I brought home two 48 oz bottles of Welch's Concord and I'll get two more to go with my four empty 1/2 gallon iced tea jugs. That will give me 15 oz each jug of head space for the fermentation. Instead of airlocks I was thinking of just cracking the tops they came with.
From my readings here if sounds like I should add 5 oz of sugar (2/3 cup) per jug to give me potentially a maximum 12% abv.
For yeast I have 3 kinds of Red Star brand: Active Dry, Quick-rise and Platinum (with dough enhancers). They are about a year past their "best if used by" date, so I'll be testing them before use. Not sure how much to add, maybe 1/4 packet per jug.
For nutrients I have cranberries and grapes but of course the grocery store is just down the street, so I don't want to limit myself to any of the above items, including the juice.
My mission here is to get significantly different recipes for these four batches so when they are ready I can taste them all and decide which way to go for my next and more serious batch. Right now I buy the cheapest Merlot or Cab in the store, so anything that comes close to that - or improves on it - is my target.
If there is a clearinghouse of recipes here, please point me, otherwise, lay some on me!
From my readings here if sounds like I should add 5 oz of sugar (2/3 cup) per jug to give me potentially a maximum 12% abv.
For yeast I have 3 kinds of Red Star brand: Active Dry, Quick-rise and Platinum (with dough enhancers). They are about a year past their "best if used by" date, so I'll be testing them before use. Not sure how much to add, maybe 1/4 packet per jug.
For nutrients I have cranberries and grapes but of course the grocery store is just down the street, so I don't want to limit myself to any of the above items, including the juice.
My mission here is to get significantly different recipes for these four batches so when they are ready I can taste them all and decide which way to go for my next and more serious batch. Right now I buy the cheapest Merlot or Cab in the store, so anything that comes close to that - or improves on it - is my target.
If there is a clearinghouse of recipes here, please point me, otherwise, lay some on me!