Wine from store purchased juice - 1st attempt

[Ericphotoart]

In September I will start my first grape wine from juice. I don’t count my merlot from grape juice concentrate or any kit. Tomorrow I will drive to my local wine store and order 2 6 gallon pails of juice. I’m not decided what yet. They offer almost 30 different varieties. Probably Cabernet and maybe Montepulciano. So here is my question. They come in around 7 gallon pails so fermenting directly in the same buckets will not be possible most likely. Is it a good idea to split the bucket and ferment 3 gallons in one bucket and the other 3 gallons in another? Another question which I will ask in the store as well but is the juice usually in the proper brix so adding sugar is not necessary? How about acidity? I intend to buy skin packs (1 lb/6 gallon?)

 

[Ohio Bob]

In September I will start my first grape wine from juice. I don’t count my merlot from grape juice concentrate or any kit. Tomorrow I will drive to my local wine store and order 2 6 gallon pails of juice. I’m not decided what yet. They offer almost 30 different varieties. Probably Cabernet and maybe Montepulciano. So here is my question. They come in around 7 gallon pails so fermenting directly in the same buckets will not be possible most likely. Is it a good idea to split the bucket and ferment 3 gallons in one bucket and the other 3 gallons in another? Another question which I will ask in the store as well but is the juice usually in the proper brix so adding sugar is not necessary? How about acidity? I intend to buy skin packs (1 lb/6 gallon?)

Juice buckets are very likely to come in at exactly SG of 1.090, and a reasonable acid. They do not need any sugar unless that is your plan.

Absolutely ferment your 7 gallons in two batches, I even put a different yeast in each bucket to give the final wine a little complexity. You are on the right track!

 

[Ericphotoart]

Thanks a lot Bob. I followed your recommendations once and i was very happy with the results. What yeasts would you recommend?

 

[Ohio Bob]

Thanks a lot Bob. I followed your recommendations once and i was very happy with the results. What yeasts would you recommend?

Yeast selection is a matter of taste. Check out any number of yeast guides on the Internet. I use the Morewine site a lot.

 

[winemaker81]

The Sangiovese buckets I purchased from Gino Pinto (NJ/VA) last fall came in at exactly 1.090. However, I don't know that we can trust all vendors to do that. You're going to check the SG when you get the buckets, so if either is low, you can easily adjust.

If this is going to be part of your normal winemaking considering buying a couple of 10 gallon Rubbermaid Brutes. These will reduce hassle as you won't have to split batches.

 

[cmason1957]

I did juice buckets from several distributors for about 5 or 6 years. They always came in at 1.090 +/- 0.003. But, as Bryan points out, you will want to verify that you are in that range.

You will want to check, and probably, adjust the acidity. Mine were always a little bit lower than I wanted them to be. Also, mine had a tendency to start fermentation as soon as they got above 60F. I didn't always add kmeta at the start, since I knew I would be putting them through MLF.

 

[Ericphotoart]

I'm purchasing the juice from a store in Drums, PA. The owner told me the juice comes with acidity adjusted but didn't give me any specifics. I will check it when I pick it up on Sunday. Although he mentioned that if I want to adjust SG it should be done only when the juice is cold and only about 1 lb/ bucket. I'm not sure why. MLF is something I've never tried and I'm a little intimidated. The process seams to me a little complicated not to mention the MLF bacteria are a little bit expensive if I buy it only for 6 or 12 gallon must.