Apple Wine is Sour and Bitter???

[cjeanean]

So for some reason my brother in law's apple wine has a sour, bitter taste to it. It doesn't taste or smell like vinegar, and the apple flavor is really nice as an aftertaste, but the actual taste is sour. Any thoughts?

 

[Arpolis]

I recently made a spiced cider which may just be a lower abv of your apple wine. And it had this "tang" to it. Others in the cider forum says that fermented apples or apple juice has that when it is young but ages out. I drank all the cider and never let it age so I can not personally confirm this but that is what I have heard.

 

[cjeanean]

This stuff is about 18 months old. He kept a log of everything he did from start to finish, and the best I can figure is that it was tart from the get-go, but the sourness was noted after he mixed in a single bottle of spiced apple wine. It's not bad, just a bit harsh at first, then the longer you drink it the taste kinda grows on you. Like you're willing to deal with the nasty initial taste just to get the good aftertaste, if that makes sense. Maybe it does just need to age more.

He was thinking that maybe it was due to the peeling left on the apples. He used Jonathan apples, and I can taste the definite flavor of them in the wine. I was just wondering if someone else could shed some light on a specific cause of the sourness and bitterness. Could it be because the peeling was left on the apples? Or could the spices have that effect? Or, even further, could it just be because of the type of apples used? Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

"Sour" sounds like lactobacillus infection. "Tart" is possible in a dry wine, but "sour" isn't normal.

 

[cjeanean]

Hmmm....so how do you fix the sourness? It's drinkable and everything, I suppose, it's just a bit too harsh. Is there any way to mellow it out? I don't think he pasteurized the juice or anything, but he did use the p. sorbate and p. metabisulfate when he started the batch. Could that have been the cause?

 

[MedicMang]

Mine turned out a bit sour recently as well. It did sit on the yeast for around two months. Could that be why? Wouldn't a lacto infection have a pellicle? At least a film?

 

[dlprice45]

The sourness might be that it wasn't allowed to age long enough. I've only made one batch but let it sit for 4 months before bottling, it is refreshingly tart and dry but not sour. Two months is probably not long enough.

 

[saramc]

Almost sounds like a malolactic ferment may have taken place.

 

[cjeanean]

Wouldn't it mean that malolactic fermentation DIDN'T take place? I was looking into that, and the way I read it was that if MLF didn't happen then it's gonna have a harsher taste than if it DOES happen, in which case the MLF would make it have a smoother taste. Did I read it backwards?

There's absolutely no hint of vinegar, just bitterness and tart/sourness.

 

[Arpolis]

Isn't MLF fermentation where bacteria convert malic acid in the must to remove the harsh puckeringly sour tastes? It is a lactic fermentation where lactobacillus changes sugars into lactic acid give the spoiled sour taste. Not sure what has happens here but wanted to give my 2c on those two types of ferments.

 

[saramc]

Isn't MLF fermentation where bacteria convert malic acid in the must to remove the harsh puckeringly sour tastes? It is a lactic fermentation where lactobacillus changes sugars into lactic acid give the spoiled sour taste. Not sure what has happens here but wanted to give my 2c on those two types of ferments.

I meant to say lacto, not MLF. My brain said one thing, fingers the other. I know better.