Wine on a tight budget

[Wade E]

Ill try and locate it as I might have lost it during a computer crash last year. I never posted it cause I never tried it until now. I started it int Oct. 2006 and havent touched it till now!

Edited by: wade

 

[dfwwino]

Concord Wine with Welch's frozen grape concentrate makes a decent wine at less than $1 per bottle. But I would definitely add oak, otherwise the wine can be flabby and bland. Edited by: dfwwino

 

[smokegrub]

I have made several batches of Welch's 100% Concord Concentrate (not the cocktail juice) with 12 cans in 5 gallons. I do not find the wine flabby in taste at all and have seen no need to oak. In fact, the wine is somewhat tart when young but makes a very fine wine when aged 1 year. My wife and I are not wine conisseurs by any means but we prefer this wine to any other--so do our friends. We have shared many bottles and it is always well-received.

 

[dfwwino]

I don't mean to imply that unoaked Concord is not pleasing. However, I split a batch of Concord wine. On one, I used oak, on the other I did not. The one with the oak has more body, more complexity and is better. The unoaked version tastes like a glass of Welch's grape juice with alcohol. It is very easy to drink, but not nearly as complex. Now if I did not have the comparison, I probably would still be very pleased with the unoaked version. But based on this study, I'll always use oak. Of course, personal preferences are a factor and what I like, someone else might not like. I like bold, oaked red wines. Thus, I add oak to many of my fruit wines, like blueberry and blackberry, and make them more like a good red table wine rather than a sweet country wine. Edited by: dfwwino

 

[NorthernWinos]

I also added oak to my Welch's Concord frozen concentrate wines....I also added 2 bottles of WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate...the last batch I added 2 vanilla beans to the primary...it was the best batch so far.


Now I am kind of overrun with fruit juices, so am making fruit wines...I add the above ingredients to most of the fruit wines and end up with a nice red wine with fruit flavors...I recently added a few roasted peppercorns to the primary....I didn't really taste the pepper...It was just a really good wine.


I agree...add some oak and then try adding other things to a batch...variety is the spice of life.

 

[stormbringer]

Sorry for the delay in reply. Hear is the recipe that I used for my peach and everyone that has tried it loved it. I made 6 gallons and sweetened it in three different varieties: I left 5 bottles dry (this was OK, I prefer it at least off-dry), 10 bottles semi-sweet, and 15 bottles dessert style:

I am new to making fruit wines. Can anyone explain how I would adjust the recipe(in 3 seperate batches) for dry, semi-sweet, and dessert style?


Thanks

 

[Wade E]

You should ferment dry all of them and sweeten back after stabilizing with potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite. To do this you couid add juice or a sugar syrup. A sugar syrup is twice the sugar as water boiled together to make a syrup then slowly added to a stabilized wine to taste, some more than others. This will bring forward some of the lost fruit flavor but be careful not to oversweeten and remember that sweetness will come back a little with time to as the wine smooths out.

 

[Wade E]

Stormbringer, I just looked for the Dole recipe and it must be 1 of the ones I lost due to a crash ut Im sure it was 3 cans to a gallon and 2 tsp. acid blend but would check that with a titrate tester and sugar to no more than a 1.085 starting SG. 1 tsp yeast nutrient ans 1/2 tsp yeast energizer and 1 sachet of yeast. I think I used Red Star Cotes Des Blanc for my batch.

 

[lockdude]

I have been playing around with the juice wines,and made a gallon of old orchard concord with 3 cans of frozen,and 1 tsp of tartaric,1/4 tsp of tannin,tsp of DAP,and RC-212.The starting sg was 1075.I added no sugar.
I fermented it dry,and back sweetened it to 1004sg.Man its good! the tannin gave it the extra bite it was missing.
I started another one{3 gallon}and used 9 cans of grape,3 cans of old orchard cranberry,3 tsps of tartaric,3/4 tsp of tannin,3 tsps of DAP,and RC-212 with no sugar added.The starting sg was 1095.
I will post the results when its done.I also have 3 gallons of cranberry going with 12 cans of juice.
I will let you all know how it turns out.
lockdude

 

[Wade E]

Sounds good lockdude! Keep us posted.

