Some people are sensitive to the skins - wear gloves while picking and processing or you may be sorry the next day.

I think they make better jelly than wine, but the jelly is worth the work. Problem is, they are getting harder and harder to find since people cut them down not knowing what they have.

Grape juice made from mustang grapes and sugar, diluted with some water is absolutely divine. My great-aunt used to make it, and I once dated a girl from Cuero that had tons of these growing on her parents' property. We juiced them once a year and made enough grape juice to last the rest of the year. It was great!

The most refreshing drink known to man on a hot summer day!

Wonder how old this vine might be: https://imgur.com/0GAWA2Q. House was originally built in 1940. It's been cut down considerably due to taking over the trees overhead, but the stump is probably 5-6" in diameter. Still makes new shoots every spring that I cut to stump after each year to keep ground level. The amount of grapes this dropped on our driveway was quite the nuisance, wish it was further away from the house.

https://imgur.com/a/tkmh4pM

Tried a wine a restaurant worker's grandparents made 50+ years ago from Mustang grapes. Not unlike a decent port.

I buy the jelly and preserves from them at the farm markets. Very good stuff.

Rex Racer said:

---

Grape juice made from mustang grapes and sugar, diluted with some water is absolutely divine. My great-aunt used to make it, and I once dated a girl from Cuero that had tons of these growing on her parents' property. We juiced them once a year and made enough grape juice to last the rest of the year. It was great!

---

Did she just can straight juice and sugar? I assume it was too concentrated to drink without diluting.

I just picked 3 Kroger sacks full and have another 4 spots I need to harvest and have never made grape juice, just canned some jelly in years past.

Boil the grapes with just enough water to cover to extract the juice. Strain, then put up just the juice, freeze or can. Filter through cheese cloth if you want it less cloudy. Dilute with water and add sugar, both to taste. Probably about 1/3 juice to 2/3 water.

You can also use the juice to make jelly after boiling, or later after it's put up.

Thanks.

oklaunion said:

---

Rex Racer said:

---

Grape juice made from mustang grapes and sugar, diluted with some water is absolutely divine. My great-aunt used to make it, and I once dated a girl from Cuero that had tons of these growing on her parents' property. We juiced them once a year and made enough grape juice to last the rest of the year. It was great!

---

Did she just can straight juice and sugar? I assume it was too concentrated to drink without diluting.

I just picked 3 Kroger sacks full and have another 4 spots I need to harvest and have never made grape juice, just canned some jelly in years past.

---

She just canned straight juice. Sugar and water were added when she made a pitcher. So, so good!

Brazos1865 said:

---

Boil the grapes with just enough water to cover to extract the juice. Strain, then put up just the juice, freeze or can. Filter through cheese cloth if you want it less cloudy. Dilute with water and add sugar, both to taste. Probably about 1/3 juice to 2/3 water.

You can also use the juice to make jelly after boiling, or later after it's put up.

---

This is how we did it back in the day. We did use cheese cloth.

This has been the best grape year in my part of Brazos county that I have seen. So far we have crushed, strained and canned 18 quarts of undiluted juice. I passed up a lot that were a bit higher in the tree canopy and didn't feel too bad. Plenty down low.

Finally got my mixture figured out. Cut 8 oz of juice concentrate with equal amount of cold water and dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in it. Not bad at all.

Both mustang and muscadine grapes are wild here. Mustangs more common, darker, and ripen earlier in my experience.

I ate so much mustang grape jelly growing up that I burned out on the stuff and don't really care for it that much. Not so with dewberries though!