[fallen angel]

Ok in morrisons at the moment they have on offer a product called granini and it is available in cherry and strawberry i believe, it is 99p for 1lt and i think it is organic its contents read as follows     water,cherry juice and puree, sugar. Thats it i bought some and have drunk it as juice and it is almost syrupy but it does not say it should be diluted? It does not taste like it needs to be diluted either although i think you could. I hope im making sense?

So im wondering if this could be thrown in a demijohn for some wine what does everyone think and if so how?

It has a fruit content of 40% im thinking if it can be used now is the time to get it as 99p is a good price dont you think?

Many thanks in advance Nicky

P.S Sorry i have not been on for ages i have missed you all xxx

[WG.]

Figured we hadn't seen you for a while.  Your last post was a question about ... mmm ... making wine :!:  

As far as the above goes, then I can't see why not - might need some extra ingredients.  Others will know.

Check the labels for artificial sweeteners since these would not ferment and hence would still sweeten the final product.

[fallen angel]

Hi i know and i still have not managed to make any just when i think i can something happends and i dont get it done but i am determined to do some soon lol

As for checking the label it litterally only has what i posted on the original post says nothing about anything else at all. So im figuring it will be ok with a few bits thrown in.

Thank you xxx

[GrannieAnnie]

You can only try it and see.  I don't see why not, after all any fruit or veg wine has the same ingredients, plus the yeast and nutrients.

And if it doesn't work you've not lost much.  Although you would probably need more of it than if it was just fruit juice.  I sometimes buy the cheap orange juice which is 50 or 60p and use that, and at least its all juice!  You only need a litre and a bit.

But my favourite at the moment is rice, and that's cheap too.  I buy the big 3kg bag from the supermarket.

[fallen angel]

So do you think 2 bottles with nutrients yeast and a water top up would be ok or would i need more sugar aswell?

Would this do 1 demijohn = 6 bottles or am i wrong on the amount of bottles you get from 1 demijohn?

Sorry for all the questions many thanks Nicky

[WG.]

With due respect to our other winemakers, I think you need to await David.'s post on this.  PM him if he misses it.

[David.]

Most cherry (& strawbery) wine recipes call for around 4 to 5lbs of fruit.

If the 'Granni' is 40% cherry juice, 1 litre would contain approx. 1 lb of juice. Is the same proportion of strawberry?

So you would need at least 4 litres for a gallon of wine (taking account of weight after stoning cherries). Also bear in mind that pulp fermentation of fruit extracts more flavour/colour than fermenting pressed juice.

How much a litre is it?

It's not described as organic on the Granni website, so unless it's chilled/pasteurised carton (look for instructions about keeping in the fridge/after opening) it may contain preservatives would have to be boiled off. Any mention of added colourings or flavourings puts me off as these can adversely affect the flavour/maturation time.

Check the label for sugar content. Juice drink normally contains around 0.5Kg of sugar/gall - so you would need about another 0.5Kg, which would bulk the juice up by approx 1/3 of a litre. Concentrated squash that requires dilution normally contains over 6lb of sugar/gall - twice as much as you need, so as you say the juice tastes "syrupy" take care you don't overdose on sugar in attempting to get enough flavour.

[fallen angel]

Thanks WG will do xx

[WG.]

(Psssst ... behind you)  

Nice post again David  

[fallen angel]

Most cherry (& strawbery) wine recipes call for around 4 to 5lbs of fruit.

If the 'Granni' is 40% cherry juice, 1 litre would contain approx. 1 lb of juice. Is the same proportion of strawberry?

So you would need at least 4 litres for a gallon of wine (taking account of weight after stoning cherries). Also bear in mind that pulp fermentation of fruit extracts more flavour/colour than fermenting pressed juice.

How much a litre is it?

It's not described as organic on the Granni website, so unless it's chilled/pasteurised carton (look for instructions about keeping in the fridge/after opening) it may contain preservatives would have to be boiled off. Any mention of added colourings or flavourings puts me off as these can adversely affect the flavour/maturation time.