 

[Mike1]

Are wines made from concentrates like welches early drinkers, or do they need lots of time to mellow out?


Mike

 

[PolishWineP]

Just about everythingis better with age. However, the wines I've made from concentrated fruit juices, if I finish them sweet, don't seem to need too much time in the bottle after the carboy. Keep in mind that I bulk age.

 

[lockdude]

They are early drinkers,but do get better with age.There cheap to make,and if you get a good balance of acid,tannins,and flavors,and backsweeten just enough to bring out more fruit flavors,there good!
I have been making the old welchs recipe for years,and thought it was time to try to improve it.So far so good.I am making these with more juice,and little or no sugar so they have more flavor.If you can get the acid,and tannins balanced with the amount of flavor,And use the right yeast,there really good for juice wines.I am determined to work up some better recipes with these juices,and when I think I have got it right,I will post them,and get some 2nd openions.The ones I am making have lots of flavor,and dont taste thin at all.I am keeping them just off of dry.
lockdude

 

[lockdude]

Well,I racked the 3 gallons of cranberry with 12 cans of frozen juice,and no sugar last night,and had a taste.It has as much flavor as unfermented cranberry juice!It was nice and dry,and had no off flavors,just LOTS OF CRANBERRY flavor.If you like cranberry juice,this one is a home run.
For the record,this is what I used.
7 cans of old orchard frozen cranberry
5 cans of linders frozen cranberry{100%}
1 pack of RC-212
3 tsps of tartaric acid
3/4 tsp of tannin
1 Tsp of DAP
1/8 Tsp of ferment-k
1 Tsp bentonite/in a slurry
The starting SG was 1100
I am really suprized at how much flavor it has.
Lockdude

 

[NorthernWinos]

That sound like it would have loads of flavor.


How dry do you think it will get??? Or, are you going for a sweet, semi-sweet wine?


The Linders frozen juices are hard to find, I finally found some when I was making a cherry wine...more expensive but 100% juices...where the Old Orchard is mixed with apple and Welch's with white grape....so nice to get the real deal.

 

[lockdude]

It is bone dry,as of last night when I tasted it.I didnt check the SG yet,but it was probably 0998.I will backsweeten it just a little to bring out the fruitiness more.Probably to 1004SG.It will be just off of dry.Its pretty clear now,and I will leave it for another week or so,to finish,then stablize and filter,and backsweeten.Its tart,but not unplesent.The tannin,and acid are balanced pretty good.
The linders juice was from schuncks/walgreens on sale for $5 for 5.
I got the old orchard from walmart for 89.cents a can.
Ive got about $12 bucks invested in it.
lockdude

 

[NorthernWinos]

Cool...the all juice cherry and cranberry I saw was $4.89 for a 12 oz can....Hope you bought a bunch at that price.

 

[lockdude]

I think the regular price was$1.79 a can.It said 100% cranberry,from concentrate.
Im going to try a 1 gallon of old orchard apple/cherry with 4 cans,and the same amounts of acid,and tannin.They are thawing out now.I will have to see what the sg is with 4 cans of this stuff,because it might be different.
I like not having to add sugar,but will if I have to.They all should be 12% so they will keep good.
lockdude

 

[Mike1]

lockdude, I'm thinking about making a concord with some frozen blueberries. I was thinking about using 6 cans of frozen grape juice concentrate and 3 lbs of frozen blueberries for a 3 gallon batch. Do you think that's enough concentrate and berries to produce a flavorful wine, or do you think it will be thin? Also, what yeast would you recommend?


Mike

 

[lockdude]

It will probably be ok but you might want to use more blueberrys to make it more balanced.I dont think it would be thin.I have been using RC-212,and pastuer red with real good results.The 1122 lalvin works good,but I think the other two give it more of a wine flavor so it doesnt taste as much like juice wine.Im no expert on the subject,but have been trying to make some of these with more flavor,and balance,and tannins.
The ones I have made so far have been really flavorful,and rich,and almost dry.I started another gallon batch tonight with 4 cans of old orchard apple/cherry,and a little sugar to get the sg to 1100.
lockdude