Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[Chippy_Tea]

Are you sure you are using campden and not frozen peas. :lol:

 

[BrewWoo]

Are you sure you are using campden and not frozen peas. :lol:

Remind me to double check! :whistle:

 

[Moley]

I have just been attempting to sort out my main wine rack, putting more recent bottlings on the lower shelves and bringing older stuff to the top.

I found a WOW variant from Feb. 2010 made with red grape juice and Prune juice.

I don't know whatever possessed me to make that, the juice must have been cheap, but it is rank! :sick:

That is most definitely not a wine for drinking but a wine for laying down and avoiding!

Now I've got to find the other five bottles

 

[Chippy_Tea]

My least favourite wine was the original wow I guess it's like marmite you either love it or hate it, the good thing is it got me into the hobby and I now make many different flavoured wows me and SWMBO both enjoy.

 

[CalverleyWinery]

I have just been attempting to sort out my main wine rack, putting more recent bottlings on the lower shelves and bringing older stuff to the top.

I found a WOW variant from Feb. 2010 made with red grape juice and Prune juice.

I don't know whatever possessed me to make that, the juice must have been cheap, but it is rank! :sick:

That is most definitely not a wine for drinking but a wine for laying down and avoiding!

Now I've got to find the other five bottles

This was one of my first also, it seemed like it may have something about it initially but with a bit of time and I'm not talking years here it does steadily become very offensive and hearing that it doesn't seem to improve with age I think I may free up a few bottles and feed the sink!

 

[Scalli]

New to all this, done some wine kits and beer kits in the past, and made wine from the rhubarbs at the bottom of the garden and fruit I could blag so a quick question. When I see mention of buy the cheapest juice on offer I assume you are all refering to the stuff that says 100% juice and not the Asda smart price two gallon for a shilling watered down orange juice.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You can use juice that is less than 100% but if you do its best to use two litres to one of white grape juice as its a bit watery with only one litre in the DJ, the pomegranate one I posted in the first post of this thread was made with two litres as it was only 30 %, I tend to use apple based juices now as they are 100% juice so you only need one litre and a WGJ, apple/raspberry and WGJ is one of my favourites.

 

[BrewWoo]

Made a WOW using 1L Apple & Raspberry, 1L RGJ, plus the additives. It's finished fermenting now, but there is this cloudy looking fluff on the top, I've given it a shake but it just floats back to the top. Some of it sinks, some of it floats.

Should I rack it off through a sieve? Any clue what this fluff is, or how to get rid of it? Cheers

 

[quensabob]

I have now done my first Wow it's Pomegranite and Red Grape juice it smells delicious so
Far!
I have to say it's very well behaved I have a Beaverdale Merlot which went mental and came through the airlock 3 times,the WOW however apart from a couple of inches of scum and foam which has now disappeared is now bubbling away happily about every 3 seconds!
I can't believe I am on my 3rd batch and everything seems to be going well so
Far!

 

[Gethin79]

Made a WOW using 1L Apple & Raspberry, 1L RGJ, plus the additives. It's finished fermenting now, but there is this cloudy looking fluff on the top, I've given it a shake but it just floats back to the top. Some of it sinks, some of it floats.

Should I rack it off through a sieve? Any clue what this fluff is, or how to get rid of it? Cheers

I did a WOW recently which did just that. I believe it is the fruit pulp. As you say, it is impossible to get it to sink!

After advice from Chippy Tea I just racked it into a clean DJ and let it continue fermenting. It has now finished and is clear as a bell!! You may need to top up afterwards though, as I lost a bit while racking, but my technique needs a bit of practice!!! :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Brewoo don't worry about the floating sedime its notmal, with some juice it all sinks and others it sinks and floats, there is no need to use a sieve just wait until it has finished fermentation then rack into a clean DJ onto a crushed campden tablet, degas and stabilise then add finings if you want to clear it fast.
You will get a little sediment going through the syphon but when you bottle you will be able to avoid it as there will be so little left.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

After advice from Chippy Tea I just racked it into a clean DJ and let it continue fermenting. practice!!! :thumb:

I never rack until i am sure fermentation has finished, you need to let the yeast do its thing with all the juice in there, taking it out early is not a good idea. :thumb:

 

[BrewWoo]

After advice from Chippy Tea I just racked it into a clean DJ and let it continue fermenting. practice!!! :thumb:

I never rack until i am sure fermentation has finished, you need to let the yeast do its thing with all the juice in there, taking it out early is not a good idea. :thumb:

I'm 1000% sure it's finished fermenting, haven't had a peep out the airlock in 3+ days now.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'm 1000% sure it's finished fermenting, haven't had a peep out the airlock in 3+ days now.

