Wine guru's help please

[ni9e]

Hello wine buffs I've been thinking of having a go of making wine for a while its one of those things that allways ends up on the back boiler

So as its a new year I'm gonna give it a go I don't really want to go down the kit routes I would rather make my own concoctions :grin: I have seen in costco they sell pure grape juice could I use this to make a batch of wine if so what would I need to add to it to make it a medium/sweet or a sweet wine and do I need wine yeast (if so can someone recommend a good one) or can I use ale yeast or even bread yeast?

Thanks

 

[NickW]

Hi there!

A lot of people (including me) will recomend this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... ition=used - some people may not like it. But I think its a great tool for the beginner.

To give you an idea of making wines from grape juice, see my thread "ASDA Supply Rose" in the wine and cider brewdays section.. its really that simple!

Even reading through berrys book just once will give you a great lkook on how to start making wine, it includes tonnes of recipes too!

Regarding the yeast, I use youngs high alcohol wine yeast i think its called, you can get it from any brewshop, online, or probably wilkos too.

I hope you found my advice just a bit more useful than a Woolworths gift voucher :)

 

[ni9e]

To give you an idea of making wines from grape juice, see my thread "ASDA Supply Rose" in the wine and cider brewdays section.. its really that simple!

:)

I have just read your thread I was thinking of buying enough grape juice to fill a DJ adding sugar(not sure on how much yet) and yeast then fermenting is there any reason you added citric/tartic acid and apple juice ?

 

[NickW]

Well, the tartic acid is meant to give wines a nicer flavour and aroma, the citric acid was just done as I've seen citric acid used a lot in this kind of thing, and almost a "just incase" kind of thing! The same reason I added a little yeast nutrient, grapes usually have enough nutrient in them, but seen as I added a little apple juice I thought it couldnt hurt!

Apple juice? - No particular reason! I saw it in the supermarket and it was kind of a rushed decision. Plus it was half the price of a litre of grape juice - also, the "cider" i was brewing had got to over 9% and tasted rather like white wine, so that was kind of another reason.

 

[percival]

crE has gone the route you are looking into so i won't add much myself

Tartaric acid occurs naturally in grapes so you shouldn't need to add any.
I'd second crEs book suggestion.
If you want to go the route of concocting your own brews then a hydrometer will be invaluable. Combined with the sort of tables Berry gives for OG and estimated ABV it will inform you how much sugar to use. (you can probably find similar tables online somewhere).

A success for a first attempt is always a good way to start, a failure could put you off, for that reason i would recommend a tried and tested recipe for a first attempt. However i like your adventurous spirit too! A mate of mine jumped right in at the deep end for his first brew .... wine made from the grapes growing in his garden. The results aren't in yet but on racking he tells me it tastes quite sharp and he's not disappointed and is happy let it condition for some time.

happy sailing on your wine making voyage

 

[ni9e]

happy sailing on your wine making voyage

Thanks

I've put citric/tartic acid on the shopping list for tomorrow as well as the grape juice If I just ferment the grape juice plus an x amount of sugar what type of wine can I expect I would really want a sweetish wine?

 

[percival]

for a sweet wine you'll want residual sugar in the product, or you can sweeten with artificial sweetners. That's not my preference but if it suits you then it's an option. For residual sugar you have 3 options

Ferment it all the way, then stop the potential for fermentation, then add sugar to suit your taste. Campden tablets and potassium sorbate will do this. Potassium sorbate inhibits yeast growth, so any yeast present will carry on fermenting but it won't multiply so when it dies the fermentation stops.
Stop the fermentation yourself before all the sugar has been metabolised.
Add excess sugar so that when the alcohol concentration kills the yeast you'll still have sugar left over that hasn't been fermented. This may make a very strong wine, so you'll need to check the tolerance of the yeast variety to alcohol and match it accordingly.

as for what you can expect i have no idea really! I'm going to try a grape wine myself soonish but will be taking the kit route. It'll probably be worth while asking for tips in your HBS, the route you take may be determined by what they have in stock, and they may recommend stuff not mentioned here. They may try and sell you a kit too ofc, lol!