Um, whoops.

I'm a newbie, working on my first few batches as of a week ago. 1 apple, 1 grape, and 2 types of strawberry. I like strawberries I'm doing nothing but 1 gallon batches right now, which I think is good as all I know is what I've read and that's about it.

Anyway I"ve got my 2 berry batches in the sink so I can transfer them to their secondaries. The lids are propped open and I start to wash my hands. While doing so I Take a squirt of hand soap which chooses a very opportune moment to squirt out funny and a drop shoots up and I think, over the rim of the primary on my simpler and sooner to finish batch.

I transferred them both any, fitted airlocks etc. The uncontaminated batch is bubbling away nicely, the contaminated batch appears to be dead. It's still early, who knows what will happen tomorrow though.

I don't see any choice other than dumping it of course, but I'm a little surprised that 1 drop would kill off any active fermentation.

Anyway, how ya'll doing?

It may not be dead. I recently had a mead that I had no activity on the airlock, so after two weeks I was prepared to pitch a different yeast only to find out with a hydrometer that it was done fermenting.

So before you totally and completely give up on it, say a little prayer and take a hydrometer reading. Maybe it isn't dead.

Ok, if I'm reading it right the SG is .994

It tastes, not good. Kind of thin and bitter. But I did use a cup of water to top with, that probably didn't help. But it didn't taste soapy

The recipe I used

* 3 lbs. fresh strawberries
* 2-1/2 lbs. granulated sugar
* 2 tsp. citric acid
* water to make 1 gallon
* wine yeast & nutrient


Place all ingredients except yeast in crock. Crush fruit with hands and cover with 5 pints boiling water. Stir with wooden paddle to dissolve sugar and simultaneously mash the strawberries. When cooled to 85 degrees F., add yeast. Cover and stir daily. Strain on 7th day, transfer to secondary fermentation vessel, top up to one gallon, fit fermentation trap, and set aside. Rack after 30 days and again after additional 30 days. Bottle when clear. Allow to age at least 6 months. Will improve to one year.

It's only been 1 week, I really wasn't expecting it to be anywhere close to being done fermenting. I started an apfelwein a few days earlier and it's still bubbling. The other strawberry started the same as the 1st strawberry, had some raisins added and used brown sugar instead, it's going great guns.

Wow, something is off. I don't understand myself.

Strawberry is known to be thin, so putting raisins in the other one will help.

Thanks for the advice. I started a fresh batch last night and I'm going to dump the 1st. Losing a week or so is no biggie in the grand scheme. I don't want to spend a year aging something that I have negative confidence in. Hard enough just not knowing if I did ANYTHING right I added an extra pound of fruit to the new one, it's got a nice rice crispy type sound going now so it's ticking along.

Did you try to taste the other "good ones" yet? Do they taste just as "not good"?

This sounds like a purple book recipe if im not mistaken I made this a while ago.

And go with CANDLELight and raisins

Fletch78 said:

Did you try to taste the other "good ones" yet? Do they taste just as "not good"?

Click to expand...

I tasted the other batch and it was distinctively different. Kind of fizzy and raw tasting. It is due to be racked again in a couple weeks. The bad tasting one tasted at best like dirty water. Nothing 'drinkish' or unfinished, just dirty water. I dumped it and started a fresh batch that seems to be working normally as far as I can tell. I think it gets racked in a couple weeks as well so I'll be able to take a quick sip then, hopefully it will be different.