PA Grape Juices

[Hokapsig]

Doug, based on your posts, I stopped by PIWC and picked up 5 gal of Seyval Blanc which I am going to ferment to dry, then experiment with blending the Concord grapes that I picked from a coworkers house in Buffalo. I need to destem the Concord and get that ready for fermenting (which I will also take to dry). It was nice to drop in on Dan and see him in his element. Thanks to him for showing me around the facilities.

 

[ffemt128]

Doug, based on your posts, I stopped by PIWC and picked up 5 gal of Seyval Blanc which I am going to ferment to dry, then experiment with blending the Concord grapes that I picked from a coworkers house in Buffalo. I need to destem the Concord and get that ready for fermenting (which I will also take to dry). It was nice to drop in on Dan and see him in his element. Thanks to him for showing me around the facilities.

Dan is definately a hell of a nice guy. I enjoyed getting the tour on Sunday when we were up there as well. Looking forward to making the trek back up on the 29th for Fredonia. Wish the Catawba was ready then as well so I could save a trip, but it a nice outing. Dan will have to recommend somewhere to have lunch when we come up.

 

[Runningwolf]

Johnny B's. Excellent food, try their hamburger with a fried egg on it. It's awesome. Thanks for the kind words. Sorry I couldn't give you guys a tour of the entire place but with harvest it's "balls to the wall" until it's over. I left at 5:30 am this morning and got home after 10 pm tonight and back in the same time tomorrow.

 

[ffemt128]

Johnny B's. Excellent food, try their hamburger with a fried egg on it. It's awesome. Thanks for the kind words. Sorry I couldn't give you guys a tour of the entire place but with harvest it's "balls to the wall" until it's over. I left at 5:30 am this morning and got home after 10 pm tonight and back in the same time tomorrow.

Was that the Itialian/American place? I think we saw a sign for it just up from the Freeport. We will give it a try for sure next time we are up.

 

[ffemt128]

Per Dan's recommendation I took all the juices to 1.090 (21 brix or there about) when I arrived back home on the 16th. I checked Sg's this afternoon, Niagra was right around 1.004, Concord was at .994 and Seyval Balnc was at .990. Looks like I'll be transferring wine to carboys this evening and also later this week.

Saturday, I'll be heading back to PI Wine to pick up my Fredonia. Wish they had Catawba ready to be picked up. It would save me a trip in October which may be turning into a really hectic month.

 

[ffemt128]

I'll be making the trek to Presque Isle Wine tomorrow again to pick up 12 gallons of Fredonia. Lets see, $65 in juice will cost me $75 in gas to pick up. Well worth the trip. I need to call and see if they still have any Niagra left, if so I'll be chopping up Peppers this evening in preparation for tomorrow.

Will be checking out Jimmy B's for lunch after getting our juice. Plan on being up there around 10:30 or so.

 

[ffemt128]

Picked up my Fredonia from Presque Isle today. Saw Dan for a brief moment to say hello. Also picked up some Niagra from the fruit place next to Arrowhead. I'll be starting my Jalepeno Pepper wine tomorrow.

 

[KatyDinkle]

Hello from the eastern side of PA! My first attempt to make wine from local grace juice purchased from Vigna Del Monte in Easton. Wonderful people!

Brought home juice yesterday, still letting it come to room temp. A few questions as my experience is mostly with kits.

Do you hydrate yeast?
Do you always add yeast nutrient?
Do you hit juice with Kmeta before yeast?

Thanks. Oh, I purchased a white blend, a rose blend and a chardonnel.

 

[Runningwolf]

Katy, I would not add any meta. Does the juice say yeast was added? Some is and some is not. If it is not added go ahead and hydrate some yeast with nutrient and add it.

 

[KatyDinkle]

It did not have yeast added. Thanks. I will follow your advice. So excited to have wine made with locally grown grapes!

 

[djrockinsteve]

Yes you should rehydrate yeast. You can add nutrient all upfront or half and half. Unless I have a problem juice I don't sulfite my juice.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[ffemt128]

I agree with rehydrating the yeast, it guarantees a start for the most part. I have just sprinkled the yeast on the juice as well with success. I always use nutrient with all my wines and I tend to add kmeta up front 24 hours before pitching the yeast. Just something I have always done.


On another note, all the juices I pitched the yeast on yesterday were bubbling away this am.

 

[ffemt128]

Just thought I would give an update. The Niagra and the Seyval Blanc are crystal clear now. The concord is deep color and the Freddonia is still fermenting away. Concord this year looks so much better than last year. The color is a deep redish purple opposed to last year where it finished to an off color orange. This year we got early concord opposed to picking it up in October last year. Can't wait til next Saturday to pick up the catawba and chambourcin.

 

[Hokapsig]

I just started 5 gallons of Stueben and 5 gallons of Cayuga (both from Erie) before I left for vacation. By the time I get home, it should be time to transfer to carboys. I cranked up the brix to yield about 12%ABV and will be looking to do some blending.....

 

[ffemt128]

I have been checking and stirring the Catawba and Chambourcin juice daily. The Chambourcin has a very active fermentation going 3 days after pitching yeast. The Catawba on the other hand not so much. I added brew belts yesterday to try and warm up the juice a little. Looking forward to spring so that we can do some blending of the PA juices.

 

[ffemt128]

One bucket of Catawba has taken off and has a very active fermentation. Bucket number two, sg is still sitting at 1080 and has had the brewbelt on for several days. I'm dehydrating another pack of yeast in hopes a strong starter will get this to take off.

Wish me luck.

 

[ffemt128]

I took Dans advice yesterday and splash racked the catawba that wouldn't start and also pitched a starter. Happy to say we have fermentation.

 

[ffemt128]

Going to rack the Seyval Blanc today, pretty much looking crystal clear. Will let it sit over the next few months so any acid that's going to drop out can. Looking forward to trying this as I enjoyed it at the various wineries we tried in North East PA.

 

[ffemt128]

Racked off the Fredonia that has been sitting since November 2nd. Wow the layer of tartrate crystals was unbelievable. It was probably no less than 3/32" thick covering then entire bottom of both carboys and moving up the sides. It smells absolutely wonderful at this point. From what Runningwolfe said, the Fredonia takes along time to clear. I can tell that is going to be true as I have a laser pointer in the cellar and the beam cannot be seen through this at all where as most of the other reds, you can see it clearly through the wine. Patience will be required with this batch and anything it gets blended with for sure.

Going to see about racking off the Catawba this afternoon.

 

[ffemt128]

Just for giggles I back sweetened a gallon of the Concord to 1.006. Wow, this is way better than last year's batch.

Now if the Fredonia would start to clear I could do some blending.