Will this even be drinkable?

[coollikefonzie]

Okay, so my roommate brews a lot of beer and he had 2 empty one-gallon carboys. I went to the brew store (by the way, I found out my local brew store is very popular with nationwide online orders. It's called Midwest) and bought dry wine yeast. I really do not know what I'm doing, so I randomly bought about 5 different yeasts. I can't tell you which ones right now, either.

This is what I did:

(I do know enough to sanitize everything)

I took one can frozen grape juice concentrate, added water and sugar (4 to 5 cups) to the carboy... shook it up very well... Activated my yeast and added it, shook it a little... then put on my air locks (with vodka in them)

After I did all this, I found better instruction... I left out some major ingredients like campden tablets, enzymes, and acid

I was wondering if anyone can tell me if what I made will be drinkable and how long I should expect fermentation to take... Also, if it's readily drinkable once bottled right after fermantation

I know it sounds like the equivalent to prison wine but it's my first batch and I have no idea what I'm doing

 

[Tom]

Doubt it will come out. You R trying to make wine. You need 3-4 cans of concentrate per gallon. You also need to add sugar to 1.085. I doubt you have a hydrometer.
Do you have any equipment?

 

[coollikefonzie]

Thanks Tom... I'll have to get a lesson from my roommate on taking readings. I think I will let this ferment and at least give it a try... If it's horrible, I'll dump it and I'm out about four bucks, not too bad. Then I guess it's back to the drawing board and I'll actually follow a recipe

 

[sly22guy]

Go to the section on skeeter pee get the recipe for it and use what u started to make a batch! U won't be sorry!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

Stick around - make a few more batches - you will get the hang of it. Before you start your next batch check here first. There are a lot of folks that can help you along your way.

If you stick this one out - i would definitely add some campden (i prefer the powder form potassium metabisulfite or k-meta). Once it is stabilized you can back sweeten or add a flavor pac to help with sweetness and flavor - you can also adjust the acidity after fermentation.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

If you've got a roomie that brews a lot of beer, he could actually be good at it and it likely turns out pretty good beer. If you produce a lame wine, it no doubt will get compared to the far superior beer, and it could discourage you from making another batch. If you've got any money at all, I'd suggest you buy a starter equipment kit..... it'll cost you somewhere between $75 and $100. I would then suggest you buy a wine ingredient kit. You can get an Island Mist kit for less than $50 and, while it doesn't produce a wine that snobs will love, most casual drinkers like them.

Do this and except for die hard beer drinkers, guests will be passing on the beer to sample your delicious wine. This kit will produce 30 bottles of wine, so even with the equipment cost factored in, the wine will cost you less than $5 a bottle. Your next batch will cost much less since your equipment can be re-used.

Midwest is an advertiser on this site, so we like to support them. They'll have all the stuff you'll need to get started. They also might give you a free DVD on wine making if you ask them for it. Tell 'em Lon sent ya.

Good luck,

 

[coollikefonzie]

Thanks everyone... I'm actually very excited to see that there are some helpful people on this site. I wasn't sure what to expect. It's good to hear I have a chance to salvage this batch... I just looked today and it's still very active. I'm getting kind of anxious (probably the worst trait a wine maker can have) but I'm also excited.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Larryh86GT]

Don't worry. That anxious feeling is normal on your first batch. As you make more batches it gets easier. Breathe.....

Larry

 

[coollikefonzie]

HAHAHA! It tastes like 17%-alcohol Robitussin.

 

[wvbrewer]

Good luck with future batches. It must be nice just to stop by Midwest whenever you want to. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Torch404]

If the flavor isn't too bad you can mix it with juice or similar to make it drinkable, also to dilute the alcohol taste. Bottling and waiting might mellow it out but probably not worth the cost of corks. Freezing it or leaving it in the fridge for an extended period of time might also aid flavor.

Keep trying they'll get better.

 

[grapeman]

Between the sugar you added and the can of concentrate, you do indeed have about a 17-19%ABV that probably will not ferment dry. I would go find about a 3-5 gallon bucket, sanitize it with k-meta solution (campdens will work but take a lot). I would then dump the contents of the gallon you have into the bucket, add about three or four cans of extra concentrate into it, bring it up to about 9 quarts. I would let that ferment dry and you should have about 10-11% ABV and a decnt wine. Use this to learn, don't just dump it!

 

[xanxer82]

You can get frosting buckets that are food grade from your local bakery. They normally toss them out and have been pretty willing to five them away for free.