Using Refrigerated Juice

[Jared]

Hello!

I have been pondering a juice combination for a while now and want to proceed with this wine. However, the 2 juice types that I would be mixing (Good Belly Blueberry Acai and Good Belly Pomegranate Black Berry) are refrigerated items. I know from experience that things that are supposed to be refrigerated have very bad consequences when not adhered to. Is this ok to use in the wine making process?

 

[Arne]

If you get them fermenting in a reasonable amount of time you should be o.k. Might try making a yeast starter so the yeast is already fermenting when you dump it in. Arne.

 

[franc1969]

(Good Belly Blueberry Acai and Good Belly Pomegranate Black Berry)

I am quite new at winemaking, but I doubt that starting with Lactobacillus filled juice is going to turn out well. I like them, work great when what you want are probiotics.

 

[Scooter68]

Lactobacillus is a producer of Lactic acid, the same acid produced during a MLF - The issue would if an imbalance of acid occurs. Lactic Acid can cause issue IF your pH (Not enough acid) and SO2 levels are low. Having said that even without Lactic Acid having a low pH and a low SO2 level is NOT good with any wine.

Unless you were doing a 5 gallon or larger batch, I don't see what's wrong with giving it a try.

The refrigeration is not an issue. In a sense we want those 'bad things' to happen - that is what fermentation is a type of "spoilage" of the juice except that we are controlling the type of spoilage by using a yeast designed to produce alcohol and creating condition that will prevent other bacteria from spoiling the wine.

If you are really concerned about other bacteria, treat the juice with K-Meta for a day before you pitch the yeast just as we do with other fruit wines.
If you get the pH right before you start the wine it should go well.