dumb question, but are grapes slimey.

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jamesngalveston

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I have noticed that the wild mustang grapes when crushed/smashed, etc
are slimy as heck....is this the same with cultivated grapes...
Its pretty repulsive. Only thing close to this slime is boiled okra.
 
i was shocked at the slime, but also the muddy looking juice..i was expecting concord grape juice and i got light brown muck. its red when its stirred.
 
James---I've never worked with Mustang grapes but have had a number of conversations with people who have. How big is the pulp on these grapes? Are they small and transluscent? Can you pop the skin off these the way you do a concord or is it pretty much attached to the pulp? And did you use pectic enzyme on them?

There are some grapes--like Foch---that have a real small gel in them. You don't normally use pectic enzyme on grapes like these because all you get is slime. Those small grapes break down in the fermentation without it. Grapes like concord and Niagara have a huge gel pack and you NEED pectic enzyme with those. But you don't use it with some grapes.

Mustang grapes are hard to work with because they are very acidic. You need to dilute with water to get the acid under control because you can't use calcium carbonate to bring it all the way to a PH of about 3.4 How did you adjust the acid?
 
the pulp is small and transparent, skins come off very easily.
I cut my pectin enzyme in half for a normal 5 gallon batch.
i started with 50 lbs of crushed grapes.
i added accidently added too much sugar...starting sg was 1.110
i ran out of yeast nutrient...i made my own out of cooking down 3 ripe bananas to a paste and added 1/3 to must.
after 3 days i strained off, 1/2 of the pulp. added 1/3 of banana paste.

after 3 more days i strained off the remainder. added 1/3 of banana paste.
added 1/2 gallon water to get to 6 gallon mark.
as of this am...still have strong ferment going with sg at almost 1.000
smells very good , and taste good.
 

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