grape concentrate vs. sugar

Apr 28, 2004 5 Replies

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Joe 22 years ago

In some of the country wines I make this year, I may substitute grape concentrate for some of the raw sugar that I have been using. Does anyone have a guideline for quantities in this substitution? Something like how many oz of concentrate to replace 1 lb of sugar.

I know the answer is 'it depends', and I'll have to carefully measure the SG as I add it. I'm just looking for a rough estimate so I know what quantities I should buy. I figure that I'll add some grape concentrate, measure the SG, then gage how much more sugar to add.

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Frank Mirigliano 22 years ago

Hi Joe

That sounds like a reasonable approach.

Regards

Frank

Joe wrote:

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Ray 22 years ago

I plan to start experimenting the same way. You will find some information on Jack Keller's site.

Ray

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John Tanzini 22 years ago

Just read the nutritional information on the can. It will tell you how many grams of sugar there are in one serving. The number of grams per serving times the number of sevings per container will tell you how many grams of sugar in the container. 454 grams is one pound.

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frederick ploegman 22 years ago

Hi Joe

I think you will find that *very* generally, concentrates that are intended for consumption as fruit juices will fall in the 12 to 15 BRIX range when properly reconstituted according to the directions. OTOH - concentrates that are intended for wine making will fall in the 20 to 24 BRIX range when properly reconstituted according to directions. BUT - all of this is extremely variable.

I see that you already understand the following, but for the others here:

FWIW - If novices are ever going to advance beyond recipes and kits, the very_first_basic that should be learned is sugar management. "Country" musts have to be "created" (so to speak) and the hydrometer is an indispensable tool in managing sugars when working with these types of wines. HTH

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Dar V 22 years ago

I've been adding 1 can of frozen 100% Welch's white or dark grape juice to some of my country wines which seem to need more body. For example, I just started a zucchini wine a few days ago. I added 1 can of Welch's white grape juice to the recipe and 4 cups of sugar - the starting % alcohol was

11%. I believe the recipe calls for 5 cups of sugar. My feeling was that I would add the less sugar & Welchs, see what the starting % alcohol was, and then add more sugar if I needed to, to raise the % alcohol. I don't think I will add anymore. I started doing this because a couple of my wines came up with pretty high alcohol levels - I don't really want rocket fuel. It is tough though, if the fruit you are using has been frozen with sugar added or how much sugar is already in the fruit - it is difficult to know how that translates.... Anyway, this method has worked well for me. Darlene

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