Adding Juice to Wine Kit

[mancer62]

I have posted on here before regards the same sort of thing but since the last time I have had to put home brewing onto the back burner for a while...however as xmas approaches I will try to do one this weekend.
I am making a 30 bottle Merlot kit....I got it at bargain price from Tesco sale few months ago. I want to try beef it up a bit give it more depth body. I asked my wife to buy red wine concentrate from wilko and she came back with white.
Will it be ok to use the white? As I get regular deliveries from Iceland I am also thinking of adding grape juice. They have a product on special at the moment 3 x 1litre bottles for £3. Do you think adding 3 would be enough and make a difference. The product is 'Iceland Red Grape & Berry Juice Drink 1L'
(Pasteurised juice drink made using grape and apple juices, and strawberry, raspberry and blackberry purées with sweetener.Per 150ml as Sold
Energy
120 kJ / 28 kcal
180 kJ / 42 kcal
Fat
0.0g
0.0g
(of which saturates)
0.0g
0.0g)
Carbohydrate
6.3g
9.4g
(of which sugars)
5.0g
7.5g)
Fibre
0.5g
0.8g
Protein
0.0g
0.0g
Salt
0.0g
0.0g.
Look forward to advice ty

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Get down to Lidl - pure red grape juice a little over £1 per litre. I always add 2 litres to my kit wines.
I've never used the grape concentrates.
Red grape juice powder is available - £17 for 1 kg: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grape-Powder-for-Wine-Making-1kg-Red-Rose-White-/282118668001
There is a thread on this forum about it: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=72829&highlight=grape+powder

 

[mancer62]

Unfortunately Lidl not close to me...I am getting an Iceland order and thought I'd add 3l of their juice. Do you think it would work and improve it ok. And as far as the grape concentrate I may as well throw it in as I already have it what u think ?

 

[tonyhibbett]

Assuming this is the Winebuddy merlot, the white concentrate will boost the grape juice by about 10% and slightly raise the alcohol content.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
The Winebuddy kits are based on apple juice, so I wouldn't want to add anything with more apple juice in it.
I use these kits and my wife (who is the wine drinker) thinks that they produce a good everyday wine.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The Winebuddy kits are based on grape juice concentrate, not apple juice. The best addition to the so-called merlot is Waitrose merlot juice.

 

[mancer62]

Again no waitrose near me...would using the juice I mentioned from Iceland along with the white grape concentrate I have from wilko be ok in my wine buddy merlot? would it do any harm? is it likely to improve it or not? ty

 

[tonyhibbett]

Asda do red grape juice, 3 litres for £3 last time I looked.

 

[Bigcol49]

The Winebuddy kits are based on grape juice concentrate, not apple juice.

Hi!
I saw this on another website:
"Wine Buddy Chardonnay style 7 day wine kit. Contains 1 litre concentrated grape and apple juice, complete with yeast, nutrient and finings. Ready to drink in 7 days."

There's only 20% grape juice in the syrup.

 

[mancer62]

Thanks for all the input was great help. Iceland didnt have the grape juice so went with the Asda £3 for 3. I added this along with the Wilkos white grape concentrate and made 22.7 L with an OG of 1086.....I'm happy with this as I'm looking for around the 12% ABV mark.....what's the usual FG of wine around again been a while since I made. Cheers

 

[benbw]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but I'm currently testing using the concentrate from 2 Wilkos kits in one jar. You don't have to add as much sugar, either. I'm hoping that will give it more depth and body than the thin weak wine you get from one tin. I'll let you know when it's finished.

 

[Vinotinto]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but I'm currently testing using the concentrate from 2 Wilkos kits in one jar. You don't have to add as much sugar, either. I'm hoping that will give it more depth and body than the thin weak wine you get from one tin. I'll let you know when it's finished.

Watch this with interest. May give me an idea for the 5 x winebuddy kits I have languishing. maybe use all in one :thumb:

 

[benbw]

Watch this with interest. May give me an idea for the 5 x winebuddy kits I have languishing. maybe use all in one :thumb:

The results are in! Using two tins of Wilko's concentrate is a resounding success. The straight recipe is one tin with 450g of sugar. With two tins, you have to use hardly any extra sugar at all. I put 200g in, but the hydrometer was off the scale! :lol: So I had to dilute it down a bit to get it on the scale.

The wine I was getting from "one can" was pink and transparent in the glass, and with a light, banana/apple flavour; the "two-can" wine is dark and plummy, like a proper red. Once it's sat in the bottles for a while, it will be really quite nice.

My wife has described it as "not unpleasant at all", which is perhaps the highest praise.