Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[Mrcwcb89]

Excellent makes perfect sense now [emoji108]🏼

I've had a wee look at that already today [emoji6] nifty wee thing [emoji23]

I'm planning on glass bottles would you suggest screw or Corking cost wise I can get 12 wine bottles and screw caps for £9 which to me seems a bargain

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If you can find screw top bottles (free from pubs etc) these are great - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56326

 

[chewie]

I would ask around for wine bottles, there are bound to be plenty of BYOB restaurants round Glasgow or pubs that have a wine list. Buying in bottles is expensive and if you have a few friends who are wine drinkers they will probably be only to glad to keep you in bottles for a free sample or two along the way. I would also buy in corks or the caps Chippy links to, reusing screw caps is all well and good but they are prone to leaking from time to time. Round my place there is an extremely popular BYOB pizza eaterie which has several hundred tables, the amount of bottles that it throws out is substantial in any given week, it's a reliable source for bottles should i ever need to lay my hands on some if i'm short.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

As chewie says metal screw caps are not the best they can only be used a few times as the threads wear and you cannot get them tight enough to seal, the novatwist caps i linked to above are brilliant, i got mine on the 10/9/15 and have used them many times over and I've had leaks whatsoever.

 

[magpie2000k]

Give this one a try, its one we still make regularly.

This is for a 4.5 litre Demijohn.

Rosé wine.

1 litre Red grape juice (ASDA)

1 litre Apple Juice (ASDA)

800g Sugar.

1 tsp Tannin or a mug of very strong black tea. (3 bags stirred every couple of minutes as you put the rest of the ingredients together)

1 tsp Yeast (i use youngs super wine yeast compound)

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient.

1 tsp Pectolase.

1 tsp Glycerine.

1 tsp citric acid or juice of one lemon. (optional)

Sorry chippy only 2 litres liquid do you later add water or something

 

[chewie]

Yes, top up a DJ to around the start of the shoulder with water, this allows space for fermentation reaction and degassing, top up again before bottling to the 6 bottle mark. If you add your sugar into a 1 litre measuring jug and dissolve it with boiling water this gives you about the right pitch temp for your yeast (23-25c), the rest is tea and cold water.

 

[magpie2000k]

Hi chewie and thanks. Both top ups just water correct

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You can top up with water or juice to give more flaour.

 

[Mordekai]

With demijohns it's usually a safer bet to start with less fluid than you intend to bottle as you can add more later, like the guys say either water or juice depending on how you like the taste.

There is some old adage about how you can add sweetness to a wine but it's a bugger to take it away again... (I'm no poet).

It's also less likely to overflow and make a mess.
One of my first ever wine efforts I was super keen and decided I wanted to squeeze as much wine out of the thing as possible, so started the brew with the fluid practically up to the neck... I came down the next morning to a mini Vesuvius of an unhappy looking airlock spitting gops of purple/grey "stuff" all over the kitchen at a rate of knots.

You'll only do that ONCE!

 

[Mordekai]

Not sure what sort of grapes Tesco are using in their White Grape Juice at the moment...

Perhaps it's some secret magic grape hidden for centuries by French Monks?



But I think I'll be sticking to Lidl and Aldi for now...

 

[Mordekai]

I would ask around for wine bottles, there are bound to be plenty of BYOB restaurants round Glasgow or pubs that have a wine list. Buying in bottles is expensive and if you have a few friends who are wine drinkers they will probably be only to glad to keep you in bottles for a free sample or two along the way. I would also buy in corks or the caps Chippy links to, reusing screw caps is all well and good but they are prone to leaking from time to time. Round my place there is an extremely popular BYOB pizza eaterie which has several hundred tables, the amount of bottles that it throws out is substantial in any given week, it's a reliable source for bottles should i ever need to lay my hands on some if i'm short.

Most pubs I know are happy to hand out old bottles.

I'm lucky in that I live next door to a very friendly pub who let me scavenge as many bottles as I like from their recycling bins. Most of the pubs round our neck of the woods are happy to let folk skip dive for empties.

I also live next door to the rather excellent "Bob's Brewing Company" whose "White Lion" is outstanding and at the back of my house is the "Ossett Brewing Company" who do lots of beers and now own lots of pubs, including Huddersfield's famous Rat and Ratchet and their "Exclesior" has won more medals and prizes than Eussein Bolt.
(All of which is why my wife and kids don't complain when the smell of hops and malt emanate from our kitchen... )

The only time I've ever been refused was years ago when I asked a manager at one of the big chains, and he said that he didn't know if the Brewco would be happy with him giving something away, so he said no...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Not sure what sort of grapes Tesco are using in their White Grape Juice at the moment...
Perhaps it's some secret magic grape hidden for centuries by French Monks?
But I think I'll be sticking to Lidl and Aldi for now...

You are lucky you can find so much white grape juice, there are many posts about the lack of it in supermarkets on the forum.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Sainsbury Red Grape Juice 85p per litre - http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/longer-life-juice/sainsburys-red-grape-juice-1l

 

[magpie2000k]

chippy does it matter in this wow that the sugar keeps settling to bottom. Same in my turbo cider just made

Please advise.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Some members say it doesn't as the yeast will find it but i don't like to see it settling to the bottom, you could try shaking it once a day which might help, if you have a drill make one of these, you will never see sugar settling again - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48971

 

[magpie2000k]

Cheers just shook it up a bit. May I ask do you top up with juice or water. If juice apple or grape. Just want to do one people recommend then I will start experimenting. Just feel if I make same I might be able to explain how I want to change and get further tips.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We use water, we find a litre of each juice is fine, others find it a bit thin and add juice, its down to personal taste, if you make it with only 2 litres of juice you can always add some if you prefer it stronger.

 

[cheapbrew]

I started my first wow variant last Friday,

2 x 1L purple grape (50% juice)
1 x 1L apple and mango 100% juice
800g gran sugar
1 tsp pectolase
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp yeast
3 tbsp lemon juice
half a mug of three bag lady grey tea (tea scented with oil of bergamot)
Hoping for a nice rose!

I haven't got any glycerin but I've never used it in any other wine that I've made so I think it will be ok, and can still get some if I want.
Its been just over a week and the fermentation bubbles have slowed right down and it looks like it will soon be finished fermenting.

I don't usually use finings in my wine unless it is taking too long to clear after racking, I usually just leave it to clear on its own over time, BUT I may use some in my wow variant as I would like it for xmas (always a good test with lots of different peeps tasting), however I'll leave it a bit after stabilising and racking just to see if it will clear on its own first.

I must say compared to my usual wines it seems very quick to ferment out, and the first time I've fermented in a DJ and not one of my 5gal fermenting bins but its much easier without all the fruit/veg to prepare, as long as the end result is comparable! Time will tell

 

[Chippy_Tea]

3 tbsp lemon juice

Is that tablespoons?

 

[magpie2000k]

Both under way gave a big shake. Will keep you informed.