Help with Welches Recipe

[bthompson]

Hi all, I'm about to try my first non kit batch, the 1 gallon recipe with Welches concentrate. I've ordered all the chemicals and such mentioned in the recipe. Couple of questions:
1. Do I need any test equipment?
2. The recipe calls for adding sugar to the concentrate right away, however, should I test the SG of the juice first?

Any hints or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Billy

 

[fivebk]

You should get an acid test kit so you can adjust the acid in the must.

If you are using concentrate then you will be adding water also so you will have to add sugar upfront to get to the desired SG ( using your hydrometer ).

Keep the alcohol level down ( 9-10% )

BOB

 

[bthompson]

Thanks. Will this do the trick? What readings am I looking for?

http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=5400

 

[Tom]

That would work as well as using a hydrometer. Use 3-4 cans of frozen concentrate per gal and add sugar to gravity of 1.085-1.085 NOT higher.

 

[bthompson]

Ok, no sugar added, starting SG was 1.095. After three days I thought I had stuck fermentation and checked the SG again. It's at 1.00. According to the directions that was supposed to take a couple of weeks. It's in the gallon jug and the airlock has no activity. My first inclination is to give it a week, just to err on the side of caution. My question is, do I go ahead and proceed with adding the chemicals, or wait? As always, thanks!

 

[Tom]

Ck the gravity for 2 days and make sure its the same. Depending on temp and freshness of yeast its not uncommon to have a fast primary. rack to secondary and add again make sure its dry .990 then add youe meta and sorbate. Are you gonna make a f-pac for this?
BTW how many cans did you use for what size batch? I'm surprised you have a high SG.

 

[Wade E]

1 gallon batches will ferment out very fast as you have just found out. I agree with Tepe above that you should check the sg a few days in a row to make sure the sg is stable before moving on.

 

[bthompson]

Started with two 12oz cans of frozen concentrate for a 1 gallon batch. Gonna check SG right now and will report back.

tepe, no f-pac planned. Just going to follow the recipe and see what happens.

 

[bthompson]

SG holding at 1.00.Go ahead and mix in the chems?

 

[Tom]

NO not ready. rack and let it go to .990

 

[bthompson]

Ok, I have no experience doing this other than with a kit, so don't be offended by the question (I'm going to rack as suggested).

Why do this when the recipe calls for 1.00? Seriously, this is for nothing more than my own edification.

 

[Wade E]

If your wine has been stable for more then three days then you are ok to proceed but if not wait it out, some wines will ferment down further and usually do buy some stop there and thats close enough.

 

[bthompson]

Thanks to both of you. I'm going to rack it and wait a bit just to be sure. I'm not virtuous, but I do have patience!

 

[Tom]

If you have patience then you will make good wine.

 

[gaudet]

A lot of things can affect the rate of fermentation. Volume of must, temperature, type of yeast, pH. When I made 1 gallon batches they would usually ferment to dry in 3-5 days. I ferment at house temp which is usually 75 degrees year round. Nothing too unusual. You are doing fine. I would let it sit a couple days more and take another sg reading. If you are still at 1.000 then its probably done and you can add the k-meta and k-sorbate (optional since there is little to no fermentables left in your wine) You wine is saturated with CO2 which will protect it somewhat. If you feel you really want to do something, rack it like tepe said and get it off the gross lees at the bottom. They can lead to off tastes if left sitting too long. But that shouldn't be a concern at this point since you just made it recently.

If you do decide to backsweeten it you need to add the k-sorbate otherwise the yeast will continue to ferment and your ABV will increase.

 

[barryjo]

My first attempts at wine making years ago were with Welches Grape Juice.
2 qts juice, 2 qts water and 2 lbs sugar. No chemicals, no hydrometer and no idea what I was doing! I kept the screw tops for the bottles and put the wine in them for storage. DO NOT use those bottles for wine. Especially if the wine is not done fermenting. Those puppies will explode!!!
Did I mention I was a novice?
They started blowing up during the nite. Scared the cr-- out of my wife.
My wine is now made in a separate building. With my other hobbies.
Progress.

 

[scotty]

I can't believe that you did not add sugar to boost the alcohol to around 10%. i always use pectic enzyme with concord juice.
btw--did you mention what yeast you used???

 

[OGrav]

Could be some have more sugar than others. I made a few batches of wine using bottled juices, Old Orchard, I think. I'll have to look at my notes, but I think within a certain flavor, it was uniformly 1.050, and acid didn't require adjustment.