Mad-wine scientist!

[Busch]

Just made my 1st bottle of wine and tasted just like grape juice but with 12% abv. So back at it again with a blend of concentrates!! Any suggestions on how long I should keep bottled up? Does the longer it sits really make concentrate wine better??

 

[Bossbaby]

The nice thing about grocery juice wines is they are early drinkers, there could be some benefit to aging in bulk for a while mainly to help clear out fine yeasty particles that will provide an off flavor.

 

[hounddawg]

www.colomafrozen.com , yes a red wine needs a year or so,, as well a juice is only so favorable , where as a concentrate , you use less water for more flavor, the link above is a good single fruit concentrate, both fruits-berries- grapes,,,
Dawg

 

[Busch]

www.colomafrozen.com , yes a red wine needs a year or so,, as well a juice is only so favorable , where as a concentrate , you use less water for more flavor, the link above is a good single fruit concentrate, both fruits-berries- grapes,,,
Dawg

Thank you for the link but I think until I figure out what the heck I am doing wrong, I will need to stick with less expensive concentrates. Seems my 2nd attempt also came out fizzy and juice tasting. Not sure if fermenting for a week is too long or too short. And the abv came out about 10%...

 

[Jovimaple]

Fermentation can take 3 days to several weeks. It's generally considered complete when the specific gravity is less than 1.000 and stable for 3 days in a row.

After fermentation is complete and the wine has been racked to a carboy under airlock, gross lees will drop out for the next week or two. After that, the wine should be racked again to get it off the gross lees. At that point, it will still be offgassing CO2 so it will still be fizzy and not very clear. You can begin to manually degas it when you rack it off the gross lees, by stirring it for 5 minutes, switching directions every 30 seconds or so. Degassing will also help suspended solids to drop out.

Most wines should age at least another 3 to 6 months under airlock after that. That will help them finish degassing and clearing.

Check out the beginners winemaking thread for more detailed information, and good luck!

 

[ChuckD]

Yep, even an “early drinker” is going to be two to three months. I would get some one gallon glass jugs and try a slightly larger batch so you can see what bulk aging and clearing will do for your wine.

 

[salcoco]

I would suggest adding about 1/4 tsp tannin to juice wil give some body to the wine. also use a hydrometer to determine completed fermentation rather than time. fizziness is wine still fermenting.

 

[Busch]

I would suggest adding about 1/4 tsp tannin to juice wil give some body to the wine. also use a hydrometer to determine completed fermentation rather than time. fizziness is wine still fermenting.

Is there any tannin that is better than others? I know there is with yeast, just wondered if tannins were different too.

 

[sour_grapes]

Is there any tannin that is better than others? I know there is with yeast, just wondered if tannins were different too.

Yes. IME, generic "wine tannin" from, say, LD Carlson is bitter and yucky. Something like Tannin Riche Extra from Scott Laboratories is delicious: Tannin Riche Extra | MoreWine

 

[Jim Welch]

I'm in the process of making a Zinfandel from concentrate from the coloma frozen that @hounddawg mentioned, just put it into glass for bulk aging. It is tasting OK, about what I'd expect from a green (red) wine. I also have Chardonnay concentrate still in the freezer waiting to be fermented. If one wants to make wine from concentrate they should check that site, Coloma has many fruit and grape concentrates available in several different sizes.

 

[Busch]

www.colomafrozen.com , yes a red wine needs a year or so,, as well a juice is only so favorable , where as a concentrate , you use less water for more flavor, the link above is a good single fruit concentrate, both fruits-berries- grapes,,,
Dawg

With these wine grape concentrates, what does it mean when they reference the dilution ratios. I'd like to start making real wine and not dessert wines but new to this as well

 

[Jim Welch]

I believe that is their estimate on reconstituting the concentrate to its original pre-concentrated strength. I've been using it in quart jugs to make starters for several months now and purchased a 4 gal container of Zinfandel in December. Using their ratio I exzpected to have about 15.2 gallons that I would split between 2 10 gal bucket fermenters.
When I mixed it up in these two fermenters by their ratio the brix was over 28! I had 4 packs of grape skins and after adding them the brix was over 30!
I diluted both to 24.5 Brix iirc (at work and do not have my notes), broke out another 10 gal fermenter and ended up with what I then estimated to be 3 6-7 gallon batches. I just racked these 3 batches out of secondary into glass carboys for bulk aging and ended up with 3-5 gal carboys and 1-3 gal carboy, all full plus a 2 liter Ball jar filled to the brim.

 

[winemaker81]

With these wine grape concentrates, what does it mean when they reference the dilution ratios. I'd like to start making real wine and not dessert wines but new to this as well

Concentrates are often made at 68 brix, so it's diluted down to a desired level, typically 21 to 25 brix. I'd lean towards the vendor's recommendation, as for the reputable ones, the acid is more likely to be balanced at that level of dilution.

However, @Jim Welch's tale is a good caution to pay attention, use your hydrometer, and think your way through what the result will be.

To answer the question I believe you want answered, the ABV of a wine is directly dependent on the starting sugar, regardless if it's measured by SG or brix. In Jim's situation, 28 brix produces 16-17% ABV, depending on which formula you use (all ABV formulas are an approximation).

If you start with the SG between 1.085 and 1.100, you will produce a table wine strength. For light fruit wines I tend towards the bottom of that scale, for whites and quicker drinking reds, the middle. For heavy reds I'm at the top of the scale, maybe a bit higher. This is driven by the relative body of the wine.

It's hard to provide an exact answer, as there are many variables, including your taste in wine.

 

[Busch]

Concentrates are often made at 68 brix, so it's diluted down to a desired level, typically 21 to 25 brix. I'd lean towards the vendor's recommendation, as for the reputable ones, the acid is more likely to be balanced at that level of dilution.

However, @Jim Welch's tale is a good caution to pay attention, use your hydrometer, and think your way through what the result will be.

To answer the question I believe you want answered, the ABV of a wine is directly dependent on the starting sugar, regardless if it's measured by SG or brix. In Jim's situation, 28 brix produces 16-17% ABV, depending on which formula you use (all ABV formulas are an approximation).

If you start with the SG between 1.085 and 1.100, you will produce a table wine strength. For light fruit wines I tend towards the bottom of that scale, for whites and quicker drinking reds, the middle. For heavy reds I'm at the top of the scale, maybe a bit higher. This is driven by the relative body of the wine.

It's hard to provide an exact answer, as there are many variables, including your taste in wine.

Thank you for your response! It was very insightful!