparison to ABV, an out of balance wine.

The answer to your question is yes. Using more concentrate will increase the “robustness” of your wine. On the other side of the diluted scenario above, too much concentrate may yields a SG which produces a wine with too high an ABV, so proceed cautiously.

For a fruit wine, I wouldn’t shoot for an SG any higher than 1.090, which would give an ABV in the 12% - 13% range. Experiment with 1 gallon of water, add two cans and see what the SG is. Add more til you hit 1.090 with one gallon, then you can figure out how many cans you need to add to each gallon of water for whatever volume you want. Your starting volume should be a little be more than your desired ending volume when you start fermenting, but after a few rackings, you should get pretty close to your planned ending volume.

Excellent!!! Thank you!

 

[Scooter68]

What Kind of Juice ??? Grape, Apple, Mixed Berry .... ? It can make a difference in the flavor of your wine. As JohnD says avoid adding too much water. I'd start out with nor more than 50% of the water they call for on the label - so if they say add 3 cans of water - start with 1 1/2 cans.
Also 100% juice only means Just that. The Label might say Blueberry or Blackberry\ but in reality it might be mostly Apple and White Grape juice with less than 20 % being The name of the juice on the label. So you might be getting mostly Apple Juice (One of the least expensive juices) but paying a higher price because it has 20% of a more expensive juice. Ingredients are listed in the order of the percentage of what's in there.

Here's a sample of the ingredients in "Old Orchard" Berry Blend Frozen Concentrate: Apple juice concentrate, filtered water, pear juice concentrate, aronia berry juice concentrate, citric acid, grape juice concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid, blackberry juice concentrate, blueberry juice concentrate, strawberry

That's not to say it won't taste good but when you make wine from such blends, the Apple Flavor will be stronger in the wine than in the non-fermented juice. Just be aware of what you are getting even when it says "100% Juice"

 

[Johnd]

LOL!! I knew @Scooter68 would finish it up with the juice talk!!! He’s right on track, if you’re looking to produce a certain fruit wine, work hard to find the pure varietal stuff without all the additives, it’s worth the effort.....

 

[Scooter68]

Ahhh, I have become too predictable. Or is that a good thing - Consistent? Thanks Johnd

I keep repeating it because I don't want folks to have a bad first experience.

I'm ALL for saving $$$ when I can but I believe we all want quality and I've been tempted to cut corners not and then.

 

[Johnd]

Ahhh, I have become too predictable. Or is that a good thing - Consistent? Thanks Johnd

I keep repeating it because I don't want folks to have a bad first experience.

I'm ALL for saving $$$ when I can but I believe we all want quality and I've been tempted to cut corners not and then.

I don’t categorize it as too predictable, consistent or dependable is more along the lines of my thinking. It’s good that you’ve “been there, done that” and are so willing to help others down the good road to fruit winemaking.

 

[Scooter68]

One last comment You should also try a batch of wine from frozen fruit or fresh fruit. The cost may be a little more but if you chose fruit that is just on the edge of getting over-ripe the flavor is great and the natural sugar content is going to reduce the amount of sugar you need to add. I was looking at Sam's club and their canned pineapple tidbits (Pineapple chunks and Pineapple Juice) that along with either frozen mango chunks or fresh and REALLY ripe mangos and you can have a great batch of wine.
I would suggest a small batch to start with One great one that you could start now and enjoy by the end of summer would be Pineapple Mango and you can get either or both fresh now. Just make sure you start with an extra volume to allow for the loss due to pulp. It will be your truest flavor of a wine for that fruit. Nothing against using prepared juices ( I do it) but when you can use the real fruit, you will taste the difference.

 

[hounddawg]

I have done 5 different batches of juice wines and they all have turned out great. I am wondering if I use the frozen concentrate I could regulate the amount Diluted, possibly creating a more robust flavor. How many cans per gallon???

check out homewinery.com , i use 3 concentrates for 2-6,GAL carboys plus a one gallon jug to top off with,,

 

[wpt-me]

If you are talking Welches then 4 cans per gallon. Then use some to back sweeten to taste.

Bill

 

[Scooter68]

Rather than just thinking in terms of how many cans.... Think in terms of the two most important factores 1) SG you want to achieve and 2) Flavor strong enough to still be solid after the sugar becomes alcohol. For my wine making from concentrated Cherry Juice I use 4 bottles to make 3 gallons - Each bottle is supposed to make 1 gallon. I still have to add sugar to that mix because the Cherry Juice just doesn't have enough sugar on it's own but... It all depends on the type of juice you are using. I look at the calories per 'serving' of the final product as the packager intended it to be made. The higher that value in terms of calories, the less sugar you're going to have to add. For my cherry concentrate it comes in at 110 calories per serving. I've seen 100% juices as low as 70 and as high as 120.
Naturally the other factor is flavor. As I mentioned in a previous post some juices just don't have a ton of flavor so in those cases you might need to increase the amount of concentrate, as long as your SG doesn't go too high. I've never heard anyone say - "Hey the flavor of this wine is too strong." The ABV can get too high but flavor... just haven't heard of that.