I want to know how a strong Welch’s wine would taste without syrup/sugar
added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?

Wine Enthusiast wrote:
> I want to know how a strong Welch's wine would taste without syrup/sugar
> added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
> concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?

Each can is 11.5 oz. This is reconstituted with 3 cans of water, for a
total of 46 oz. There are approximately 2.8 cans (fully reconstituted)
per gallon. However, as a rule, the must should start out a little
sweeter and a little more acidic than something you would have for
breakfast. So to get the starting gravity and acidity correct without
adding sugar would require more concentrate and less water; the
proportions of which I am not certain.

Regarding how it would taste... I suspect a Niagara made this way would
be tolerable, but perhaps a little foxy. Concord, I think, would be
unbearable.

Greg G.

Concord is unbearable. I did it, and it was not good. When my taste buds
recover, and my memory finally gets over the Concord experiment, I would
like to try Niagara white someday, I hear it is very good. Add a banana
or two and it even gets better,(to the must)I'm told.

DAve

wrote:
> Wine Enthusiast wrote:
>> I want to know how a strong Welch's wine would taste without syrup/sugar
>> added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
>> concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?
>
> Each can is 11.5 oz. This is reconstituted with 3 cans of water, for a
> total of 46 oz. There are approximately 2.8 cans (fully reconstituted)
> per gallon. However, as a rule, the must should start out a little
> sweeter and a little more acidic than something you would have for
> breakfast. So to get the starting gravity and acidity correct without
> adding sugar would require more concentrate and less water; the
> proportions of which I am not certain.
>
> Regarding how it would taste... I suspect a Niagara made this way would
> be tolerable, but perhaps a little foxy. Concord, I think, would be
> unbearable.
>
> Greg G.
>

> Concord is unbearable. I did it, and it was not good.
>
>Concord, I think, would be unbearable.

I would agree with that, it's awful as a dry wine no matter what you do
to it. I have a friend that used to make 50 or 60 gallons a year of it
dry and it was kind of hard to get used to. He thinned it, added oak,
all kinds of things. It still tasted like dry Concord and was just not
very good tasting. It was well made, but it was Concord.

Niagara is a better choice but i can't see that concentrated either..

Joe

I made one with fresh welches juice available in the uk using a modified recipe from jack keller
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques65.asp I didn't sweeten, perhaps it would have been better that way. I love the
grape juice, but I just couldn't get to grips with the flavour of the wine. Few I tried it on actually liked it.

I have kept a couple of bottles which I'm going to try in a year but I think it will still be odd. I have a friend in
Arizona who enjoys it greatly with his wife.

Jim



"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message oups.com...
>
>
>> Concord is unbearable. I did it, and it was not good.
>>
>>Concord, I think, would be unbearable.
>
> I would agree with that, it's awful as a dry wine no matter what you do
> to it. I have a friend that used to make 50 or 60 gallons a year of it
> dry and it was kind of hard to get used to. He thinned it, added oak,
> all kinds of things. It still tasted like dry Concord and was just not
> very good tasting. It was well made, but it was Concord.
>
> Niagara is a better choice but i can't see that concentrated either..
>
> Joe
>

Concord is a bit of an acquired taste. It really has to be thinned out
with water and sugar, then finished as a sweet wine to be good. Even
then, "good" is a matter of debate.

Niagara is a little different. Thinned out with sugar and water per
Jack Keller's recipe, it's actually pretty good. My second batch of
wine from concentrate was Niagara. I topped with commercial Riesling
and sweetened slightly at the second racking. I ended up with an
off-dry white wine with a bit of Riesling flavor. I really liked it, as
did my guinea pigs.... I mean my friends :-) I liked it well enough
that I just started a new three gallon batch.
Greg G.

"Niagara is a little different. Thinned out with sugar and water per
Jack Keller's recipe, it's actually pretty good."

A Niagara wine made from grapes won Best-Of-Show in the Greater Kansas City
Cellarmaster wine contest in 2005. It beat about 200 other wines for the
top prize...a ten gallon Gibbs Brothers oak barrel.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

wrote:
> Concord is a bit of an acquired taste. It really has to be thinned out
> with water and sugar, then finished as a sweet wine to be good. Even
> then, "good" is a matter of debate.
>
> Niagara is a little different. Thinned out with sugar and water per
> Jack Keller's recipe, it's actually pretty good. My second batch of
> wine from concentrate was Niagara. I topped with commercial Riesling
> and sweetened slightly at the second racking. I ended up with an
> off-dry white wine with a bit of Riesling flavor. I really liked it, as
> did my guinea pigs.... I mean my friends :-) I liked it well enough
> that I just started a new three gallon batch.


I would echo that exactly. I won't be making a dry Concord ever, but I
have made Niagara and it can be a nice wine if you tone it down a
little. I have some extra Riesling from 2005 that I may back blend
into a Niagara now that you mentioned that, it's a great idea.

Joe

Wine Enthusiast wrote:
> I want to know how a strong Welch's wine would taste without syrup/sugar
> added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
> concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?

I read Jack Kellers recipe wrong and am working on a 17.5 PA concord
right now. I am going to attempt to ferment to dry just to see if it
will. Ill keep you posted!

Sean

snpm wrote:
> Wine Enthusiast wrote:
> > I want to know how a strong Welch's wine would taste without syrup/sugar
> > added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
> > concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?
>
> I read Jack Kellers recipe wrong and am working on a 17.5 PA concord
> right now. I am going to attempt to ferment to dry just to see if it
> will. Ill keep you posted!
>
> Sean

Add dried eldeberries to your concord concentrate.
Athough fermented dry, the foxy taste will go away.
If necessary use sugar syrup to sweeten slightly before bottling.

Sal Coco
Kansas City Ks

That sounds like a good tip!

Jim

"Sal" > wrote in message ups.com...
> snpm wrote:
>> Wine Enthusiast wrote:
>> > I want to know how a strong Welch's wine would taste without syrup/sugar
>> > added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
>> > concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?
>>
>> I read Jack Kellers recipe wrong and am working on a 17.5 PA concord
>> right now. I am going to attempt to ferment to dry just to see if it
>> will. Ill keep you posted!
>>
>> Sean
>
> Add dried eldeberries to your concord concentrate.
> Athough fermented dry, the foxy taste will go away.
> If necessary use sugar syrup to sweeten slightly before bottling.
>
> Sal Coco
> Kansas City Ks
>

> I read Jack Kellers recipe wrong and am working on a 17.5 PA concord
> right now. I am going to attempt to ferment to dry just to see if it
> will. Ill keep you posted!

Sean,
If it's going too slow you can still get a 'regular' heating pad
without a timer at Eckerd Drug. Most of the heating pads sold now have
a timer to shut them off in a few hours. I use a heating pad held on
the carboy with a couple old belts and several towels to warm up a
slow fermentation once in a while.

I do have to hide them after use though, they are never there when I
need them...

Joe

I have made the Niagara by Jack's recipe several times and like it at that
concentration. It makes a nice wine for blending with meads or fruit wines
that need a bit of vinuosity. I do not note any foxiness at that level. If
you concentrate it further it may or may not have foxiness but you will also
be concentrating the acidity and I am pretty sure that you would come up
with something that would noly be good as a sweet wine.

Ray

"Wine Enthusiast" > wrote in message
news
>I want to know how a strong Welch’s wine would taste without syrup/sugar
>added to the juice concentrate and water. How many cans of Welch's
>concentrate can be fermented to dryness in one gallon of wine?
>