Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[BarryWineMurse]

I have 6 on the go at the minute, with Homebrew stores closed and online orders taking longer than normal as a recent returning brewer , I did “ improvise “ air locks for 3 by repurposing 5 litre water bottles as Demi-johns and leaving top loosely screwed to allow air to escape. 9 I put them in a basin in a box to prevent blow off messes but it seems to be working ok.

3litres of 100% apple from concentrate topped up with water and 1kg of sugar and used a rc212 red wine yeast
3litres of 100% orange from concentrate topped up with water and 1kg of sugar and used a rc212 red wine yeast
started 22/5 and still fermentation although orange is slowing down
1litre of boiled black currant cordial 50% juice, topped up with water 4 teabags 30 black pepper corns 1kg of sugar 26/5, used rc212 and a yeast nutrient Sg 1120
3litres of red grape Juice topped up with water and 1kg of sugar and used a young super yeast with nutrients 29/5 sg 1122
3 litres of cranberry juice ‘drink’ I didn’t realise was only 15% fruit again added 1kg of sugar used the young super yeast with nutrients 29/5 sg 1100
1litre of boiled black currant cordial 50% juice, topped up with water 1kg of sugar and Young’s general purpose red wine yeast 31/5 sg 1110.

some confessions I did add a full packet of yeast to first 3 and didn’t take a Sg reading on the first 2, they were my 3rd,4th and 5th batches of home brew in 25 years [the other 2 were kit wines]

a friend suggested they won’t ferment out all the sugars so may be sweet at least the ones in didnt use the super yeast for which I am ok about ,as don’t want all of it to be rocket fuel.

i am looking forward to the end of the month when hopefully some should be drinkable. Any suggestions , comments or ideas welcome or ideas

 

[Chippy_Tea]

a friend suggested they won’t ferment out all the sugars so may be sweet at least the ones in didnt use the super yeast for which I am ok about ,as don’t want all of it to be rocket fuel.

I never use that much sugar but know others have and I don't think you'll have any problems.

 

[ChrisT]

Yesterday I started of a receipe I found for Sauvignon Blanc, original receipe is: 1l WGJ, 1l pineapple plus 1l apple and 900g sugar. I substituted grape concentrate for the WGJ. Original receipe added just half the pineapple juice and half the sugar initially the rest added when less vigorous, I didn't I added all the sugar and all the pineapple juice!

It took until this morning to get going, with the occasional bubble through the lock and very thin foam. Got back this evening and I SOO glad I used a 2 gallon FV (donated by family member), the top tide mark on the inside of the FV is half way between the 1 gallon and 2 gallon marks. Was just going to put this into a demijohn!

Can't imagine how much trouble I'd be in if I'd gone down that route?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

top tide mark on the inside of the FV is half way between the 1 gallon and 2 gallon marks. Was just going to put this into a demijohn!

Can't imagine how much trouble I'd be in if I'd gone down that route?

I learned that lesson the hard way and only fill to the beginning of the shoulder, you can top up as fermentation dies down or when racking.

 

[ChrisT]

I don't think stopping at the shoulder on a 1 gallon demijohn would have saved me from the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed on this occasion! No matter how good the finished result?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I don't think stopping at the shoulder on a 1 gallon demijohn would have saved me from the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed on this occasion! No matter how good the finished result?

A life saver - How to make a blow off tube.

 

[ChrisT]

This is a lesson learned! It was a close thing, I so nearly didn't use the 2 gallon FV as I'd only recently got it and didn't want to try it out on what I hope is going to be a good drink. @Chippy_Tea Thanks for the tip, if I EVER do a WOW in a 1 gallon fermenter again...

 

[gb0wers]

I learned that lesson the hard way and only fill to the beginning of the shoulder, you can top up as fermentation dies down or when racking.

