Makes 1 gallon
- Ingredients -
4 lbs concord grapes
sugar (the amount will depend on your inital reading)
red wine yeast
yeast nutrient
sodium metabisulfite or campden tablets
pectic enzyme
- Tools -
Weston Tomato Strainer with
Grape Spiral
Sanitized 1 gallon or larger bucket
Hydrometer w/ Test Tube
Cheesecloth
Siphon
Sanitized 1 Gallon Carboy
Airlock
Use your
Tomato Strainer with the
grape spiral & standard screen to juice the concord grapes. It's a good idea to run them through the strainer a few times to extract as much of the juice as possible.
Pour the juice into a bucket, then pour some of the juice into the hydrometer test tube (until the hydrometer floats).
Measure the potential alcohol content of your juice (note that temperature of the must is important). Add .125 lbs of sugar per each brix you wish to raise your wine. Ours was 1.060 (7.8%, 15° brix) and we wanted to raise the content to 11.8% (1.090, 22° brix). That's .875 lbs of sugar/gallon to be added. After fully dissolving the sugar, measure the gravity again and record. For help with using a hydrometer, we recommend
101winemaking.com.
Add metabisulfite or campden tablets to your concord grape juice according to the directions on the package. Cover with cheesecloth and allow to sit 24 hours.
Add yeast nutrient & pectic enzyme after the juice has sat 24 hours. Follow the directions on the yeast packet to pitch your yeast. Let the fermentation begin with the cheesecloth over the bucket in a warm area (65-75°F) for 3 days.
After 3 days, siphon the wine into your carboy. If the concord grape juice doesn't make it to the top of the jug (with 1" headspace) top off with some red wine or distilled water. Close off the carboy with a stopper and airlock.
Allow to ferment until the airlock stops bubbling, at least a month. After aging for a month or longer in the carboy, rack the wine into bottles and allow to age for another month up to a year before drinking.
