Oh, Quick! Free Wine Grapes for Me!

[DellaMyDarling]

I'm going today to pick free "wine grapes."
The picture is a darker color grape, but I know nothing otherwise.

I do not know how much there is yet.

What can I do with these free fruits and how?

Quick Google search, wine looks easy but requires a LOT of trade tools I do not have.
Is there a simpler method than fancy valves and tubes, etc? Not certain if I could pick up any supplies locally (I have maybe 1 store to try.)

I DO have big carboys available.

I also have pears and apples coming off my own trees.

 

[CrealCritter]

Thank goodness!

Funny you would catch that... I did a double take and checked my work, before I pushed the post reply button. I actually learned something new... A sewer can be a place that collects human waste or I can be a person who sews. The English language is weird... I use grammerphobia frequently, because well yes, I have a grammer phobia

 

[CrealCritter]

I'm going today to pick free "wine grapes."
The picture is a darker color grape, but I know nothing otherwise.

I do not know how much there is yet.

What can I do with these free fruits and how?

Quick Google search, wine looks easy but requires a LOT of trade tools I do not have.
Is there a simpler method than fancy valves and tubes, etc? Not certain if I could pick up any supplies locally (I have maybe 1 store to try.)

I DO have big carboys available.

I also have pears and apples coming off my own trees.

I would love some pears for eating and wine, pears are my favorite fruit.

As for wine making I would primary ferment in a food grade bucket, with a fermentation bag and old clean tee-shirt over the top held in place with a rubber band (no lid/air lock).

Then when the gravity reaches around 1.040 (7 to 10 days) you'll want to pull and squeeze the bag so the liquid flows back into your wine. Then rack off the sediment into a clean and sanitized glass carboy, bung and airlock. As the sediment approaches 1/2" thick rack again leaving the sediment behind. Continue racking until the wine is crystal clear.

During the secondary and beyond racking, depending on what gear I have open. I may rack into a clean and sanitized food grade bucket, then clean and sanitize the carboy and rack back into the carboy.

It's very important to keep everything clean and sanitized. I can't stress this enough or else you run the risk of fermenting up some really nasty stuff. When I say everything, I mean everything that could touch your wine including your hands.

Check out ---> https://eckraus.com/wine-making-steps/?_ga=2.179351974.36983.1559794808-2011936642.1551422741

And also recipes ---> https://eckraus.com/wine-recipes/

If you decide to make wine (highly suggested) let me know and I'll help you through the process. It would be fun.

 

[CrealCritter]

Ok, ok, big deep breath.

Pretty sure we got concords.
They are delicious!

I actually filled a huge tote and barely did 1/4 of the arbor. Returning tomorrow for the rest.
Maybe 600sqft? Good goddesses what a gift.

So, I definitely can't get all into wine.
Need some ideas for other uses!

I have been wanting to make up a 5 gallon batch of concord wine with grapes my wife canned in 1/2 gallon jars a few years ago. She told me I can have them, so I'm good to go... If you want we could make a 5 gallon batch together virtually step by step.

If you want to do this, I would suggest we follow the medium bodied (40 lbs of concord grapes) EC Kraus recipe here --->http://eckraus.com/content/concordwinemedium.pdf

Do you have a LHBS (Local Home Brew Store) near you?

You'll need some chemicals, yeast and gear to get started with primary fermentation.

• Yeast Nutrient
• Pectic Enzyme
• Acid Blend
• Wine Tannin
• 1 Packet of Red Star Montrachet Wine yeast
• Campden Tablets
• 6 1/2 gallon food grade bucket with drilled and grommeted lid
• 3 piece air lock
• Drawstring Fermentation Bag
• Star San
• Easy clean or one step
• 10 lbs of table sugar.
• Hydrometer (optional) but preferred.

 

[Mini Horses]

There's always jelly!! And juice.

These two give you some "immediate" accomplishment -- while waiting for the wine.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Agreed with Mini. I'd be making jam, rather than jelly. If you go this route, PLEASE!!! Check out Pomona's pectin. This is a product that relies on Calcium (included with the pectin package) to cause the jelling process. So, you can limit the amount of sweetener. Making jams and jellies with Pomonas is almost as simple as making Jello! However, b/c of the decreased sugar, the finished product does not have a long shelf life after opening, the way traditional mega sweet jam and jelly does. I use only enough sugar to cut the tartness of the fruit a bit. This lets the flavor of the fruit really shine. I find traditional jams and jellies to be cloyingly sweet. I just put all of my jams/jellies in 8 oz containers, and once opened, I intend to enjoy them regularly. After opening, they will last at least 2 weeks under good refrigeration.

 

[CrealCritter]

Ok, definitely something in a jar for later, have lots of jelly jars awaiting!

Anyone make juice before? Would my vintage apple press work for that? Seems too easy to be true...what about juice canning? Is grape acidic enough for a water bath?

We have a beer and winemaking supple store nearby. I think I can get to it tomorrow.
Before placing grapes into fermentation buckets, they need to be gone through and cleaned up, right? Or does that really matter at all? Part of me says ancient people's discovering wine didn't bother to remove sad grapes and every impurity so why should i?

You should at least go through and remove the unripe and rotten ones. The ones that have dried out like raisins should be OK. Soak/wash them to remove bugs, dirt... I would also pull them all from the stems as I'm pretty sure the stems will produce off flavors.

Your lucky to have fresh grapes to work with. Mine will be from canned in 1/2 gallon mason jars from a couple of years ago. But at least I don't have to crush mine since the skins are already busted. For grape wine the color comes from the skins, flavor comes from the pulp.

The campden tablets (Potassium Metabisulfite) are what sanitizes the must (unfermented grapes/fruits, sugar, water, chemicals, bucket, etc...) So your wine yeast is the only bacteria present when you pitch it (add wine yeast) to the must. You must wait 24 hours after adding campden for it to gas off, before pitching the wine yeast. Else you'll just kill your wine yeast.

My wife cans juice. Easy smeazy from what I seen. In a quart canning jar add two cups grapes, enough sugar to taste and top off with boiling water, put on lid and rings then water bath (time I'm unsure of). After a couple of weeks. All you do is slide the lid over a bit and pour a glass of awesome tasting grape juice leaving the grapes in the jar. Store opened jar in the fridge, it won't last long.

Edit...
This looks like how my wife cans grape juice
--->https://chasingvibrance.com/how-to-can-grape-juice/

 

[DellaMyDarling]

Looks like this is what CrealCritter is doing.
At least I can preserve the harvest and attempt later.

I appreciate the help here folks! Such an asset to have these forums.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'll bet @CrealCritter can help you with those answers. Congrats on the freebies!

 

[Mini Horses]

Probably zinfandel or cabernet sauvignon grapes. Both dark and basically for wine. Good deal!!