Check the label for sugar content. Juice drink normally contains around 0.5Kg of sugar/gall - so you would need about another 0.5Kg, which would bulk the juice up by approx 1/3 of a litre. Concentrated squash that requires dilution normally contains over 6lb of sugar/gall - twice as much as you need, so as you say the juice tastes "syrupy" take care you don't overdose on sugar in attempting to get enough flavour.

Hi David its granini? And all it says on the label is as follows

Cherry nectar
Ingredients: water, cherry juice and puree, sugar.
Shake well before use. After opening use quickly and store in a cool place.

And on the front it says fruit content 40%min

So from that what would your advice be?

Laymens terms in step by step guide would be great as alot of this confuses me as im sure you have noticed before  :oops:

Many thanks Nicky

[fallen angel]

(Psssst ... behind you)  

Nice post again David  

LOL

[David.]

Had a look and those juices whilst out shopping today. 99p/litre was much cheaper than I expected (but the sign says "trial price"). The labelling of contents seemed rather defficient compared to the detailed info on virtually all products produced to be sold in the UK, so I checked the survey of preservatives in shop sold drinks on the FSA website, but it wasn't listed.

The strawberry juice interested me as itls very difficult to get hold of without additives/additional flavourings/etc., so I've bought one and added an activated yeast starter. I've not added/mixed it with anything else yet, because if it fails to start due to presence of preservatives I will only need to boil a litre of juice up to drive them off, rather than 4.5 litres.

It tasted really natural and quite sweet, but when I checked the sugar content and it contains 0.5Kg of sugar/gall (as expected from a juice drink).

As I intend mixing it (if it starts bubbling) with some blackcurrant and apple juice I am not worried about the acid content, but if it wasn't mentioned on the cherry (low acid fruit)juice label I might add a teaspoon of citric acid/juice of lemon per gall.

BUT IF it's OK, then 4 (would have suggested 5, but they + sugar wouldn't all  fit in a demijohn) bottles of juice (don't rush out and buy them yet) with a total of 1.5lbs of sugar disolved in, keeping 0.5lbs of sugar and 1 bottle of juice back (in the fridge after opening) until any initial ferment dies down - keeping these back is important because of the amount of pulp in the juice that will rise to the top and spray out the airlock if the demijon is too full), then topping up to full gall with cooled, boiled water (probably about 225ml would be required). Or ferment it all in a covered bucket for 4 - 5 days, then strain into demikohn. I noticed it stated "pectin" amonst the ingredients on the strawberry juice - if it has that on the cherry juice label use double pectalase - 2 teaspons/gall.

So I will post again advising whether it's started fermenting, or if I had to boil it due to suspected undeclared preservative.

Edit - Looking good so far, tiny bubbles and the pulp is rsing to the top, but I've pitched in a yeast that was really going before, only to see it slow down due to presence of presrvative.

[David.]

Fallen angel - thanks for tip re this juice - fermentation is going like a train now!

See above post if you want to do pure cherry. I've edited the bit about holding back some of the juice/sugar (or starting it in a bucket) due to the amount of pulp in the juice becoming more obvious when fermentation really got going.

I'm going to try:

1) Granini Strawberry +  blackcurrant and apple juice
2) Granini Cherry + grape (red), (apple?) and blackcurrant juice.

[fallen angel]

Thanks David i have not logged on for a while due to a run of ill health between me and the kids! It was good logging on today and seeing how well the juice is going for you would love another update when you have one and obviously a comment or two when you get to try it.

Kind regards Nicky

[David.]

Price has now gone up to £1.99/1 litre bottle (but have 6 bottles of strawberry at original price tucked away).

Although my favourite shop juice wine uses Morrisons 'Summerfruits' juice, etc., see:
http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=156683#156683
I am always looking for alternative sources of strawberry juice to simple to make, pour juice into the demijohn wines, despite growing hundreds of strawberry plants, because, as with the other fruits I grow/pick, my wife want's at least a few months a year when the kitchen is not full of buckets of soaking/fermenting fruit, followed by straining sessions with split juice all over the floor and splashes up the cupboard doors/walls.

Both batches still fermenting away. The strawberry strained out well, but the cherry juice produced much more sediment and I would not use again.