Pomegranate Blueberry (frozen juice concentrate)

[pelican]

For anyone interested in a recipe using the grocery store frozen-juice concentrates, here's my recent Pomegranate Blueberry -- which tasted pretty good at bottling (haven't tried it since then).


Pomegranate/Blueberry


MUST

2 - 12 oz Pomegranate Blueberry frozen concentrate (100% juice blend, Old Orchard brand I believe)

½ of a 500 ml of Red Grape Concentrate

Rinsed the juice concentrate cans with water X 2

Then added water to 1 gallon and 1 quart with 1 ½ c. corn sugar (or whatever it took to get the SG up there, I didn't keep strict track of the sugar)

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SG: 1.090

This gave 1 gallon + a bit for racking losses


USUAL SUSPECTS

1 tab. campden

No Tannin

1/2 tsp Pectic enzyme

1/8 tsp Acid Blend

yeast nutrient and energizer


ADDITIONS

None at beginning -- oak chips added Day 21 in secondary


YEAST

RedStar Montrachet, as a starter in water



I know the corn sugar is not the typical called for in wine recipes, but I had some I wanted to use up and I like experimenting a bit... You could just use regular sugar.


I didn't keep strict tract of how much sugar I added, just kept checking the SG as I made sugar/water additions until I had the volume and the SG I wanted.
Edited by: pelican

 

[Wade E]

Sounds good Pelican! I dont know what it is lately with copying from Word that you get this (fake link) but it was doing it to me too and driving me crazy!

 

[pelican]

Yes, as soon as I saw that Microsoft gobbledegook, I edited it back to straight text.

Grrrrr on Word. That sort of thing used to mess me up no end when I did website development. WYSIWYG my lees !! Has been a while so I forgot about that. Won't do that again... I have the recipe for a couple more of my experiments to post yet.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Noe I have seen this juice in 64oz bottles, but not frozen....I need to go to bigger cities.

 

[hilltopwino]

Pelican,
I am set to start mine in the morning but will be making a 6 gal batch. Here's my plan, tell me what you think.


15 cans Pom-blueberry
3 lbs whole bleuberries
sugar to 1.08 (I like a little lower alc)
3 teaspoons pectic
acid to 5.5 - 6.0
6 campden tabs
water to 6 gallons
2 packages yeast


A few questions...
Do you think the acid will be needed?
I plan to oak 1/2, when and how much should be added?
How long do I leave it in contact with the oak?


Thanks

 

[pelican]

Hi Hilltopwino and welcome to the forum too!
I think your plan sounds good - should be richer and more fullbodied with the blueberries added and the additional juice concentrate.... I couldn't say on the acid - you should be prepared to test it (or at least taste test). Blueberries and pomegranate both are rather on the higher acid side?? (or can be)

If you plan to oak 1/2, if it was me, I would add in the secondary - split into 2 3gal secondaries if you have them, and how much and how long to leave will depend on the toast level and how much flavor you want from them, plus how much oak extracts from the chips/spirals/dust/whathaveyou.

When I have oaked, I've left (in 1 gallon) the chips in for maybe 1- 2 weeks and the oak chips I have are untoasted American oak that I try to toast up a little bit in a fry pan. It's really a matter of personal taste and how adventurous you are at the time

(my opinion)

 

[pelican]

For anyone interested in a recipe using the grocery store frozen-juice concentrates, here's my recent Pomegranate Blueberry -- which tasted pretty good at bottling (haven't tried it since then).

Well, the first bottle was opened ... and consumed!

Last night I took a bottle of the Pomegranate Blueberry wine to a post-holiday gathering, and it was VERY well received, and I must say it exceeded my expectations as well.

Very flavorful but not overpowering - well balanced and just begged for going back for seconds.

The blueberry came through perfectly.

I'm definitely going to do this one again, but in larger quantity! Soon!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Good to hear that....

We will open the bottle of that you gave us for Christmas this weekend....

......

 

[NorthernWinos]

With great relief of surviving a brutally cold day we decided to celebrate with.....
First sharing 3 beer bottles of Sparkling Apple Cider...[only to refresh the cook and driver of today's Road Trip]...

Feeling relaxed and ready to receive the best...we opened the bottle of Pomm/Blueberry from Pelican Brook Estates....

This wine is very fine...amazing considering the recipe...A Must Do!!!
Two Thumbs Up!!!!

 

[pelican]

Thank you for the rave reviews NW~!

Over the weekend I went to find more of the Pomegranate Blueberry frozen concentrate... didn't find it. Couldn't remember where I had bought it from.

I did see the bottled juice but it was not the same stuff - more the apple juice/grape juice blend with flavorings.

Did a search on google in desperation and BINGO! Now I remember where I had found it ..... Super Walmart! Luckily it looks like my local walmart does carry this -- put in zip code at this link and see which store in your area carries it &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10805179

 

[KSGuardsman]

I have three cans of the same brand, but this is the pomegranate-cherry frozen concentrate instead. I am going to start with 1.25 gallons in primary, pulled from three cans of concentrate. Pretty much going to follow this recipe and see how it goes.

This will be my first non-kit experiment, so do not be surprised if I come back for guidance soon. My main goal on this is to learn how to achieve pre-fermentation acid/sugar balance.

First question I have is for pelican.... It looks like you were only about 2 months from start to serve at the party, is that correct? Did it drink any better with age or was it pretty much the same?

 

[pelican]

Hi KS,



No, it was more than 2 months from start to serving at the party. I
posted the recipe after the batch was complete and bottled.



The original batch was started on August 23rd, and bottled on
October 18. The party I shared the wine with was on Jan 8th. So it was 4 1/2 months from starting the must to sharing the first bottle.

