Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[Barley Rubble]

The only way to know for sure fermentation has finished is by using your hydrometer everything else is guesswork, having said that i wait until i only see a bubble every couple of minutes and call mine done but i never back sweeten with juice even when using stabiliser.

So do you not top up the DJ after racking?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So do you not top up the DJ after racking?

Yes but only use water i used to top up with juice but had a few start fermenting in the bottles so i started adding half a litre more juice at the beginning instead of topping up with juice at the end.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Okay. That's good to know. As a matter of interest, do all your wines clear? I have only done 2 and both are cloudy but taste alright, just don't look that nice. I used kwik clear and followed the instructions, but didn't seem to work. What brand name clearing agent do you use?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It seems you are doing all the right things but are not giving enough time for everything to come together and make a good wine.

If the wine has not finished fermenting it continue to produce CO2 slowly so even if you degas it will not clear properly.

If you do not degas properly the wine will not clear properly as the bubbles hold sediment they will eventually clear but it'll take a long time.

If you don't use petctolace you risk pectin haze.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

I like to top up with strong fruit tea because it doesn’t have any extra sugar in so no risk of further fermenting. Lemon and ginger is a good all round one but other ones are obviously more suited to some things.

 

[Janulka098]

I only started to make wine few months ago- some take 7days some couple of weeks, it is best to give it a bit of time. All of mine cleared absolutely fine. Some WOWs just take longer depending on juice used. All rose ones are clear nearly within two days. Pale ones take a bit longer for some reason. But after they done fermenting and are degassed they all clear eventually. I used wilkos two part finings and harrises fining, to be honest I think any fining will clear it once it’s finished

 

[johncrobinson]

Yes Mr Rubble,It seems you are a bit to much of in a hurry
Been guilty as charged of that myself.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yes Mr Rubble,It seems you are a bit to much of in a hurry
Been guilty as charged of that myself.

Patience is one of the hardest things to learn when you start out think were all guilty of not having it when we start.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Yes Mr Rubble,It seems you are a bit to much of in a hurry
Been guilty as charged of that myself.

JCR. Maybe you are right, but I would have expected a WOW that I made on 08/06/20 and racked on 19/06/20 would have cleared by now, but perhaps I have been a tad hasty!..... After all it was only RGJ and AJ, nothing particularly volatile.
The other one was Pineapple, Exotic, Apple and Mango and Orange, a lethal combination it turns out to be, which I made on 10/07/20, and racked on 21/07/20. As I said in an earlier post, as it kept popping the rubber stopper out, I poured a little of the contents out and it was a load of yellow sludge! Replaced with airlock and bubbling away so obviously not finished. I will hold my hands up to being too hasty with that one.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I would have expected a WOW that I made on 08/06/20 and racked on 19/06/20 would have cleared by now,

Your problem isn't what you are using to clear it its what you didn't do up to that part that has caused it to dear slowly.

When you make your next one make sure its finished fermenting by taking readings over a couple of days, don't move onto the next stage until its below .995 and (preferably .990) degas it fully add stabiliser stir it in then add finings of choice, you should find its clear in a few days.

If you can get KwiK Clear or Youngs Clear It it should clear quickly.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Thank you for spelling out the procedure in a chronological order, Chippy. I now see where I went wrong. I won't make the same mistake again.
It was getting to the point where I was about to give up on making wine and just stick to beer and cider which I must say by blowing my own trumpet, turn out nice and clear and tasty.
Now armed with my new found knowledge, I will make another attempt in the near future.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I didn't mean that to read like a lecture i hope you didn't take it that way.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We have drunk many bottles of cloudy wine especially in the early days when my syphoning technique was not the best it didn't do us any harm so if it smells and tastes fine get stuck in.

 

[Barley Rubble]

I didn't mean that to read like a lecture i hope you didn't take it that way.

Let us know how you get on.

No. Not at all Chippy. I prefer to have things simplified and in an exact order of doing all the tasks using the correct ingredients or equipment, so that I can refer back if necessary, to check that I haven't missed anything. Its all about learning from your mistakes in this game. I know I'm not the first and won't be the last.

You have been a great help! Cheers!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks for the feedback, keep us posted.

 

[johncrobinson]

Don`t give up,In under a year you will be making wine like an expert.

One thing i would point out though is if you,your family,and friends like a drop of wine,You cannot make it faster than WOWs or kits.
Even so a gallon is not a lot.!!!!!
Buying a gallon on every visit to the supermarket is a lot, One demijohn of homemade is not.

To secure a ready available supply you will need to have several gallons "on the go" at any one time.
This is not because you will be drinking more,But because wine-making takes time,Lots of it.

Once you build up a "stock" Patience will cease to be an issue.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Wise words indeed, JCR.

The first WOW I did was a basic RGJ and AJ, it is now finally starting to clear but not there yet. It tastes okay though, which is a result!

 

[Begbie]

Sorry about the delayed reply, just used apple juice and lowitz. Only 1 bottle left now, I will be making this again but just to 900g sugar totals as the Mrs is a bit mashed after 1 bottle.

Hi Frogbrew. I loved the sound of this so much that I started a brew last night, to your original recipe, except for the yeast - I only had D47, so went with that. Did you backsweeten at all? What was the FG?

My OG was 1.095, but I'm going to top it up once the first couple of days of fermentation are done (wasn't sure if I'd have krausen volcanoes), so a potential ABV of about 11.5 to 12%, leaving enough yeast activity to prime a few 500ml bottles for carbing (I believe that D47 has an alcohol tolerance of approx 14%).

Cheers!

 

[Frogbrew]

Hi Frogbrew. I loved the sound of this so much that I started a brew last night, to your original recipe, except for the yeast - I only had D47, so went with that. Did you backsweeten at all? What was the FG?

My OG was 1.095, but I'm going to top it up once the first couple of days of fermentation are done (wasn't sure if I'd have krausen volcanoes), so a potential ABV of about 11.5 to 12%, leaving enough yeast activity to prime a few 500ml bottles for carbing (I believe that D47 has an alcohol tolerance of approx 14%).

Cheers!

Hi Scott, didn't back sweeten, fg was 990 (don't check sg these days) with the gervin yeast. I only used this yeast as it was the only one they had left, I usually use any general purpose wine yeast which works just as well.
Just put another one on using cherry lowitz, but doubled the quantity as it doesn't last long in our house, this time using cml wine yeast and to 900g sugar totals per gallon.

 

[Janulka098]

Hm cherry lowitz... seen that one but did not get it as was not sure how it would taste like. Done the raspberry and strawberry - both absolutely lovely (I did add red grape juice tho) will have to try without. Even MIL loves it! Have to let me know how the cherry ends up like! Raspberry and strawberry are big hits in this house also :) although my other half only drinks sweet cider (he’s a bit of a lightweight and does not drink much) me and FIL are the brewers.