Concord Grapes

[jhawk]

Any suggestions on recipes. With skins or without(crushed and pressed)? dry or sweet? I am going to try a 6 or 12 gallon batch. Any help would be grateful.

 

[Wade E]

Reds are almost always fermented on the skins where whites are rarely or never. as for dry or sweet that is your preference but you could split it if you want both.

 

[grapeman]

Hi jhawk. You have a lot of Concords available I take it. What equipment do you have available to use? There are a ton of recipes available for Concord. What kind do you like? Tells us what you have and We will be glad to give you a recipe to meet your likes and abilities/equipment.

 

[jhawk]

Well Appleman I don't have a press or crusher besides my feet. i have been looking at a press but I can't see myself spending that much right now. I have seen both concord wines in red and white. I had it while it was a red sweet wine, but it was a little to sweet for me. I was going to go to the u pick vineyard and get the grapes their but who can't pass up on free grapes. It will save me a hour and half drive but they had a crusher and press there to use for a small fee. So I am stuck on what to do. I am a fan of both reisling and pinot grigio. Plus this will be my first batch using the real deal grapes and don't want to screw it up.
Edited by: jhawk

 

[grapeman]

First we need to know how many grapes you have for a few things. If you make it out of pure juice, it will take about 15 pounds per gallon, but with Concord you can dilute it a little and balance with sugar. If you have the grapes, you need something to hold them in to ferment. It needs to be food grade, even if it is a trash can of proper size or even a couple fermenter buckets. It needs to be almost twice the size of your final batch. Concord stems have way too much tannin in them, so the grapes need to be taken off the stems. It's a lot of work and your fingers will feel it by the time you are done. Sanitize the fermentation vessel and you can put them in as you go. Since you don't have a crusher, your fermentation vessel candouble as your crusher along with you sanitized(or at least well washed feet. Wear old shorts and maybe a tie-dyed shirt so stains won't show. Step up and down until all the grapes are well crushed. Be sure to have a cameraman nearby to capture the fun for us. Once you have the grapes all squished up check the SG of the must by filtering out a sample with cheesecloth. Adjust up the SG by adding sugar to bring it up to about 1.090. It will take roughly 1 cup per gallon to raise it.010 per gallon.It's best to make up a water/sugar solution by heating on the stove. Let it cool some before adding back to the must. Remember if you decide to cut the juice some to adjust the SG after the water addition


Add 1/4 teaspoon K-Meta per 5 gallons. If you have a TA test kit, you could check it for balancing later. Stir the K-meta in along with1 tablespoonpectic enzyme per 5 gallons(helps break down the pulp for better juice extraction later). Also add 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient per 5 gallons.


Let the must sit covered for 24 hours to kill the wild yeasts and bacteria with the added K-Meta. It also needs to dissipate before the yeast will begin. After the 24 hours add the yeast such as Pasteur Red. Activity should begin in about a day. You will see the crushed grapes rising to the top. Punch the floating cap down into the must. You can use a potato masher that has been sanitized. Do that two or three times a day for about 5-6 days with Concord. Longer times give more color. After you are satisfied you have enough color the primary ferment will be about done, so strain the juice into a bucket and then into a secondary carboy(easier that way). Squeeze out all the juice you can get. Scooping the pulp into a straining bag and squeezing works ok. If you get the October /November issue of WimeMaker Magazine it has a small press in it made by a viewer out of a primary bucket and plywood for about $30.00.


Once in carboys,leave some space at the top(bring wine up to just above theshoulder) and put on the airlocks.Continue on as any wine.


Here is a recipe from Jack Keller's site that is a good full bodies recipes similar to what I have here.




<CENTER>
<H3>Concord Grape Wine (1 gallon)</H3></CENTER>
<UL>
<LI>12 lbs fresh Concord grapes
<LI>2 pts water
<LI>1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
<LI>1 tsp pectic enzyme
<LI>1 crushed Campden tablet
<LI>1 tsp yeast nutrient
<LI>wine yeast </LI>[/list]


Wash and de-stem grapes, discarding any less than perfect ones. Divide grapes into two nylon mesh bags, tie securely, and vigorously crush grapes over primary, being sure to crush them all. Place bags of pulp in primary and add sugar already dissolved in water, nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet. Cover securely with clean cloth and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After additional 12 hours check specific gravity. If not at least 1.095, add sugar and stir until dissolved, then add yeast. Stir daily, squeezing the nylon bags to aid in juice extraction, and check the S.G. When S.G. reaches 1.030 (5-6 days), lightly but steadily press juice from bags. [Set bags aside in bowl to make a second wine (see third recipe below).] Siphon liquor off sediments into sterilized glass secondary and attach airlock. Check S.G. after 30 days. If 1.000 or lower, rack into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Rack again after 2 months and again after additional 2 months. Allow to clear, stabilize, sweeten (1-1/4 cup sugar syrup per gallon), and rack again into sterilized bottles. Allow to age two years in bottle before tasting. Improves further with additional aging. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]


Edited by: appleman

 

[jhawk]

Thanks Appleman I have an employee at work that has a grape press that I can borrow. So no video on grape stomping Sorry. Has anybody done a batch of wine by just using the fresh juice that is pressed and without the skins? I was also leaning towards that route. I have a large enough primary to do 20 gallons or so.
Edited by: jhawk

 

[grapeman]

You can do that jhawk, but it will be very light in color and won't extract most of the flavors. Generally with a wine out of grapes(red) you crush and then ferment with the skins and all(except the stems). Once it is down to about 1.010 or a little lower, then you press. For an example check out my thread on Champlain Valley Vineyard. I have some reds I am doing now this way and you can see the color extraction. I did a small batch once like you say and it is a very light rose- has good Concord nose ,but lacks in body and a lot of flavors.

 

[pkcook]

Jhawk,


Concords produce lots of acid. My brother-in-law grows lots of wine grapes and put in 2 rows of concords for jam. Unfortunately, that is way too much grapes for my sister to work into jam, so he is making some wine from what remains after jellies and jams. One method he is trying is spliting the crop and fermenting half the grapes on the skin and half on pure juice and blending to taste after dry. Time will tell.


I've made wine from concord concentrate and the wine was very "grapey" and heavy on acid. I would try watering down the juice and adding back sugar to the alcohol level you prefer.

 

[grapeman]

Concords if fully ripe drop quite a bit in TA(acid). As the brix rises(sugar content), the TA also drops. Many people try to pick them too soon and they are and acid monster. Let them hang as long as possible. Dilution can help as can potasium or calcium carbonate. You could also do a MLF ont them to reduce the acid. That's the main reason why I try to start with wine grapes, they generally have higher sugar and less acid than Concord.