That's what I used to do, however it tends to make determining the OG more complicated. Now I tend to fill to the neck, measure the OG, pitch the yeast, and once it starts to work (no leaving overnight) decant out half a litre into a one litre drink bottle that I fit with an air lock. When it all calms down, the bottle gets tipped back into the demijohn. Both methods work

 

[BarryWineMurse]

Useful info as I had heard that fruit wine can ferment vigorously I had just put the demijohns in a plastic tray inside a cardboard box. As a returning brewer with no equipment and delays on online orders I just left the kids on loosely and covered with a glove. They are still fermenting away after 10 days although slowing down

 

[ChrisT]

I've just started of a WOW with Asda own brand Orange, Apple and Pineapple not from concentrate...

Reporting back on this (my second) batch... I didn't fully degass I guess as I couldn't get it to fully clear, just a vague cloudiness. Also there's a very peculiar vaguely pineapple smell and taste? It doesn't taste off, just not that pleasant to taste. I'll see if that changes with time in the bottle?
Has anybody else had experience with Asda own brand juices? I've already started another batch with Asda own brand, I hope I don't get the same problem!

My first batch was made with Tesco premium juices and came out very nice indeed, a bit too dry for 'er in doors but easily sweetened to taste, perfect for me though. Used Asda as that's own local supermarket and with the current situation we're trying not to travel if we don't have to.

What brand/make/label of juices do people use with success?

 

[BarryWineMurse]

My Morrisons orange juice from concentrate has went from 1100 to 990 and fermentation seems complete.
The same apple made same day using same process has only went from 1100 to 1060 , going to leave it a couple of days than will pitch in a turbo yeast and a nutrient unless the SG starts to move

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have used lots of different juices from ASDA and Tesco and other stores, from concentrate and not from concentrate and have never had a problem.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Deleted.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Try the recipe below its a forum favourite -


Rosé wine

1 litre Red grape juice.

1.5 litre Apple Juice.

750g Sugar.

1 tsp Tannin or a mug of very strong black tea. (3 bags stirred every couple of minutes as you put the rest of the ingredients together)

1 tsp Yeast (i use youngs super wine yeast compound)

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient.

1 tsp Pectolase.

 

[ChrisT]

...What did toy use in the one that tasted of pineapple?

I used 1 litre each of Orange, Apple and Pineapple plus 900g of sugar, pectolase, citric acid, nutrient and GV9 yeast. Fermented out in a week.

 

[ChrisT]

Nothing nasty during fermentation at all.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Try the recipe below its a forum favourite -


Rosé wine

1 litre Red grape juice.

1.5 litre Apple Juice.

750g Sugar.

1 tsp Tannin or a mug of very strong black tea. (3 bags stirred every couple of minutes as you put the rest of the ingredients together)

1 tsp Yeast (i use youngs super wine yeast compound)

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient.

1 tsp Pectolase.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I used 1 litre each of Orange, Apple and Pineapple plus 900g of sugar, pectolase, citric acid, nutrient and GV9 yeast. Fermented out in a week.

I don't like mixed juices so always try to get 100% juice (avoid orange and you will find your wines improve), i always use 1 litre of grape juice i did try making wine without it and it wasn't the same, if you find juice that is only 50% juice you need to double up, i used to make a nice pomegranate wine with 2 litres of pom juice (50% juice in each carton) and a litre of red grape juice it was very popular with SWMBO.

 

[ChrisT]

Not going to tip it away yet, I'll see what happens to it in the bottle. The only thing I know I didn't get right was the degassing so it didn't clear quickly.

Yes, each 1litre was pure juice, nothing else listed on the ingredients, not from concentrate.

 

[ChrisT]

I have a degassing question. This morning I've tried degassing my latest creation by shaking the demijohn and also by using a degassing wand, but there's still gas coming out when I shake the demijohn again.

Using the wand attached to a drill, I've gone 5 seconds in each direction for 2 minutes(ish) total, this doesn't seem to generate as much gassing as a vigorous shake for a few seconds, looking at the gass coming through the fermentation lock.

What am I doing wrong?