Started my 1st batch after ~9 years of not making wine

[ithink2020]

Last night i got the Must together for a Red wine made from frozen concentrate. I made a few mistakes because I was in a hurry, but was able to correct most of them. Must is at 1.090 and rehydrating the yeast now. Will pitch yeast in a few minutes.

Biggest mistake/Issue was to get the SG up to 1.090, I used so much simple syrup that I'm now sitting out just under 4 gallons of must. Which isn't too bad, since I'll rack into a 3 gallon Carboy and into a 1 gallon jug. Then use the gallon for topping up at racking time. What is the best ratio for water/sugar when creating a syrup to add to a must?

Here is what's in the must:

Old Orchard Frozen 100% Juice Concentrate, grape	4 cans
Old Orchard 100% Grape Juice	128 oz
Water	1 gallon
Sugar	~4 lbs ***
Acid Blend	6 tsp
pectic enzyme	3 tsp
Yeast Nutrient	3 tsp
Sodium Metabisulfite	1/8 tsp

Hopefully I will take my time from this point on!

I'm keeping this batch simple at the moment. But what tweaks to you all do with wines made from Frozen Concentrate? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[cmason1957]

I always just add sugar and stir to get it to dissolve, so my best ratio is 100% sugar 0% water.

 

[salcoco]

I would add about 1/4 tsp tannin per gallon to your must.

 

[ithink2020]

I would add about 1/4 tsp tannin per gallon to your must.

I've never used tannin for this type of wine before. Can you remind me what that will do for this type of wine?

Matt

 

[ithink2020]

I always just add sugar and stir to get it to dissolve, so my best ratio is 100% sugar 0% water.

I'll try this next time. I was concerned the sugar wouldn't fully dissolve. Do you ever have an issue with that?

 

[cmason1957]

I'll try this next time. I was concerned the sugar wouldn't fully dissolve. Do you ever have an issue with that?

Not in the least, give it a really, really good stir and it dissolves quite fine. I do the same with backsweetening, pull out about twice as much wine as sugar I am going to add, mix sugar, then add to remaining wine.

 

[salcoco]

tannin will give you improve mouthfeel. normally integral to grapes,with the concentrate none is available. I add tannin to all juice wine grape or fruit.

 

[ithink2020]

I checked the must this morning and it's fermenting away. Smells good, too.

Not in the least, give it a really, really good stir and it dissolves quite fine. I do the same with backsweetening, pull out about twice as much wine as sugar I am going to add, mix sugar, then add to remaining wine.

I'll just do this next time. Do you have the must at room temp, warm or has it mattered?

tannin will give you improve mouthfeel. normally integral to grapes,with the concentrate none is available. I add tannin to all juice wine grape or fruit.

Okay, since I've got 4 gallons of Must, I'll add a tsp of tannin to the secondary.


Thanks!

 

[cmason1957]

I'll just do this next time. Do you have the must at room temp, warm or has it mattered?
Thanks!

It's probably pretty close to room temp, but my room temp is basement temp, somewhere between 62 and 68 F.

 

[ithink2020]

Well, I forgot to put tannin in the wine when I transferred to the 2nd. Just tasted some from a bottle that had some extra in it after topping up. Tastes like it didn't fully ferment out; sweet and tart.

The wine in the carboy is still dropping, but VERY SLOWLY... Racked at 1.024 on April 30th and it is at 1.013 right now. Not sure why it is so slow. I haven't degassed yet and seems to have a lot of gas. Bubbles are still rising up.

 

[hounddawg]

Not in the least, give it a really, really good stir and it dissolves quite fine. I do the same with backsweetening, pull out about twice as much wine as sugar I am going to add, mix sugar, then add to remaining wine.

same for me, i've never made a simple syrup, just dry sugar, but the rato is 2 sugar to 1 water, never had any issues using dry sugar, just like cmason1957 sais,,,
Dawg

 

[Johnd]

same for me, i've never made a simple syrup, just dry sugar, but the rato is 2 sugar to 1 water, never had any issues using dry sugar, just like cmason1957 sais,,,
Dawg

Gotta chime in here too, dry sugar it is for me as well. I like my wine to be as full strength On flavor as possible. Why add sugared water to beef up the ABV when all you really need is sugar. I know, I know, the whole sucrose / fructose story, fine, I’ve never had a problem fermenting wine with sugar added to dryness. Period. So I use straight up sugar and don’t dilute my flavors. We are told to top up with like wine, right? So why would I add sugared water instead of just sugar. Might as well just top off with water.