Muscadine

[peterCooper]

After a bunch of attempts, I ended up only with 10lb of muscadines.
They've been sitting in the freezer waiting for a free primary.

I'm really only set up to do 6 gallon batches, and anyway, I'm told that using just muscadines is an 'acquired taste' (I think meaning nobody but Waldo would drink it .. just kidding Waldo

)

Can anyone come up with recipes to use the muscadines. I don't really wnat to just add a bunch of welches grape concentrate.Edited by: peterCooper

 

[Wade E]

PWP and Bert liked the Musc wine also. They just had it for the Wine of
the week with tamales. I myself have never had it. Hmmmm!

 

[jobe05]

Wade: I don't know about up north, but the walmarts around here (where muscadines are prevalant), has them for about 2 weeks. It's an expensive way to do a gallon but 100% worth the cost and the effort.


Peter: I would starte a 2 gallon batch. You can still ferment that in your regular 7.9 gallon fermentor, just rack into 2 seperate gallon jugs. By the time your done racking, you'll have 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 gallon. Well worth the effort, beleive me.


I did a gallon batch last year, and kicked myself after. This year I got 60 pounds of scuppernogg and 40 pounds of mucadine. The muscadine is good, but I like the scuppernogg even more. Can't wait till next year...... I can drink all that I make this year.

 

[Waldo]

I did a Muscadine/Concord that turned out really well peter but by preference I would do as jobe said and go for the 2 gallon batch of Muscadine. They are in the freezer so they are fine and i could send you a bottle of the Muscadine/Concord to get a feel of what you would be looking at in your finished wine.

 

[sangwitch]

I'm in the same predicament. Not sure of the weight I have on ice, but it's not enough to do a big batch. Another thing I'm worried about now is whether I let them ripen enough before freezing. I was hiking a couple weeks ago and came across some wild vines with muscadines that were noticeably more sweet than what I had stuck in the freezer. I thought they were sweet at the time, but...


So... Muscadine King... (aka Waldo) I know Ialready asked about your muscadine/concord mix, but would your answer be the same ifthe grapes were not as ripe as they should have been when I froze them? Would you still recommend a straight muscadine?



Edited by: sangwitch

 

[bj4271]

Sangwich


If they are wild muscadine & they have already fallen, they are ready!

 

[sangwitch]

Sangwich


If they are wild muscadine & they have already fallen, they are ready!

They didn't fall. I picked them and then laid them out on trays in the heat to ripen some more. This was about a month ago. They tasted sweet to me, but not much compared to what I came across last week.

 

[bj4271]

Sangwitch


When you said you picked them, I assumed you meant from the ground (around here the wild musc. vines grow high up in the trees & picking them means off the ground).

 

[sangwitch]

I have a 12-foot step ladder!


I've heard that some people lay sheets down to collect the falling grapes. I was just so excited to find vines in my back woods... they were purple and I thought that meant it was time to pick.

 

[bj4271]

They're purple for quite a while before they're ready to eat, etc. The only way I know to tel when they're ready is when they fall. I didn't get all I wanted from the wild vines, this year so I got some from a local vinery. The owner picked them & they didn't smell as good as the wild ones I got. I wonder if he knew which ones to pick??? Oh well.


I've got a 6 gal & 1 gal batch going; plus the 30 #s used in the big batch was reused in a 3 gal batch.