So there's two threads that crop up regularly on most wine making forums:
1. I can't find any red grape concentrate or red grape juice ( Except the over priced Wilco stuff),
2. Red wine kits lack the body and carictor of shop bought wines.
Well I had the same problems. I was making drinkable reds from cheap thirty bottle kits ã20 - ã30 or WOW wines that really needed some RGC to lift them to the next level. Neither had that real depth you get from a good shop bought red.
So I was looking for a cheap option to try and circumvent the above issues and I bought a pack of red grape powder of Ebay, ã17 for 1Kg. It sat in a box of wine making equipment for about six month as I really wasn't expecting much from it and didn't want to waste time and effort to pour 23l down the drain. When I eventualy got round to making up a batch I thought I'd just use 500g with dextrose and E1118 yeast and a little nutrient. It started at 1.082 and finished 0.993. I did nothing except racking once and adding a two part clearing agent and leaving for a week before bottling. Well to my surprise I got 25 bottles of the best red wine I'd ever made, better than any kit I've made to this point.
That's 25 Bottles for half a pack plus dextrose and yeast.
I've since used it in place of RGC in WOWs and country wines with equally good results. I've just got another batch on go with some added raspberries and blackberries.
If anyone else has used grape powder please comment as I've not seen much written about it anywhere.
Paul.
1. I can't find any red grape concentrate or red grape juice ( Except the over priced Wilco stuff),
2. Red wine kits lack the body and carictor of shop bought wines.
Well I had the same problems. I was making drinkable reds from cheap thirty bottle kits ã20 - ã30 or WOW wines that really needed some RGC to lift them to the next level. Neither had that real depth you get from a good shop bought red.
So I was looking for a cheap option to try and circumvent the above issues and I bought a pack of red grape powder of Ebay, ã17 for 1Kg. It sat in a box of wine making equipment for about six month as I really wasn't expecting much from it and didn't want to waste time and effort to pour 23l down the drain. When I eventualy got round to making up a batch I thought I'd just use 500g with dextrose and E1118 yeast and a little nutrient. It started at 1.082 and finished 0.993. I did nothing except racking once and adding a two part clearing agent and leaving for a week before bottling. Well to my surprise I got 25 bottles of the best red wine I'd ever made, better than any kit I've made to this point.
That's 25 Bottles for half a pack plus dextrose and yeast.
I've since used it in place of RGC in WOWs and country wines with equally good results. I've just got another batch on go with some added raspberries and blackberries.
If anyone else has used grape powder please comment as I've not seen much written about it anywhere.
Paul.
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