NIAGARA JUICE

[NorthernWinos]

I have some Old Orchard Niagara Grape juice that is leftover from a previous 'Fermented Fruit Beverage'...ThatFF Beverage also had ripe bananas and pineapple juice in it and it finished off too sweet and fruity for our taste buds.


Can Niagara juice be fermented to a dry wine???
What is it like???
Does it still have the jammy flavor to it???..... Like Concord...it seems to always has that jammy flavor unless it is tweaked.


I am planning on makingthis next batchwith some steam extracted raspberry juice as well as the Old Orchard Niagara juice I have on hand, it's in 64oz containers as well as some frozen Niagara concentrate.


We like Raspberry flavored 'wines'...so will probably use about 6-8 quarts of Raspberry juices and the rest Niagara....will do a batch 5-6 gallon size.


I will use no Campden tablets...the usual additives to adjust the acidity, some tannin and probably Lalvin EC 1118 yeast.


Any suggestions...I won't be starting for a few days...so can think over this a bit.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

One of my favorite wines I have made to date was from Niagara grapes finished dry. I didn't have quite enough for a 6 gallon batch from just juice, so I added a couple cans of frozen when I made it. The grapes were ripe, but not high in sugar so I added 5 pounds to the batch. There is a hint of green to it which adds complexity to it. It has a slight taste of green grass to it- but very subtle. You would never guess it was made from Niagara if you didn't know it, There is absolutely no jamminess to it whatsoever. My Niagaras are from what I believe is an older unimproved strain. I planted them in 1978. They ripen a little later and are smaller than the newer Niagaras seem to be. The acid stays a little higher and I belive they make a nicer wine than the typical Niagara do,

 

[NorthernWinos]

Sounds good.


I did make one other batch with Niagara juice...I wanted an all juice wine...I used frozen Niagara concentrate, reconstituted juice in 64oz containers and WinExpert White Grape Concnentrate...No sugar. It finished too sweet for us...but some friends request that wine when they come over...so everyone has their own tastes...


Will be looking forward to starting this next batch.

 

[s.arkvinomaker]

Hi there Northernwonos.
I've used Niagra by itself and blended in other fruit wines. Never dry though but I bet it would be pretty good. I like the fruityness of the grape.
From my experience and according to Terry Garey's book "The Joy of Home Winemaking" Rasberrys are a very dominate fruit. I say that to say this watch the porportion of Rasberry to Niagra you mix. The Rasberry will easily dominate most grapes and fruits. Try something like a 5 to one ratio
when adding these juices to primary. Taste it. Then decide if you want more rasberry. Then started adding remaining ingredients. I've blended rasberry in Cab before and the rasberry even over took it in flavor. I make a lot of blended fruit wines. FYI-blueberry and blackberry are like that also but rasberry is the most nominate of the three I think.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks s.ark...How was your Raspberry/Cab...? I just started one...It's been fermenting for a day now...


We do like the flavor of Raspberry, so if it is fruit forward we don't mind. I was thinking about 1-2 gallons of Raspberry juice to 4+ gallons of Niagara....?


The Niagara in the 64oz jugs seems kind of watery, so going to boost that with about 1 can of frozen concentrate per gallon....?


I always taste the must as I add the juices...but it is always so sweet that I can never imagine a dry wine will eventually come forth....it usually does.


This will be fun...a new wine...maybe a goodie...maybe not.


I can hardly wait to be back out there picking those Raspberries, going to be a long time...

 

[s.arkvinomaker]

My Rasberry/Cab came out very nice. It was not a kit wine though. The frozen concentrate will be fine adding. It will add alot of sugar to the must so be sure to test SG before adding anymore sugar to be the must. What alcohol content did you want to shoot for? I would recommend 10-12% if you want to taste fruit and not just a bunch of alcohol. I would start out with 1 gal rasberry to the 4 of Niagra. Taste it and if you like it stay with that or add more at a qt. at a time. Rasberry is pretty potent in flavor.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks s.ark...I usually try to get a S.G. of about 1.085...so it usually finishes to a fairly moderate alcohol...I like to drink wine while I cook and eat...so a lower alcohol is needed.

I'll start with the 3 1/2 gallons of the reconstituted juice...add a couple cans of frozen concentrate to boost the Niagara flavor as those jug juices seem pretty watered down......and...then add4 quarts of raspberry...taste and test...then build from there.


What Cabernet juice did you use??? Did you use fresh/frozen raspberries?

 

[scotty]

Sounds good.


I did make one other batch with Niagara juice...I wanted an all juice wine...I used frozen Niagara concentrate, reconstituted juice in 64oz containers and WinExpert White Grape Concnentrate...No sugar. It finished too sweet for us...but some friends request that wine when they come over...so everyone has their own tastes...


Will be looking forward to starting this next batch.

NW
I know nothing about the grapes you are working with but I really don't understand how the juiced finished fermenting too sweet.
Is it the type of yeast that you used and was the PA too high.


If yoi have a minute, i would like ti understand how that happened.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Here is the recipe..I called it Blanc de Blanc [White from White] some was labeled White Trash Fendell








9-64oz bottles of Old Orchard Niagara Juice
6-12 oz cans frozen Niagara Juice Concentrate
2-500mil bottles WinExpert white Grape Concentrate
1+3/4# sugar...***Should have left this out as it brought the S.G. up to 1.100
3 tsp Liquid Tannin
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
3 tsp Acid Blend
6 Tsp Bentonite in blender with some water.


Can't recall if I added water to 6 gallons...but only had 25 bottles...Notes were not complete.


NO Campden tablets

3 tsp Yeast Energizer
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient
2 pk Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast


Fermented to .997 and stayed there.


I think the must was just too thick...Juice OverLoad


To us it was sweet, we prefer dry red wines...this was an experiment...to some people it was Divine.

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[scotty]

thanks--i didnt think that 1118 would ever not finish dry

 

[Waldo]

Was there a reason no campden was added NW?

 

[NorthernWinos]

The Niagara juice has Sulfites listed...others had said not to add Campden tablets...so I didn't...


What have you been up to lately???

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[scotty]

Maybe there was not enough sulfates to stop a strong fermentation but near the end a small amount of sulfates was more than the remaining yeast could tolerate??????