Frozen Concord Grape Dessert (November 26, 2013)

[jeskremer]

Day One
Moved 16# of mashed, frozen Concords into the primary. Had already thawed them for around 12 hours in the ziplock bags. Added 1 tsp pectic enzyme.

[jeskremer]

Day Two
Added 1/16 tsp potassium metabisulphate, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and 1 tsp nutrient. SG tested at only 1.045. I was a bit concerned and did more research.

Twelve hours later, I had done some research and learned that grape wines should start at at least 1.095 SG to preserve them (http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques10.asp). I wound up adding another 2 1/2 cups of sugar to reach 1.095. This seems a bit odd, but we'll see. I then added (just under 1/2 tsp or 1/3 package) Red Star Cotes des Blancs yeast per this Concord grape recommendation http://winemakermag.com/218-concord-varietal-focus.

[jeskremer]

Six Days After Addition of Yeast
SG is 1.010! Rapid fermentation! I'll have to check sooner next time. I sanitized my hands and carefully squeezed the grape bag into the primary. I transferred to the secondary and kept an additional two cups that would not fit in the secondary and put them in the refrigerator for use at the next racking.

I did not dump the remaining yeast and must on the bottom of the primary, rather, I will try a seconds wine right away with this must.

[jeskremer]

11 Months Later
Racked. Very fizzy and tart. Added 1 cup cold tap water.

[jeskremer]

A Week Later
Very tart, but good flavor. Drew out a 1/4 cup of wine and mixed with 3.4 grams (1 tsp) cream of tartar. Stirred aggressively and placed outside to start cold stabilization (35-40 degree nights right now) which should help reduce the acid also.

[jeskremer]

Three Weeks Later
Racked. Still very tart. Ordered Potassium Bicorbonate to hopefully reduce some of the acid. The flavor is good though. Added 1 cup of cold tap water and will use some Super Kleer right now and use the Postassium Bicorbonate next week.

[jeskremer]

One Week Later
Drew some of the wine into a plastic, sanitized cup, 2 tsp potassium bicarbonate (typically only one to start with, but VERY acidic), and 1 cups water. Added this mixture to the wine after racking again. Poured back into original re-sanitized carboy so that it would be well mixed and instead of vigorously stirring, would remove some of the CO2 at the same time.

Placed outside to cold stabilize after addition of the potassium bicarbonate.