Colomafrozen concentrates – experience

[Hazelemere]

I’ve made 5 different batches of wine recently using Colomafrozen concentrates. Three of them were entirely from Coloma, one of them were made from Coloma concentrate and pressed juice and one from Coloma and Vintner’s Best. In all cases fermentation got stuck at some point or not fermented completely. I will not go through all the details of the recipes but they are pretty basic and include tannin, acid bland if necessary, pectic enzyme, nutrients and EC 1118 or K1-V1116 yeasts.

Red Currant 1.5 gallon concentrate – SG – 1.120, Yeast K1-V1116 stuck at 1.028
Chokeberry (Aronia) 1.75 gallon concentrate – SG 1.108, Yeast EC 1118, stuck at 1.044
Sour Cherry 2 gallon concentrate – SG 1.100, Yeast K1-V1116, stuck at 1.030
Passion Fruit – Vintner’s Best (1 gallon) plus 2 qts of Coloma concentrate, SG 1.109 Yeast K1-V116, Stuck at 1.005
Apple 1.5 gallon Coloma and close to 2,5 gallon pressed apple juice – SG 1.114, Yeast EC 1118, finished at 1.000
Colomafrozen concentrates are advertised as very high Brix concentrates, 50, 65, 68 or 70 and I treated them as such but do they really have high amount of sugar? Now I’m thinking that the high Brix is more the result of solids than sugar from the fruits. In one concentrate description (Mango) it says “clarified” but the concentrates I used were not “clarified”. Is this the problem with relatively high SG and stuck fermentation?
I would love to use other fruit concentrates from Colomafrozen in the future. It is a great product with lots of flavor and Coloma has a really good selection but I’m a little reluctant to have the same problem again. Any workaround ? Do you have similar experience with high Brix concentrates?

First class posting - really useful because it is detailed and provides a massive level of information for future discussion. This is the kind of posting that allows everyone in the room to learn.

 

[Ericphotoart]

I think I made a mistake in my post. I checked my notes and I added 1/2 of full amount of nutrients at the beginning and then the remaining 1/2, not 1/3 as I stated in my post. It was Fermax.

 

[Jim Welch]

Thought I would chime in here since I just received my first order from Nature Blessed/Coloma frozen. I ordered a quart of Muscat grape juice for use in my elderflower wine. It arrived today with zero insulated packaging and at a product temperature of 75 F.

Curious to know if this mirrors the experience of others?

Yes

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Yes

From your earlier post in this thread, does that mean that you used it and it turned out OK? I don't think much (in the way of microorganisms) can survive in such a high sugar solution, but still concerned about spoilage...

 

[Jim Welch]

From your earlier post in this thread, does that mean that you used it and it turned out OK? I don't think much (in the way of microorganisms) can survive in such a high sugar solution, but still concerned about spoilage...

Yes it was fine, I've ordered their concentrates several times and all seem to have made it through the short shipment time unrefrigerated with no apparent ill affects.
I made a decent chardonnay with it, the Zinfandel made a decent wine too but I like a big bodied red and with no skins it makes a lighter bodied wine.
I still use the Coloma Zin concentrate to make big starters for my wine though, I find it useful to make large balanced starters. By large I mean about 750mL and by balanced I mean a starter medium where the ph and Brix are very close (for the ph) and identical (for the Brix) to the must.