Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[Frogbrew]

Just sampled a red grape and apple and it's very watery, weak like water in the mouth, Is that normal ?
Scaff

I've done this and the wife liked it, what was your recipe?

 

[Scaff]

1ltr red grape 1ltr Apple. 1kg sugar, black tea, citric acid, yeast nutrient, yeast, fill with water to shoulder on DJ



Scaff

 

[Frogbrew]

glycerine?? were both juices 100%? If so this sounds ok to me, although I only add around 850g sugar making 1100g totals but shouldn't make any difference. What fg did you get it down to?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Glycerine will give mouth feel but I am not sure it will make it taste less watery.
We like the taste of a litre of each juice as in your recipe but if you want it stronger tasting add more juice, if you have stabilised you can add it now.
I normally aim for a total sugar content of 1100g per DJ for 13% (including what is in the cartons)

 

[BruinTuns]

Scaff, do you mean weak as in tasteless, or as in non-alcoholic? Or both?

Chippy, sorry to be thick but I'm a bit confused (again )
Doesn't stabilising kill the fermentation? Or will adding more juice re-start it?

 

[Scaff]

Tastes like water, there's alcohol in it, you can taste that, just not tadte much else.

It's like a carton drink you used to get in the cinema 25yrs ago.

Scaff

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Were they both 100% juice?

 

[BruinTuns]

At what point do most of you rack to secondary? I have five Wows on the go and they're all still fermenting to one extent or another.
The earliest started have slowed down and FG is currently about 1010 but there's still activity and they still taste quite sweet..

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If you leave them long enough they will get down to around 990 which is dry, i normally wait until i only see a bubble every couple of minutes (i rarely use my hydrometer these days) then give them another week for the yeast to clean up after itself, then i rack onto a crushed campden tablet, degas, stabilise and add finings.

 

[BruinTuns]

Thanks Chippy.
Is potassium sorbate the stabiliser? (And while I'm asking, what does 'stabilising' actually do/mean?)
Is bentonite a good finings for Wows?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yes PS is stabiliser, it kills the yeast.
I have never used bentonite and I have read a few members have had problems with it not clearing, I use KwiK clear which always works in a couple of days.

 

[Scaff]

Were they both 100% juice?

yes, it said on the bottle.




scaff

 

[Featherhat]

Is bentonite a good finings for Wows?

Being vegetarian, I only ever use bentonite although I find most wines clear naturally anyway if you leave them long enough. It's a faff to use. You have to mix it with some of the wine, leave it for a while, then mix it well into the wine and then Ideally, leave it somewhere cold for 4 or 5 days. In short, it works but unless you've got idealogical objections to beetles fish or bones in your wine then quik clear probably works faster.

 

[pookiehair]

At what point do most of you rack to secondary? I have five Wows on the go and they're all still fermenting to one extent or another.
The earliest started have slowed down and FG is currently about 1010 but there's still activity and they still taste quite sweet..

Last 5 WOW's I made I did the first racking between day 17 and 19. All bubbling had virtually been stopped for nearly week at that point.

What do you have brewing in them?

 

[BruinTuns]

Thanks chaps.

"What do you have brewing in them"?

The first one is 750 ml Welch's Purple Grape Juice + 1l AJ, the second is
1l Fruits of Forest Drink + 1l Asda Pure OJ. To this one I added a bottle of Malina raspberry syrup after about a week.

I didn't have any pectolase but all the other usual ingredients went in. Having since read more of the thread I don't have especially high hopes for either of them but I'll give them my best shot.

A week later I started two more, this time adding pectolase:
1) 1l rgj + 1l AJ
2) 1l wgj + 2 X 1l Cherry Juice (32%) Drink + 0.5l AJ

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I didn't have any pectolase but all the other usual ingredients went in. Having since read more of the thread I don't have especially high hopes for either of them but I'll give them my best shot.

They might need a little something to add a bit of taste as one juice was only 750ml, as for pectolace the worst thing that'll happen is it will have a pectin haze so no need to worry.

 

[BruinTuns]

"They might need a little something to add a bit of taste as one juice was only 750ml"

I wondered about that. Do you mean adding something like a cordial at the drinking stage purely to boost the flavour, or more juice now before fermentation is complete which would also raise the abv to something more appropriate to a wine? Would the latter prolong fermentation for several more weeks?

 

[andycole]

Hi

I have had a gallon of RGJ and apple on the go, I am at the degassing stage. I have vigorously shook the demijohn a few times, stirred it with a coat hanger on a drill a couple of times and it still tastes mildly gassy. So, this morning, I emptied it into a bucket and power stirred it with a proper vented stirrer, hopefully that will be enough now, but I am wondering, I didn't add any stabilisers, so is that going to be a problem? The wine stopped bubbling even before I racked it. I adding stabilisers completely necessary?

Also, how long should I leave it after it's finally free of gas? It looks really clear Already. I am hoping I can drink it by Christmas

Cheers
Andy

 

[Chippy_Tea]

"They might need a little something to add a bit of taste as one juice was only 750ml"

I wondered about that. Do you mean adding something like a cordial at the drinking stage purely to boost the flavour, or more juice now before fermentation is complete which would also raise the abv to something more appropriate to a wine? Would the latter prolong fermentation for several more weeks?

To be honest making the 250ml up wont add much to the %ABV, i would taste the finished wine then if its a bit weak tasting add more juice, a cordial would be fine.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Hi

I have had a gallon of RGJ and apple on the go, I am at the degassing stage. I have vigorously shook the demijohn a few times, stirred it with a coat hanger on a drill a couple of times and it still tastes mildly gassy. So, this morning, I emptied it into a bucket and power stirred it with a proper vented stirrer, hopefully that will be enough now, but I am wondering, I didn't add any stabilisers, so is that going to be a problem? The wine stopped bubbling even before I racked it. I adding stabilisers completely necessary?

Also, how long should I leave it after it's finally free of gas? It looks really clear Already. I am hoping I can drink it by Christmas
Cheers
Andy

If you don't add stabiliser it will continue to ferment, you do not want this if you are going to bottle it.

Stirring in one direction is not the best way to degas, i use the method one seconds forwards one second back and repeat for around a minute, this causes much more CO2 to be released.

If you are happy with the taste and its clear it can be bottled and you can drink it straight away.