Howdy from Minneapolis, MN

[davew]

Hello all. I just started my first kit wine and want to try something else. I'm looking to start a small batch of frozen concentrate wine as the next step. I was going to try Terry Garey's simple apple concentrate recipe from her book 'The Joy of Home Winemaking' but I was going to sub raspberry concentrate for apple.

Anyone have a better idea for a next step from a kit wine to something more interesting?

-Dave

 

[smurfe]

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you here. If you want to branch out past a kit wine and like fruit wines I have to suggest you do wines from scratch with fresh fruits that you harvest or obtain locally. You can ferment virtually anything. Once again, welcome aboard.

 

[St Allie]

Morning Dave and welcome to the forum.

Basically have a look at what fruit is cheap or free in your area and find a recipe to suit it.. We have a lot of fruit recipes in our recipe section.

If you need a hand with anything, just ask, we're here to help .

Allie

 

[Tom]

Hey Dave, Welcome to a place where all your questions will be answered.
Check out our recipe section here http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

 

[Wade E]

You will need an array of chemicals to branch out like acid blend, yeast nutrient and energizer, and assorted jugs also for topping up later.

 

[Madriver Wines]

I agree with the suggestion to do a fruit wine. They are fun and taste great. You can play it safe and try a one gallon batch to start off.Any fruit will do. Welcome to a site full of people willing to help out.

 

[koda_ky]

Welcome
I like fruit wines and also very new at making wine, this is the place to be... best place on the net.

 

[Tom]

YEP !
We are now 10,000 strong!

 

[davew]

Thanks all! I think I'll skip the concentrates and go right to the fruit! I'm impressed with this group and the great responses!

I've been doing some searching and have found a vineyard that offers a pick your own for home winemakers. It looks like they have some frontenac grapes which grow well here in MN. Does anyone have experience with frontenac grapes? I've read the acidity is very high so I'm concerned it would be hard for me to manage without much experience.

 

[Wade E]

When dealing with grapes its good to have the specs on them. Can the vineyard give you the Brix and Ph and Ta are? We have many people here that can walk you through just about anything but we will need the info which will require you or the proprietor to give us this in order for us to help. Glad to have you here!

 

[davew]

When dealing with grapes its good to have the specs on them. Can the vineyard give you the Brix and Ph and Ta are? We have many people here that can walk you through just about anything but we will need the info which will require you or the proprietor to give us this in order for us to help. Glad to have you here!

Sure!

°Brix: 25.1
TA: 15.4 g/L
pH: 2.9

From what I understand, the TA is quite high.