On Aug 19, 11:56 am, Joe Sallustio > wrote:
> Well, for the most part it adds color and tannins; tannins give it
> astringency. Concord is black with color so I don't know whether you
> need more time or not. I wouldn't think astringency in a Concord is
> needed.
>
> If you liked last years you may want to consider making this in two
> stages; one where you pull off some free run early like last year,
> another where you leave a portion on the skins. (This assumes you
> liked the color last year.) To be honest, Concord is usually made
> sweet for a reason, it's not especially well liked as a dry wine due
> to its foxiness.
>
> If you only left a small portion on the skins you do have a few
> options left even if you hate it. You can fine and filter to remove
> some astringency, you could blend some back in to the original batch
> or you could add some sugar and vodka to make it into a port style
> wine. (I don't know if adding vodka is legal in the US; I do think
> you are supposed to get the higher alcohol via fermentation which can
> be done too. This is an international newsgroup so...)
>
> The long and short of this is if you like the color I doubt you need
> extended skin contact. Concord truly is a wine unto itself, it does
> not behave European grapes.
>
> Joe

Thanks for the info.
Just pushed down the cap again.
Wow, after just 18 hours that Lalvin K1 V1116 yeast is rockin and
rollin in there.
As I understand things then,
1. longer time the skins and seeds stay in the game the more color and
astringency I get,
2. dry Concord is not a good thing,
3. the yeast will control the dryness as I won't try to stop its work
(I wouldn't know how to anyway (smile,,,)
Since color is nice already after a day, I think I will strain out the
seeds and skins Tuesday afternoon.
All I have invested is a little sugar, yeast and my time so I won't
expend a lot of effort to get all the juice.
As I don't have the equipment to split into 2 batches (one with seeds
and skins) (and one without) I will shoot for a
sweet fruity wine without a lot of astringency (no skins no seeds).
That leaves me with one final (I promise) question for the group on my
project,
In light of the above, how far should I let the batch go before
putting in a 5 gal carboy with an air lock ?
I jumped the gun last year and the carboy puked out the air lock and
thanks to this groups help and info I got past that crisis with a
rigged up 2 liter pop bottle air lock.
Again, thanks for your help and patience.