Wow...I made good wine

Be carefull with raising the alcohol content. An unbalanced wine is an undrinkable wine.

I hope 14% is reasonable without getting unbalanced...it's a 3% jump. ??

I'm glad they came out for you; I've always had good luck using Old Orchard fruit juices. I guess I would caution you on trying to raise the % alcohol up too high. I usually stick with 11-12%. Sometimes if you go to high, all you can taste is "what I call" the alcohol kick, and you don't get to taste the flavor of the wine. I've made "by accident" a couple of high % alcohol wines, and it does take longer for those wines to smooth out. But it is up to your tastebuds and what you prefer.... Darlene ;o)

As others have mentioned, it is definitely possible to overdo the alcohol.

Tom S

congrats

Well instead of looking at a 3% jump look at it this way it is a 27% increase of alcohol. If it was balanced at 11%, do you think the sugar, acidity and fruit will be able to handle a 27% increase alcohol while remaining at their former levels and still be balanced?

That is like the differnce in driving 75 on the interstate instead of

Congratulations on a successful introduction to this great hobby. It is surprising how good of a wine you can make. Listen to others and their suggestions but remember that you are crafting wine for your own taste. If you want to try 14.5%, by all means do so. If it goes too far you can always drop back with the next batch.

How long did you need to age it to make it drinkable? I find that frozen concentrate wines age out pretty quick. In that case experiment.

Ray

I have never seen this put better; numbers can get away from you if not put in perspective.

Joe

And if you are drinking your 14% wine while driving, oh MY!