concord question
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NorthernWinos
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I have a hardy grape called Beta....It is a cross between Concord and a wild grape....It does get sweeter if you can let it hang on the vine long enough....
I have never made wine with Beta, but know many folks make wine with Concord grapes.
I make wine with a grape called Valiant...It is another hardy variety, it is a cross between Fredonia and a wild grape. It ripens earlier than the Beta and does make a fairly nice wine.
Can you let those grapes hang for awhile longer and keep testing????
I have never made wine with Beta, but know many folks make wine with Concord grapes.
I make wine with a grape called Valiant...It is another hardy variety, it is a cross between Fredonia and a wild grape. It ripens earlier than the Beta and does make a fairly nice wine.
Can you let those grapes hang for awhile longer and keep testing????
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Concords are usually harvested with a brix between 15 and 18. It can take a month or more after Veraison to reach that brix. Progress is slowed by the cool fall weathers, so a long hang time is necessary. Acid levels would be very high at that brix and will decrease as they ripen more and add sugars. I would let them hangg as long as possible. A decent wine can be made from them, although sugar is usually necessary to add. A lot of people harvest early and chaptalize and then sweeten after fermentation to counter the high acid. You can also dilute some to bring the acid down and leave it dry.
We are having a cool autumn so far with 4 out of the last 7 days in the mid to upper 30's at night and the Concords are ripening ever so slowly. I haven't even checked the brix of them yet. They might not even ripen this year if it doesn't warm up soon(which it is supposed to do after tonight).
We are having a cool autumn so far with 4 out of the last 7 days in the mid to upper 30's at night and the Concords are ripening ever so slowly. I haven't even checked the brix of them yet. They might not even ripen this year if it doesn't warm up soon(which it is supposed to do after tonight).
NorthernWinos
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This is about our average frost date.....
Looks like we will have a chance of severe thunderstorms tonight....woke up to thunder early this AM, but didn't get much moisture.....Strong winds all day...something is a brewing. Looks like temps in the 70's all week and lows ranging from 45-60 for the week.....
Grapes may ripen yet....Would be nice to get them.....But, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Looks like we will have a chance of severe thunderstorms tonight....woke up to thunder early this AM, but didn't get much moisture.....Strong winds all day...something is a brewing. Looks like temps in the 70's all week and lows ranging from 45-60 for the week.....
Grapes may ripen yet....Would be nice to get them.....But, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
wow. looks like the weather is causing havoc. i'll let the concord hang as long as possible. have trapped three racoons in the last 10 days. will keep traps baited and pistol loaded.
thanks to all
ps the problem is that my wife and i want to visit the dakota badlands in mid october. if we do, i will have to freeze the grapes and try to make wine when we get back. hopefully, a mid october hang time will be long enough. dang, i am starting to live my life around the grapes!
thanks to all
ps the problem is that my wife and i want to visit the dakota badlands in mid october. if we do, i will have to freeze the grapes and try to make wine when we get back. hopefully, a mid october hang time will be long enough. dang, i am starting to live my life around the grapes!
