Anyone want to help

This came today 25 gal Red Raspberry


15 gal Blueberry


5 gal Traminette


5 gal Lambruska Blend


15 gal Blackberry

Does helping drink the final product count?


BTW, I don't see any raspberry. Your raspberry wine was outstanding!

Bill,


You are going to be a very busy guy!!!!! Blueberry is my favorite fruit wine so far. I started a Green Tea Ginger wine with golden raisins...I'm really surprised at how good it is and it is still in the primary.


How long can you keep the juice in the containers like that? Do you need to get to fermenting right away? Looks like fun...wish I could pop in and help you!!


Ramona


Edited by: rgecaprock

Looking good, Bill!


I'm intrigued by George's comment on how great your raspberry was -- I'm getting ready to start a batch -- which recipe did you use???
Thanks!


Dave

This is gonna be fun. George I have 25 gal Red Raspberry, as soon as I get some shipping containers I'll send you (as promised) a couple of bottles.


Ramona, The juice will stay for 1 year in those containers. Ill start out with 5 batches. After fermentation and racking, Ill Oak for 15 weeks then resweeten and bottle.


Dave. These are 100% juice. all I do is add yeast nutrient, Montrachet yeast and ferment. after fermentation is complete I rack to do a secondary fermentation. (about 10 days) then rerack add some K-Meta Oak and let sit for 15 weeks. I then rerack addSuper Clear K.C. rerack to a promary and resweeten then bottle. About 4 monthsfromstart,to bottle. Then let age. These juices are high in acid, however I do not adjust for the acid as I'll be sweetening at the end. Ph is tested also.


Bill

Bill,


I'll help! Just send some of those juice containers to me!


Where do you get that juice anyway?

I think you are going to have a lot of fun.
Is there anywhere in Texas to get fresh juice like that?

Funky Fish and Petercooper These juices came from Walkers fruit basket www.walkersfruitbasket.com in Forestville N.Y. some people think that they are expensive however if you consider the price of buying fruit and pressing them to equal 5 gal U.S. its not that bad. A 5 gal pail cost about 20 dollars to ship UPS from upstate New York near Lake Erie to Georgia. Your price may differ. If you do decide to get some and you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me.


Bill

Oh! I do recall that raspberry wine. It was absolutely
wonderful! The high end acid really added to its flavor and made
it very unique. It was a surprise wine for me.
Hi Bill....I'll be ordering from your company and watching for your
instructions on this site. (Laurie from Michigan)

Bill,


You must have been very good lately to receive all those goodies! Do they standardize to any Brix or do you check SG and adjust if needed, or just make it to any ABV it gives you? Too bad they don't offer Black Raspberry-that makes some really good stuff also.


Good Luck

Hi Sally3, thanks for the complement just glad you enjoyed it. The juice comes with 1 pack of yeast and 1 pack of yeast nutrient. The instructions are a bit vague and although they will work I have a much more simple technique. Nothing great just different. I'll try to set my instructions in order and I'll post them if anyone would like Them.


Appleman, the juice comes adjusted to 21 Brix however the acidity will be high and different for the various juices. You will think that the acid is high and it is,however the PH so far has been spot on.When all is done you will then resweeten to your liking. Ill go into more indepth instructions latet. Hope this helps.


Bill

Any time you need sampling done, just let everyone know! I can see there's loads of people who want to help!

Bill,

I am thoroughly intrigued with your Red Raspberry wine and I am ready to try my hand with it. I received a response from Walkers today and have just mailed my order. They only had 5 pails left and are holding one for me. I would appreciate it very much if you would post your detailed instructions as this will be my first endevor into the wonderful world of 'scratch wines'.

Thanks in advance
Otto

Edited by: Otto

Hi Otto,Glad to see you got the juice. I knew they were getting short on the Red Raspberry. Let me get the instructions together and Ill post them shortly.


Bill

Yumm... Bill's rasberry wine was "off the hook"!!!


I dream of it often!!

Thanks DJ you all are too kind. I had some fantastic wines at winefest myself only problem is I didn't take any notes on who made them. It won't happen next year. I would like to compare notes with everyone, I believe we would all benefit.


Bill

Bill B, Do you only need one 5 gal pail from Walker's for your instructions posted? I assumea 5 gal pailmakes a 5 gal batch of wine (or 30 bottles approx.)? I am a newbie, bear with me. Leelanau (MI)

Bill B, Also - how does a gal. of cherry concentrate compare to a 5 gal pail? Just curious as I can get local cherry concentrate. Leelanau

Hi Leelanau


First of all Walkers juice is 100% juice not concentrate. You are correct on your 1st ques. 5 gal juice = 5 gal wine. I have not added any water to my batches, however I never said that you couldn't, I have talked to the winemaker at Walkers and he said no water is needed but never said that you couldn't add a little. Usually a 5 gal Carboy does leave a bit of head space when all is finished I do not top up with water. I do use WINE PRESERVER which comes in a can to lay down a protective blanket of gas on the wine's surface. It blocks out the O2. The gas is inert used by many wineries. It contains Nitrogen (N2) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Argon (Ar).


Secondly , I think a gal of Cherry concentrate would work just fine it would all depend on the mixing ratio of water added. Youwill need to add water to the concentrate,just how much? 1 Gal concentrate +4 gal water might be a bit thin. However as water is added you will need to check and check again the SGuntil you reach you target. 1.080 1.085 would be a good target SG. This will be a slow process but not impossible.

Thanks Bill B. I appreciate your answers and will check out the recipe you posted. Leelanau