Ive made Joes quick grape with many different juices, and its come out fine sofar, havent tried most of them yet, but just opened a 8/3/2013 cranberry pom bottle during superbowl, and it was amazing!!
Ive always followed JQG recipe, except swapping out different 100% juice for the grape, and i let go for 3 weeks, then 2-3 weeks in secondary, though im starting to be more patient with letting it clear and settle before bottling, as i ant it to look nice and clear. No problems with sparkling, the campden and stuff seems to stop fermentation quite effectively. Mine tend to be 14-17% ABV when i stop fermentation after 3 wks, maybe yeast is reaching upper end of its alc tolerance?
Considering its SUCH a quick recipe relative to other mead recipes, ive always figured, whats one more week, 5 or 6 wks is still lightning fast.
Some of mine tasted like rocket fuel at bottling time, some tasted pretty good, the regular grape was good right away, and according to my drunk groomsman that chugged 5 bottles of assorted flavors at 2 months old, they all tasted good then, for what its worth