1987 Welch’s Raspberry Juice
October 2018 – I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am – when I see that people are still fermenting Welch’s. I have no clear remembrance why I did this, other than I wanted to ferment something and my options were limited. Or maybe I just wondered if I could do it.
Ingredients
| Fruit | 7x 12 oz cans Welch’s Raspberry Orchard |
| Water | 4-3/4 gallons |
| Sugar | 22 cups |
| Acid | 2 tsp acid blend |
| Nutrient | 3 tsp nutrient + 2-1/2 tsp energizer |
| Sulfite | 1/2 tsp K-meta |
| Yeast | Epernay II |
Method
| Started | 08/25/1987 SG 1.095 |
| Yeast added | 08/26/1987 SG 1.095 |
| Racked | 09/06/1987 SG 1.016 |
| Racked | 09/20/1987 SG 1.015 |
| Racked, oak chips added | 10/25/1987 SG 1.015 |
| Racked | 12/06/1987 SG 1.015 |
| Filtered, #2 filter pad | 02/27/1988 SG 1.015 |
| Bottled | 05/29/1988 SG 1.015 |
Notes
| Yield | 28 bottles |
| Alcohol | 10.9% |
| Afterthoughts | Considering it’s basically junk, it’s amazing how popular the Welch’s wines were! Side note — I don’t remember if this wine stuck at 1.015 or if I managed to stop it intentionally. The sweetness contributes to a LOT of people really liking it! |
| October 2018 | In retrospect, I’m fairly certain that the wine simply stopped fermenting when it did. The commercial juice-like products contain preservatives and it’s surprising they ferment at all.
Although I did this way back when, I can’t recommend it. There are a lot of things to ferment – pick something of quality. 😉 |