Prison style wine

[rickyboyg]

Hi,

I will be starting a brew next week using a 2.4 litre bottle of 100% grape juice and will be using sachets of wine brewers yeast.

My question is: how much sugar will I need to add to make sure the taste is still nice and not too dry after the fermentation process is finished?

thanks in advance!

 

[Boatbrewer]

To get around 11-12% ABV you need to ferment about 240g total sugar per litre.

Find out how much sugar is in the juice and add what you need to make 240g per litre.

However, while mixing grape juice sugar and yeast might satisfy a con, it will not be nice.

Take your grape juice, add a litre of apple juice, a cup of strong black tea, a little citric acid and some yeast nutrient. make it up to 5 litres with water.

Then you will brew something worth drinking!

 

[oldbloke]

Hi,
how much sugar will I need to add to make sure the taste is still nice and not too dry after the fermentation process is finished?

To stop it being too dry you either need to have some sugar left after the yeast dies of alcohol poisoning, which will be too strong, or knock the yeast off yourself when the sweetness is where you want it - which means using a hydrometer and when you get to the gravity you want, stopping the yeast with potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulphite.
And then you've strayed well away from 'prison style' and may as well do it properly - extras as suggested above

 

[Chippy_Tea]

As oldperculiar says it will not be very good, if you want to make wine that is enjoyable have a look at the thread in my signature below.

 

[rickyboyg]

Thanks for the great recipes and ideas!

Although I live in Indonesia ATM and can't get hold of glycerine, bentonite, and yeast nutrient. I just want something that tastes wineish and has a decent %age ABV.

Do you think it will be much of a problem if I don't use the chemicals mentioned above.



Thanks!

 

[calumscott]

Glycerine - not required. Just adds a more rounded mouth feel, a bit more "texture".
Bentonite - not required. It's a fining agent to help your wine clear. There are others, isinglass for example.
Yeast Nutrient - required. Pure juices for drinking tend not to have the chemistry suitable for healthy yeast. Some say that tomato puree can act as a good substitute.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Although I live in Indonesia ATM and can't get hold of glycerine, bentonite, and yeast nutrient. I just want something that tastes wineish and has a decent %age ABV.

I have read you can use Marmite as a nutrient but i dont know how much you use per gallon (i am sure someone will let you know)
Glycerine adds mouth feel, if you have never had it in a wine you wont miss it.
I use youngs super wine yeast compound that has Bentonite in it, if i didnt have any i wouldn't worry.
You haven't mentioned Pectolace if you can get it use it, If you're not fussed about a clear wine you can ditch the pectolase and bentonite

Bentonite is a fining agent. Fining is the action of removing particles that make a haze in wine, by combining them with materials that bind to them and force them out of suspension, leaving the wine clear and bright. The process not only improves a wine’s appearance, but also makes sure that it is stable. This means that it won’t change its appearance, taste, aroma, or chemical composition while in storage.

 

[oldbloke]

Thanks for the great recipes and ideas!
Although I live in Indonesia ATM and can't get hold of glycerine, bentonite, and yeast nutrient. I just want something that tastes wineish and has a decent %age ABV.
Do you think it will be much of a problem if I don't use the chemicals mentioned above.
Thanks!

Ah, that's a slightly different thing...
A mix of grape juice and apple juice might be best. Some blackcurrant always seems to make things more wine-y. Some raisins or sultanas always help.
See the thread(s) on WOW for ideas for juice mixes. Just avoid any with sulphite or sorbate preservatives.

As said, you can manage perfectly well without glycerine or bentonite - I rarely use any finings, I just give the stuff more time to sort itself out.
But you will want some sort of nutrient - if you can buy chemicals it's diammonium sulphate. In a pinch you can use a bit of marmite or tomato ketchup, say a big spoonful to the gallon. Vitamin b12 (I think) is useful too.

For strength, a rough guide is 20gm sugar per litre gives 1%
So if you have a 5l fermenter and want 14% you need 20x5x14 = 1400gm of sugar. Check the labels on your juices, work out how much actual sugar you need to add.
But it will ferment dry. If you can't get the stabilising chemicals to knock out the yeast, you're probably going to have to use artificial sweetener. Or maybe a juice/cordial with sorbates/sulphites in it (eg Ribena) that'll do the job for you and sweeten slightly at the same time