Supermarket juice red wine WOW without grape concentrate

[Berry454]

I had a good look through the supermarket WOW thread on here and I noticed a distinct lack of red wines from supermarket juices. Actually no red wines that didn't contain grape concentrate. So I brainstormed and decided to create one.

This wine recipe will use grape skin extract to make what would usually be a rose colour wine into a dark red wine. Grape skin extract is extremely cheap compared to red grape concentrate. A 500g tub can be had for about £25. In comparison this recipe will use just 25g of grape skin extract. Making the total cost of the grape skin extract used in this batch at around £2.

Grape skin extract can be bought in many of different places. eBay, Amazon, health food stores ect.

The recipe

8 Lt Asda red grape juice £8
11 black tea bags stewed for the tannin £0.50
25g high quality grape skin extract £2
1 box of 40 Morrisons red berry tea bags £1.29
3720g sugar £2
5 TSP Young's super wine yeast £1
5 TSP Wilko nutrient £0.20
5 TSP citric acid £0.20


Add 12.5g of grape skin extract to the fermenter along with 2 litres of boiling water. Mix well for a minute or two.

Next brew the 11 black tea bags and 40 red berry tea bags in a large bowl with 1.5 litres of boiling water. After 30 minutes strain the tea bags through a sive and press them hard between hands to get all the liquid out of them. Add this to the fermenter.

Next add all 8 litres of grape juice to the fermenter and add the sugar in.

Top up to 23 litres with water and stir well to dissolve all the sugar.

Add the yeast nutrient, pitch the yeast.

Note: Make sure to only add 12-12.5g of the grape skin extract at the start of fermentation as this will lose some colour after fermenting. We will be adding the other half of the grape skin extract AFTER fermenting and stabilizing. But before adding finnings.

SG 1.090

 

[Stevieboy]

I'm mildly worried about the tannins - all those tea bags and red grape skin extract? Otherwise looks awesome.

 

[Berry454]

I'm mildly worried about the tannins - all those tea bags and red grape skin extract? Otherwise looks awesome.

I'm mildly worried about the tannins - all those tea bags and red grape skin extract? Otherwise looks awesome.

Honestly Stevie I think the tannin should be about right! The red berry tea bags don't really contain much tannin. I've successfully used 20 of these along with 5 black tea bags in a 5L DJ and the tannin was pretty perfect.

Though if the tannin is to high I'll let you guys know on the taste test so you know to tone it down if anyone decides to do the recipe themselves.

Of course, this is entirely experimental and although I have used all these other ingredients in different recipes in the past, I wouldn't recommend anyone to try this until I finish the batch and give the verdict!

It could be awesome, it might be awful, you never really know until it's been racked!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Many members have tried to make a decent Red wine but have failed the red grape skin extract might be the magic ingredient i have never seen it before.

I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

[Berry454]

Many members have tried to make a decent Red wine but have failed the red grape skin extract might be the magic ingredient i have never seen it before.

I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

Honestly Chippy I know the red grape skin extract WILL create a red wine without a doubt. As I've used it several times in other fermenters.

The fermenter on the left in this image is a light rose wine created from tea.

This is the same image after the addition of 0.5g of grape skin extract per litre of the DJ. Still looking at the fermenter on the left.

It's now a deep rich red.

 

[Berry454]

Update

Things are getting foamy.

 

[Berry454]

5 day update

Things are moving along great. Gravity has now reduced to 1.010 and it's fermenting fairly rapidly still at 24 degrees Celsius.

I'm thinking this will be finished fermenting by Friday.

I'll keep you all updated.

 

[hedgerowpete]

looks very impressive

 

[soupdragon]

Also watching this with interest.
Colour looks fine, if the flavour is good I think you could be on to a winner

Cheers Tom

 

[Berry454]

Update

Sorry for the delay guys, this one has more than finished fermenting now I've just been really busy with work.

Fermentation completed and FG 0.995.

Colour looks beautiful, it's definitely a red and I've not even added the last 12.5g of grape skin extract yet!

Stabiliser added today. 5 TSP of Wilko stabiliser.

It smells great. Deep, earthy and fruity. A lot like the aroma of a good Italian red.

I'll leave this to stabilise overnight then I'll add the finnings tomorrow.

Another update will come at bottling along with a taste test and some glass photos.

I'm already getting ideas of how to make a spicy Shiraz with this on a future brew. Probably using elderberry tea and black pepper instead of the Morrisons berry tea bags. So many possible combinations for different juices, teas and other ingredients if this method works well for creating a red. Because it's the grape skin extract that makes this a red. Everything else could be switched up!

Overall I'm more than happy with this so far. So so cheap to make!!

