Concentrate vs supermarket grape juice
Robin Somes
Normally I use a small (1/3 pint) tin of red concentrate per gallon to
add body to my plum wines, especially sloe. The concentrate costs nearly
£2 per tin at the homebrew shop - and I note from the label it contains
SO2 as a preservative. On the other hand, the supermarket next door
sells a 2-pint carton of red grape juice for £0.99, which is
preservative-free. Hmmm... seems like no contest to me. Views?
cheers,
robin
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raindog
> Hi All...
>
> Normally I use a small (1/3 pint) tin of red concentrate per gallon to
> add body to my plum wines, especially sloe. The concentrate costs nearly
> £2 per tin at the homebrew shop - and I note from the label it contains
> SO2 as a preservative. On the other hand, the supermarket next door
> sells a 2-pint carton of red grape juice for £0.99, which is
> preservative-free. Hmmm... seems like no contest to me. Views?
>
> cheers,
> robin
i have wondered this too. i can get sunpride red and white grape juice
from asda which costs around 80-90 pence a litre. and the concentrate i
use from my winemaking shop csts around £2 for a 245gram tin and it is
made by solvino.
the supermarket grape juice contains(from memory) about 17-18%sugar and
i have planned to make a wine solely from this juice and should finish
around 9% alcohol i think.
does anyone know just how concentrated grape concentrate is?and how
much sugar it contains? thanks.
Ray Calvert
supermarket. Here in the US, the juice in the supermarket is typically of 2
types. White will be Niagara which will make an excellent white wine by
itself or is a good additive to fruit wines. Red is usually Concord and
some people like it and others do not. Usually if the juice is frozen it
does not have preservatives as they are not needed. If you can get
inexpensive grape juice without preservatives my suggestion is to try making
an experimental batch of grape wine with it to see how it comes out. If it
is good then use it. If not ...
Look at Jack Keller's site for frozen concentrate recipes.
Ray
"Robin Somes" <ro...@badminston.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:a3RaqWD4...@badminston.demon.co.uk...
Robin Somes
<gsi...@sbcglobal.net> writes
>I gather you are in the UK so I don't know what juice you can get
>from the supermarket.
> Red is usually Concord and some people like it and others do not.
Well, TBH I wouldn't know a Concord grape if it bit me. But the juice
tastes pretty similar to, though obviously less concentrated than, the
red SolVino concentrate from the homebrew shop, which is what set me off
on the train of thought.
Alan Gould
<ro...@badminston.demon.co.uk> writes
>Well, TBH I wouldn't know a Concord grape if it bit me. But the juice
>tastes pretty similar to, though obviously less concentrated than, the
>red SolVino concentrate from the homebrew shop, which is what set me off
>on the train of thought.
>
Yes, supermarket grape juice, either red or white, is unconcentrated but
it is quite suitable for use in less specialised winemaking. I find it
a very convenient way of solving the air gap problem after racking.
--
Alan Gould. North Lincolnshire, UK.
raindog
as i said it is usually sunpride brand grape juice that i use as it
seems to be the best quality altho supermarkets do make there own which
is from unknown grapes
the sunpride juice that i use i get from asda (owned by walmart) and it
states the grapes it uses on the carton, i think both red and white
have a blend of at least 3 grapes in them and next time i am in the
supermarket i will note down the grapes as i have none of the juice on
me. from memory i do believe that there was sum merlot juice in the red.
Robin Somes
>>I gather you are in the UK so I don't know what juice you can get
>>from the supermarket.
><...>
>> Red is usually Concord and some people like it and others do not.
>
>Well, TBH I wouldn't know a Concord grape if it bit me. But the juice
>tastes pretty similar to, though obviously less concentrated than, the
>red SolVino concentrate from the homebrew shop, which is what set
>me off on the train of thought.
Well, I've now tried it. For future reference if anyone's interested, a
tin of SolVino red concentrate is 7 fluid ounces. Its SG is so high the
hydrometer barely sinks at all; it needs to be diluted with three times
its own volume of water to reach the same S.G. as the supermarket's
grape juice (1065). So I figure (and here I'm no doubt making a
pathetically elementary error, but it's getting late and I'm tired) 28
fl. oz. of grape juice = 1 tin of red concentrate. The extra water added
will mean a few adjustments to the starting S.G.
28 fl. oz of juice costs about £0.80, whereas a tin of concentrate is
close on £2; on a 3-gallon batch of wine, the saving more than pays for
the sugar used. No contest...
Phil Ayres
I'm also in the UK and a similar question has occured.
Grape juice is added to increase the "body" of the wine?
Does the supermarket juice have the same affect as the SolVina brand in this
respect?
Kind regards
Phil.
"Robin Somes" <ro...@badminston.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
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Ray Calvert
"Phil Ayres" <ph...@haroldwoodandsons.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11284214...@smtp-1.griffin.com...
> Hi all :) First time post from a Newbie.
>
> I'm also in the UK and a similar question has occured.
>
> Grape juice is added to increase the "body" of the wine?
>
> Does the supermarket juice have the same affect as the SolVina brand in
> this respect?
>
> Kind regards
>
> Phil.
>
> "Robin Somes" <ro...@badminston.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:zOKAUUDP...@badminston.demon.co.uk...
Not exactly correct. Grape juice may or may not increase body. After all,
grape wines may be high or low in body. Grape juice is added it improve the
balance (hopefully) and the vinuosity of the wine. What is vinuosity? Well
it means the wine is more wine like. Real clear, huh!
As far as using supermarket juice, it depends on the juice. Some grapes may
make a poor wine and you don't necessarily want that. Here in the states,
concord grapes are used for most red or purple grape juice. Some people
like the taste of concord wine, many don't. It is a very powerful taste and
it can dominate the other fruit if you use too much. Niagara is common for
most white grape juice and it blends very well with fruit.
My suggestion is to make a small batch of wine from nothing but the
store-bought juice and see how it comes out. Then see how it blends with
your fruit wines. Then decide if it will work. Visit Jack Keller's site
for recipes using frozen store bought grape concentrate.
Incidentally, the most accepted fruit for improving body is banana. It does
not seem to impart much flavor on it's own but really boosts the body. Use
cheap overripe bananas that the store is discounting.
Ray