One of my first experiments created some 6% wine. I decided to ferment this further up to 13% so I added another 2 cups of table sugar, 1/2 tsp DAP and 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient. I had half a pack of EC-1118 so I threw that in to really get it brewing.
This sat around for a few months and the final gravity ended up being 0.988 which is the lowest reading I've seen so far. Unfortunately I somehow missed writing down the original gravity reading so I'm estimating based on the sugar amount that it's between 13% and 15%.
This was done before the results of my recent experiments so that is why these particular ingredients were used. I have stopped using table sugar because it creates a harsh aftertaste that isn't there with only dextrose.
I've noticed that aging makes a big difference, especially in red wine. It can go from unpleasant to quite smooth if left long enough to age. Over 3 months makes a big difference. I haven't had the chance to test anything beyond that point yet.
Results:
The smell is quite good, it has that grape soda essence mixed with alcohol. There still is a bit of harshness from the sugar but it's reasonably smooth. It has some similarity to sherry and it actually tastes better than cheap sherry I could purchase at the store. The flavor is hard to describe because it's not like regular red wine, the concord grapes used in the Welch's juice are lighter in tannin but overall it's not bad, just different. It has some similarity to grape soda but not sweet of course, it's dry. It's much more balanced and not sour like it was after freshly testing when it was 6%.
Final thoughts:
My local store has been out of stock of Welch's grape juice for a while so I haven't made another Welch's batch but I will in the future. I have some good experiments that are taking their time to fully brew out. I'm hoping to have some rum/vodka to test out soon.
If you're going to make wine try and get grape juice, second to that is blended grape and apple, third apple juice. Everything else has been quite a step down in comparison.
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