What to do with a disappointing batch of mandarin wine?

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taffy100

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I'm quite new to wine making but have had some great success with a plum wine, and apple and feijoa blend and a kiwi fruit wine. However I made a big batch of mandarin wine and although it is beautifully clear it smells funky, kind of like off manarins with a touch of puke?!!! It doesn't taste much better. I made it about two months ago. I'd hate to waste the whole batch. Do you think it will get better with age, or is there anything I could add into it to improve it?
 
you could try running it threw copper, the puke smell could possibly be residual h2s. It is also possible that mandarin just makes nasty wine. I made a pineapple wine awhile ago that smelled similiar to what you are describing and age did not help it. I have decided to not make that wine again. I think there are some fruits that ferment well and others that just don't cut it.
 
You also can "rack and splash" this would allow some of the foul smell to escape.
 
Thanks I will try both of the above at the next racking, it is such a large batch I would hate to just waste it. Plus the fruit used was amazing so would just feel wrong to have made such a blunder with it! :confused:
 
Puke smell can certainly be H2S. Especially with acidic fruit, yeh? Don't worry about exposing it to oxygen, rack and splash will sacrifice a bit of orange taste and a lot of puke taste :) After that, try backsweetening... after that, mix it with honey and use it as marinade
 
Only 2 months old? Stash it somewhere for ~6 months and give it another taste/smell. 2 months is very young for a wine. +1 on running it through some copper or stirring it with a copper spoon/paddle/tube.
 
Did the mandarins come from Tepuke?lol. Just kidding.infact mine did.I peeled a 25 litre of mandarins today and added 3kg sugar and hoping it will work well.I would also like to know a nice blending fruit.There are mentions of chocolate online but may try couple of blends in a gallon.Also today been very busy distilled a grape red.AWESOME brandy.
 
Ah, a fellow Kiwi. Kia ora. I would leave it until bottling time. Say, early Summer or December and if it is still foul then try aeration. Being in NZ you can always distil it.

We have been blessed this Winter by a plentiful supply of cheap mandarins. My own effort is only 4 weeks old and seems to be OK. The fruit was cold-pressed whole and the juice used undiluted with nothing added except sugar and yeast.

Edit: some notes
The juice was a bit acid and slightly bitter from the skins. I can use calcium carbonate to ameliorate the citric acid, if necessary, but the bitterness, if it doesn't go away, may be a 'feature' not a fault. The juice was quite difficult to start fermenting. I got an aliquot going by blending it with some fermenting kiwifruit pulp filtered off a batch of kiwi wine. It finally took off and, in spite of the Wintry cold, it is currently bubbling every 5 seconds.

Mandarin 06 30 2014.jpg
 
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