 

[Bando]

Id sa

Update

Sorry for the delay guys, this one has more than finished fermenting now I've just been really busy with work.

Fermentation completed and FG 0.995.

Colour looks beautiful, it's definitely a red and I've not even added the last 12.5g of grape skin extract yet!

Stabiliser added today. 5 TSP of Wilko stabiliser.

It smells great. Deep, earthy and fruity. A lot like the aroma of a good Italian red.

I'll leave this to stabilise overnight then I'll add the finnings tomorrow.

Another update will come at bottling along with a taste test and some glass photos.

I'm already getting ideas of how to make a spicy Shiraz with this on a future brew. Probably using elderberry tea and black pepper instead of the Morrisons berry tea bags. So many possible combinations for different juices, teas and other ingredients if this method works well for creating a red. Because it's the grape skin extract that makes this a red. Everything else could be switched up!

Overall I'm more than happy with this so far. So so cheap to make!!

say its all looking good although I don't think I'd of added any water personally red wines are just made from juice i wouldn't dilute that flavour even with the added skin I think the asda red grape juice makes great red wine on its own if you boil down some of the juice to concentrate instead of adding normal sugar

 

[Berry454]

Id sa
say its all looking good although I don't think I'd of added any water personally red wines are just made from juice i wouldn't dilute that flavour even with the added skin I think the asda red grape juice makes great red wine on its own if you boil down some of the juice to concentrate instead of adding normal sugar

Thanks for your input. Though as I said on my last post, this recipe is completely adaptable to what you want to make. It will work perfectly with 8 litres of grape juice and it will work even better with 23 litres.

You can use literally any juice and tea combination that you want. This is simply a way at creating a red wine from your juice selection without expensive grape concentrate.

I'm more than happy with the results from the 8 litres of grape juice. With the addition of 200ml of glycerine for body it's absolutely gorgeous!

Using all grape juice will simply mean that you don't need to use the glycerine. As the extra grape juice will give you the body.

Though for me, glycerine is a way cheaper alternative than using over twice the amount of grape juice!!

 

[Bando]

Thanks for your input. Though as I said on my last post, this recipe is completely adaptable to what you want to make. It will work perfectly with 8 litres of grape juice and it will work even better with 23 litres.

You can use literally any juice and tea combination that you want. This is simply a way at creating a red wine from your juice selection without expensive grape concentrate.

I'm more than happy with the results from the 8 litres of grape juice. With the addition of 200ml of glycerine for body it's absolutely gorgeous!

Using all grape juice will simply mean that you don't need to use the glycerine. As the extra grape juice will give you the body.

Though for me, glycerine is a way cheaper alternative than using over twice the amount of grape juice!!

23 liters always better than 8 haha, I've never used glycerine thought it may have been a myth, ill have to give it a go

 

[Berry454]

23 liters always better than 8 haha, I've never used glycerine thought it may have been a myth, ill have to give it a go

Most definitely! Though I think you would be surprised. If you tasted a batch made using my recipe with 8 litres of grape juice with 200ml glycerine then you tasted the same batch with 23 litres of grape juice without glycerine. I honestly doubt you would taste the difference. Especially in the way of mouth feel and body.

I've turned a cheap Magnum £15 wine kit that was like tap water into a full bodied red with loads of mouth feel with glycerine. Admittedly that one needed 320ml!

I guess what I wanted to do here was show you all a method that you can use to create red wine WOWs without the use of expensive grape concentrate. I've read all the WOW threads and over the years nobody has actually cracked the red wine without grape concentrate concept.

As said, you can use any combination of juices and in whatever proportions you want. This is a base recipe that you can use to make any red wine without concentrate.

Though the recipe I used here is very good as it substitutes tea to impart a lot of the flavour that would usually be gained from a large quantity of grape juice.

If you did want to use 20+ litres of grape juice, I'd drop the tea entirely.

Keep in mind though, 8 litres of grape juice equals 2 litres of concentrate. It's not a small amount by any means.

Regarding glycerine. It's an amazing flavour and mouth feel enhancer that has been used in the food industry for years. It's now being used widely in alcoholic beverages for it's incredible mouth feel. You can use glycerine or vegetable glycerine.

By the way guys, this thread isn't finished! I'll be posting an update within the next week after bottling along with a full taste test. Sorry, I've just been so busy with work I've not had a chance to bottle it yet. It does taste AMAZING though!

 

[Bando]

Most definitely! Though I think you would be surprised. If you tasted a batch made using my recipe with 8 litres of grape juice with 200ml glycerine then you tasted the same batch with 23 litres of grape juice without glycerine. I honestly doubt you would taste the difference. Especially in the way of mouth feel and body.