The quote below is from the WOW guide here in the forum, luckily for you its already had 3 days since it stopped bubbling so only 4 to go, we are all impatient when we start but its not worth rushing it and ending up with something that makes you ill.

Eventually, the bubbling will slow right down and stop, and here’s where you have to start to learn one of the hardest, but one of the most important lessons in winemaking - patience. Don’t try to rush it, leave it for another week. Here comes the science:

Yeast turns sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide, but in between it makes other chemicals called aldehydes. If you try to rush it you will get an alcoholic drink which will get you plastered but might upset your guts and leave you with a headache. Give it a bit more time and the yeasties will finish clearing away those aldehydes and you should end up with a wine which you can be proud to share with your family and friends.

 

[Gethin79]

After advice from Chippy Tea I just racked it into a clean DJ and let it continue fermenting. practice!!! :thumb:

I never rack until i am sure fermentation has finished, you need to let the yeast do its thing with all the juice in there, taking it out early is not a good idea. :thumb:

Whoops!!! Never mind...it had pretty much finished anyway. Luckily this one has turned out lovely. Crystal clear and tastes nice!! Cheers for clarifying that though. Won't do that again! :

 

[MattN]

I'm 1000% sure it's finished fermenting, haven't had a peep out the airlock in 3+ days now.

The quote below is from the WOW guide here in the forum, luckily for you its already had 3 days since it stopped bubbling so only 4 to go, we are all impatient when we start but its not worth rushing it and ending up with something that makes you ill.

[quote:3qebabja]Eventually, the bubbling will slow right down and stop, and here’s where you have to start to learn one of the hardest, but one of the most important lessons in winemaking - patience. Don’t try to rush it, leave it for another week. Here comes the science:

Yeast turns sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide, but in between it makes other chemicals called aldehydes. If you try to rush it you will get an alcoholic drink which will get you plastered but might upset your guts and leave you with a headache. Give it a bit more time and the yeasties will finish clearing away those aldehydes and you should end up with a wine which you can be proud to share with your family and friends.

[/quote:3qebabja]

How long do you leave it Chippy?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

When you are sure it has finished give it seven days before racking to a clean DJ, its a pain having to wait but its not worth the risk rushing and ending up with something nasty.
The best thing to do is make a DJ every week for three weeks then you get into a bit of a production line and are finishing and starting one every weekend or so, once you have a bit of stock you can slow down.
Make more than you drink is a good tip.

 

[IOMMick]

My first 1 RGJ / 2 AJ wow is about 5 weeks old and has been in the bottle about 2 weeks. Some of the early scary smells have now completely gone and it's matured into tasting very pleasant - so pleasant the missus is sitting happily drinking it now, and she's been highly sceptical over my homebrew adventures.

And oh... she was bugging me to throw out the Chianti bottles for ages, I knew they were too pretty for the bin!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Looks great, what are you planning next?

 

[IOMMick]

Looks great, what are you planning next?

Got three others just finished now, Pomegranate, Pineapple and Mango (with more or less same grape juice base + additives). The pomegranate tastes very sweet, it finished at 1003 and wasn't for moving, so at 16% Abv I'm archiving that one as a dessert wine / liquor. The pineapple finished very dry at about 17% Abv, so feck knows what I'm going to do with that - it's very drinkable, if you are on a mission... The Mango is still in the first DJ due to extended activity and lots of bits floating about, and it smells a bit rancid at the minute - I'll be trying to rack it tomorrow to see if it cleans up any (all my WOWs have smelt bad in primary, but this seems a bit worse).

I'm going to need to go back to the AJ + GJ style model to ensure enough short term cannon fodder for the missus to drink. I am also gonna try the Strawberry and Apple combo you suggested elsewhere but I'm struggling to find the juice on the IOM.