This wine would qualify as an "Early Drinker" in just about anyone's book then!! And, I am happy to say it kept getting better over time. The last bottle of this was uncorked for an out of town houseguest's visit this winter, and there was genuine wow-factor in the glass with the wine at 1 year old then.

I've made a repeat in 3 gallon size using this same recipe "exactly... except", except that instead of corn sugar this time I used simple white sugar syrup. Can't tell you for sure if the corn sugar contributed to the early drinking quality or not, but I've had favorable response to the second batch all the same.


The one thing I'll mention on acid balance testing with a darker must is, it can be really hard to read the color change with the color-indicator /titration method. If you have a ph meter to help detect the end point of the test all the better. (Lots of threads on acid testing hints, tips and pitfalls here on the boards). Taste can be a good indicator if nothing else, you want a bit of pucker and not just syrupy sweetness. As the wine ferments and the sugar gets converted, the acidity will start to be more noticeable in the tastings -- so don't be surprised. Recipe wines don't have the 'buffered acids' of a kit wine...

Good luck with your Pom/Cherry !!

Pelican

 

[KSGuardsman]

Thanks for the 411 pelican. I do have a pH meter, but just hit a snag on the TA. I THOUGHT I had an Accuvin TA set on my last order from George (he has to love me BTW...I cannot admit in an open forum what I am averaging a month on purchases for my wine making JONES for fear my wife might actually read it!) So, I'm going to have to hold off on my start another week or so to get those little tubes in.

I've been reading and re-reading the posts on TA testing, so hopefully it will go well on first run.

Relating your success, however, has me going bold. I think I'll go out and buy a few more cans of the juice to make it a 3 gallon batch. I already own a 3 gallon carboy so why not? Assuming I do, do you see any problem starting primary in my 7.5 gallon primary or should I use something smaller?

 

[vcasey]

You'll have no problem with the larger primary. Many of us use them when we make the 3 gallon kits.

 

[KSGuardsman]

Due to surgery and lots of travel, I am just now starting my Pomegranate/Cherry wine from concentrate. Since this is my first go as a non-kit batch, I am working on 3 gallons, making all of the measurements and additions myself.

Ingredients:

12 12-oz cans Old Orchard Pom/Cherry frozen concentrate
3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
1 TBS acid blend (way too much, perhaps...I was reading T.A. of 8 before, 9 after....but I added to taste and this is where my taste bud said, "Whoa!")
sugar to raise SG to 1.092 (approximately 3 pounds)
Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast

I left the concentrate in the refrigerator overnight so they would melt. I added all 12 cans to the primary, then added approximately 3 gallons of watter, rinsing the cans as I went.

SG before Chaptalizing was approximately 1.060, which would have been fine for a low alcohol wine, but since I likely will run it dry and then sweeten it back a pinch, and since I wanted some punch on the acid, I ran the SG up as Pelican had with his.

I dissolved about half of the sugar into approximately a half-gallon of water to create a simple syrup. When this did not raise my SG enough I simply poured the balance of the granulated sugar straight into the must as I did not want to further dilute the juice.

I added the pectic enzyme and the acid blend (previously addressed). I activated the yeast in a 1/2 cup of warm water and pitched it to the must approximately 10 minutes later.

Final pre-yeast addition readings:

S.G.: 1.092
T.A.: 9 (Accuvin)
pH: 3.35

I did not add bentonite. I debated about adding it at the beginning, since It is always included in the kits, but since this is a pretty well filtered and fined juice, I decided not to use it.

I have 2.5 pounds of frozen cherries I plan to add to the must later in the process.

I'll continue to post this project as I progress, and I welcome anyone's questions, and especially your guidance and insight. So what about it, old timers...now that the damage is done, what advise do you have? What would you have done differently?


Randy

 

[Bert]

Hey Randy, just to let you know that Pelican is a she-cat...

...I'm sure she will be understanding......

The one thing I see is that adding your sugar right to the must, there can be a problem of the sugar not totally dissolving for you and giving you a false SG.

 

[KSGuardsman]

Day four of the Pom/Cherry.

S.G.: 1.031
The wine is coming along nicely. Very rich red, Hi-C fruit punch color. Strong yeast strain. I'll add some yeast enzyme when I transfer to carboy.

Added one package (12 ounces) of (thawed) frozen whole cherries in a straining bag.

 

[KSGuardsman]

Day five of Pom/Cherry project.

S.G. now at 1.020.

I gave the first package of cherries a good punch down and stirred the must before adding another 2.25 pounds of cherries (also in straining bags).

I will punch down and stir twice again tomorrow and in the morning on Saturday, with intent of racking it out of primary late Saturday afternoon, one week after this project began.

 

[KSGuardsman]

Day 18 of Pom/Cherry project.

After racking a second time on Sunday the 16th, I let it sit in the corner as I went on with what some refer to as the real world. On the 25th of May (day 13?) I had an SG of 1.000.

This morning 26 May (day 14), I racked it off the lees into a primary and then back into my cleaned and sanitized 3 gallon carboy. I then commenced degassing at noon with my GasGetter (the thing really works!).

Tonight, with an SG of .998, I added SuperKleer. I hope to have it clarified and ready to stabilize, sweeten it back to about 2.5%, then let it rest again in carboy for another few weeks before bottling.

 

[hocke230]

Want to do this but need to read up on below

3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
1 TBS acid blend (way too much, perhaps...I was reading T.A. of 8 before, 9 after....but I added to taste and this is where my taste bud said, "Whoa!")

My simple kit wines dont mess with these - I need to read up more on these...

What does the Pectic enzyme do?
After adding the acid blend do you then check the PH levels?

Total rookie here but want to start branching out more.