I've turned a cheap Magnum £15 wine kit that was like tap water into a full bodied red with loads of mouth feel with glycerine. Admittedly that one needed 320ml!

I guess what I wanted to do here was show you all a method that you can use to create red wine WOWs without the use of expensive grape concentrate. I've read all the WOW threads and over the years nobody has actually cracked the red wine without grape concentrate concept.

As said, you can use any combination of juices and in whatever proportions you want. This is a base recipe that you can use to make any red wine without concentrate.

Though the recipe I used here is very good as it substitutes tea to impart a lot of the flavour that would usually be gained from a large quantity of grape juice.

If you did want to use 20+ litres of grape juice, I'd drop the tea entirely.

Keep in mind though, 8 litres of grape juice equals 2 litres of concentrate. It's not a small amount by any means.

Regarding glycerine. It's an amazing flavour and mouth feel enhancer that has been used in the food industry for years. It's now being used widely in alcoholic beverages for it's incredible mouth feel. You can use glycerine or vegetable glycerine.

By the way guys, this thread isn't finished! I'll be posting an update within the next week after bottling along with a full taste test. Sorry, I've just been so busy with work I've not had a chance to bottle it yet. It does taste AMAZING though!

I will look into it, i may also look into selling grape concentrate as it is so expensive and can be made for cheaper

 

[user 44889]

By the way guys, this thread isn't finished! I'll be posting an update within the next week after bottling along with a full taste test. Sorry, I've just been so busy with work I've not had a chance to bottle it yet. It does taste AMAZING though!

Looked amazing. Looking forward to your bottling and taste test.

 

[Berry454]

Sorry for the late reply here but I have the final update ready now. Since the last update on this thread I've been bulk resting the wine for a while in 5lt plastic bottles.

The wine is now finished and bottled. Using the grape skin extract is definitely my new go to way at making red wine. It's delicious!!

The taste test.

Smooth, well rounded and extremely mellow tannins. The few weeks of bulk resting really mellowed out the tannins.

Lots of body to this red (thanks to the glycerine). It's extremely deep, earthy and fruity. Secondary tastes of blackberries, blueberries and dark berries.

I highly recommend this as a method for making red WOWs. It's cheap and produces an excellent red.

If anyone has any questions drop them in this thread and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Next on my list is definitely a Shiraz style wine using the grape skin extract. I'll switch the tea for a blend of elderberry and cherry teas. I'll probably make a black pepper extract/tincture.

 

[user 44889]

Nice one. Wish i could try a glass lol

 

[Flan]

I had a good look through the supermarket WOW thread on here and I noticed a distinct lack of red wines from supermarket juices. Actually no red wines that didn't contain grape concentrate. So I brainstormed and decided to create one.

This wine recipe will use grape skin extract to make what would usually be a rose colour wine into a dark red wine. Grape skin extract is extremely cheap compared to red grape concentrate. A 500g tub can be had for about £25. In comparison this recipe will use just 25g of grape skin extract. Making the total cost of the grape skin extract used in this batch at around £2.

Grape skin extract can be bought in many of different places. eBay, Amazon, health food stores ect.

The recipe

8 Lt Asda red grape juice £8
11 black tea bags stewed for the tannin £0.50
25g high quality grape skin extract £2
1 box of 40 Morrisons red berry tea bags £1.29
3720g sugar £2
5 TSP Young's super wine yeast £1
5 TSP Wilko nutrient £0.20
5 TSP citric acid £0.20


Add 12.5g of grape skin extract to the fermenter along with 2 litres of boiling water. Mix well for a minute or two.

Next brew the 11 black tea bags and 40 red berry tea bags in a large bowl with 1.5 litres of boiling water. After 30 minutes strain the tea bags through a sive and press them hard between hands to get all the liquid out of them. Add this to the fermenter.

Next add all 8 litres of grape juice to the fermenter and add the sugar in.

Top up to 23 litres with water and stir well to dissolve all the sugar.

Add the yeast nutrient, pitch the yeast.

Note: Make sure to only add 12-12.5g of the grape skin extract at the start of fermentation as this will lose some colour after fermenting. We will be adding the other half of the grape skin extract AFTER fermenting and stabilizing. But before adding finnings.

SG 1.090

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I really like the look of this and i have a couple of demijohns doing nothing so do you think if i halve this recipe it will work for 10 litres, and when did you add the glycerine?

 

[Berry454]

I really like the look of this and i have a couple of demijohns doing nothing so do you think if i halve this recipe it will work for 10 litres, and when did you add the glycerine?

Hi, you can upscale and downscale this recipe however you like. It will work exactly the same. Definitely you can half this recipe and it will work fine in your demi John's.

I add the glycerine right at the end just before bottling.