70 lbs of muscadine

[bg7mm]

70 pounds of muscadine in the freezer, with this hurricaine coming thru here i had to load alot of stuff in our freezers so now i want to clear things up abit. i have two batches already in third racking, i'm interested in trying a fruit pack to sweeten and add flavor to a new batch, these are the bronze variety. can someone give me a short discription of how to make an F-pack with 25 or 30 pounds of these frozen muscadine, also, if i use 30 pounds approx. how much of a f-pack can i make? will i make enough to flavor and sweeten more than one batch using 30 pounds?

one more question, when do i add the fruit pack

 

[dessertmaker]

Thaw the berries, squeeze the juice, discard the skin, pulp and seeds. Some say boil the juice to get rid of bacteria and wild yeast, some say boiling removes some of the flavor and body from the juice. Personally I boil anything that doesn't come out of a bottle. But I'm paranoid. Never noticed a lack of flavor or body related to boiling though. Either way I'd rather lose flavor and body than make 5 gallons of high quality vinegar.

You add once you're sure it's through fermenting. Watch for fermentation to restart. If you're in your third racking and your yeast's alcohol tolerance was maxed out you shouldn't have a problem with this. Otherwise shock it a few days before with something like kmeta.

 

[Julie]

Don't boil the juice, not only will you lose flavor but you are taking a chance of creating a pectic haze. Sulfites and the creation of alcohol will kill off wild yeast and any bacteria that could be present.

To kill bacteria by boiling you would have to have the juice gong at a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Pectis haze would be a huge concern

I did bronze and Carlos last year from fresh grapes, left them on the skins and the wine is fantastic! Crush the grapes, let them ferment for about 7 days, strain into a strainer bag and squeeze the excess juice or if you have access to a press, then press them.

 

[bg7mm]

julie, fermentation is completed, i have a press avalible, can i let the grapes thaw, press the juice then add this to the finished wine with a clarifier such as bentonite for an extented period of time to clear and age the wine before bottling? nothing i know has the aroma of mauscadine, i'm trying to get this taste and aroma into my finished wine, hence, the idea to add an f-pack to the wine before bottling to enhance that aroma

 

[Julie]

Yes you can use the juice as a f-pack, remember to add sulfite and sorbate first. If using this as a f-pack then boiling down the juice would be a good idea, reduce it by 50%.

 

[dessertmaker]

To clarify: I am well aware that it is unnecessary to boil grapes prior to fermentation.

However, the question was not about primary fermentation. The question was about how to make an F-pack with frozen muscadines.

I have never heard of anyone having pectic haze issues from boiling fruit juice used for an F-Pack. The only scenario that I can imagine pectic haze being created with an F-Pack would be if a rediculously strong secondary fermentation started and it's extremely unlikely even then.

If you add an F-pack from juice obtained from frozen fruit after the third racking and there is even a small amount of contaminants in it, your wine will be ruined. Period. So my advice is still to boil it.

What WILL affect the taste of your wine is if you add too much sulfate and sorbate.

Again: Adding sulfate and sorbate to wine while adding F-packs or backsweetening is not always necessary when the yeast has already reached its alcohol tolerance level.

If you boil properly, you will kill off any strains of wild yeast that may assist in kicking off a secondary fermentation. You will also kill off any bacteria that would ruin your wine.

If you allowed your wine to stop fermenting naturally and are in your third racking, you probably are safe just adding the F-pack and watching for signs of secondary fermentation. You aren't safe, however, if you don't boil it.

 

[Itch]

I use this to top up some of my muscidine wines but it's local made here in NC maybe they can ship a case or you have locals making a similar.

 

[dessertmaker]

Wow! I would love to get my hands on some straight muscadine juice! YUM! Forget an F-Pack! I'd put it in the fridge next to the milk!!!

 

[Itch]

Yes it is good juice it's mostly sold in mom and pop pharmacies it go's for 7.99 a bottle I believe they are 1 liter bottles.

 

[Itch]

I just went and check they site with Max shipping you can get a case for maybe 160.00
https://www.naturespearlproducts.com/

 

[nafarmboy]

https://msucheese.com/products.cfm?code=132&WhatMenu_item=CatPopup4
Here you go dessertmaker. They also sell edam cheese, best cheese I have ever eaten. I order between 400 and 600 dollars worth every year for Christmas gifts. Want see something cool check out their cheese videos on YouTube.
Tom