This is my best white wine batch so far so here's the recipe. It was brewed from start to finish in this one gallon jug.
I have tried out a few variations of more or less grape extract and dextrose among other ingredients and found it either had too much flavor or not enough with a slightly off flavor. This is the closest thing to store bought white wine I have made so far.
If I can ever get more Welch's white or concord grape juice I'll try another batch but my local stores haven't had any stock for months. For the price though the grape extract in a kit is the same price or less and when you start adding in dextrose you can turn a 23 liter kit to closer to a 30 liter kit. Without altering the kit recipe you will get closer to 9% alcohol as a final result and only 23 liters.
Ingredients:
750ml grape extract syrup
500ml dextrose
2 tsp yeast nutrient (deactivated bread yeast - see my blog)
1 tsp DAP
1/2 tsp bentonite
1/8 tsp wine yeast (Red Star Premier Cuvee)
Original gravity was 1.095
Final gravity was 0.992
Final alcohol 13.45%
For more details on the method check out my blog. The quick instructions are below.
After the ingredients are added cover the top with breathable paper as the yeast are multiplying, after 5 days add an airlock or loose cap with a plastic bag and elastic band. The wine should be mostly brewed in 2-3 weeks although should be left for 5-6 weeks to settle and complete the last small bit of fermentation. Leave in a warm, dark area until all bubbling stops and the liquid is completely clear.
One additional upgrade I tried this time was to maintain a slightly higher brewing temperature. It ended up varying though from around 19 degrees celcius to 25 degrees. Most of the fermentation happened early on though because the extra nutrients really are needed to get a fast and clean fermentation.
Results:
Mild, smooth and pretty good tasting riesling wine. The riesling grape character has a slightly limey flavor to it with a hint of apple. It's one of the milder flavored white wines especially with the added dextrose that boosted the alcohol level and diluted the mixture compared to if I had only used grape extract syrup.
Final thoughts:
I'm pretty happy with this recipe overall that I would feel comfortable in making a larger batch with the same proportions. I'm going to chill it and do some further taste testing.
I hope I can catch up on more experiments and recipes soon so I have more to post.
If you like this please upvote and leave your comments and thoughts below. Cheers!