Final taste rules?

[Cdreid]

Ive recently made 2 citrus wines. The first was mostly pineapple/cranberry (with some raisins etc for nutrients). It turned out to have a strong bite as a young wine. I was rushing it to give to a friend for her birthday after volunteering to do so over many beers. I expect after aging long enough it will be mellow and nice but the harshness really suprised me.

The second was just an experiment. Orange wine. Not only that but i was experimenting with ec-1118 which in my mind is the "bad boy" of yeasts. From everything ive read orange wine turns out HARSH at first with a strong bite and even bitterness sometime. This stuff turned out amazing even after resugaring it to bump fermentation. Its sweet, smooth, has a bit of alcohol taste but not bad. I was frankly thinking id have to end up distilling this and i could drink this all day long.. and i dont like citrus drinks.

Has anyone figured out end-taste rules for "tossing weird stuff in a bottle and fermenting" it? I really expected the pineapple to be ambrosia and the orange to be bitter/tart and awful but honestly i could drink the orange wine young and like beer. Im thinking of doing yam, pumpkin wine etc next.

 

[CampFireWine]

If you get too crazy, you will need to start checking your ph levels. If it's too acidic it will taste tart and if it is too alkaline it will taste sour. Slightly acidic with a little sugar, seems to be the sweet spot locally.

Eighteen wines, varying in ethanol (8%, 11%, 14% v/v), pH (2.9, 3.2, 3.8), and (+) catechin (100 and 1500 mg/ L) were prepared using a dealcoholized white wine concentrate. In a completely randomized design, sourness and bitterness intensities were rated by 20 subjects. Bitterness intensity was increased by the largest magnitude by raising ethanol concentration, whereas lowering the pH produced the biggest increase in sourness. Increasing ethanol from 8 to 11% v/v or 11 to 14% v/v produced 51% or 41% increases in bitterness, whereas addition of 1400 mg catechin raised bitterness only 28%. as pH was raised from 2.9 to 3.2, bitterness was also significantly enhanced, but a further increase from pH 3.2 to pH 3.8 had no significant impact. Sourness decreased with increasing pH and ethanol had no effect on sourness except at pH 3.2, where the increase in ethanol from 8% to 14% diminished sourness significantly. Catechin addition, while increasing bitterness, did not affect sourness.

http://www.ajevonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/1/6

 

[telefunken]

I have pumpkin wine in the secondary. Tasted a little bit after I racked from the primary, and it was delicious. I strongly recommend it! I'm thinking it can only get better from there.

 

[Justibone]

I was frankly thinking id have to end up distilling this

I had to thumbs down you. These are not distilling forums, even if you were to be from NZ where it is legal to home distill.

 

[Cdreid]

I had to thumbs down you. These are not distilling forums, even if you were to be from NZ where it is legal to home distill.

Actually it is totally legal to distill in the US with the right paperwork which is easy to complete.

 

[Cdreid]

If you get too crazy, you will need to start checking your ph levels. If it's too acidic it will taste tart and if it is too ........]

Thanks a lot that was incredibly helpful. And that is something like i expected. I've read an incredible amount of posts at various places stating orange wines turned out extremely harsh and bitter. It is probably the resugaring that really made the difference. And i have to say using hte ec-1118 this stuff will knock you on your butt quickly and silently

 

[CampFireWine]

this stuff will knock you on your butt quickly and silently

It takes 20 minutes. You can set your watch by it. People will chug a glass of my 20% and I make them wait before I give them another glass. A 10 oz glass is like hitting 5 shots of whiskey back to back. The ec-1118 should be close to that.

I used to serve it in 16oz glass but too many people couldn't walk after the 20 minutes. That would be like 8 shots. It's not table wine and it's not whiskey, but it will put the hurtin' on ya.

 

[mikefox]

I've also tried pineapple once and wont be doing it again,tasted realy funky, maybe pineapple is just for juice and pina coladas,but anything with orange especially JAOM always turs out great every time. As for EC-1118 it may be the "bad boy" of yeasts but it always delivers fast results,never gets stuck(thist criter will survive a nuclear fallout and an ice age)high ABV and has a neutral sensory effect unlike most other wine yeasts which can leave funky aftertastes like esters.

P.S. oh and why is it that every time a person mentiones distilling someone jumps to say that this is frowned upon like that person has a meth lab,I mean you don't need to have a distilling license to TALK about it the same way you don't need to have a building license to give someone advice about building.

 

[Justibone]

P.S. oh and why is it that every time a person mentiones distilling someone jumps to say that this is frowned upon like that person has a meth lab,I mean you don't need to have a distilling license to TALK about it the same way you don't need to have a building license to give someone advice about building.

These are home brewing forums, there are other forums for home distilling.

 

[Yooper]

P.S. oh and why is it that every time a person mentiones distilling someone jumps to say that this is frowned upon like that person has a meth lab,I mean you don't need to have a distilling license to TALK about it the same way you don't need to have a building license to give someone advice about building.

Well, that's true. But if you want to TALK about distilling, then go to a distilling forum. Here we talk about wine, mead, cider, and beer brewing. It's our forum, and our rules will apply.

You've been told of our rules. You don't have to like them. But you do have to abide by them. There are distilling forums out there, and some of them (one in particular) are very good. I suggest you look into it if you want to talk about distilling.

 

[Cdreid]

These are home brewing forums, there are other forums for home distilling.

Justibone these arent "persimmon trading" forums either but theres a thread about it. If the ATF wants to raid my house because theyre terrified i have a pot in the kitchen with an upside down lid dripping alcohol they can have at it. I dont see why people feel the need to control others perfectly legal and unharmful actions..

 

[Justibone]

Justibone these arent "persimmon trading" forums either but theres a thread about it. If the ATF wants to raid my house because theyre terrified i have a pot in the kitchen with an upside down lid dripping alcohol they can have at it. I dont see why people feel the need to control others perfectly legal and unharmful actions..

I refer you to what Yooper (a forum moderator) said in this very thread:

Well, that's true. But if you want to TALK about distilling, then go to a distilling forum. Here we talk about wine, mead, cider, and beer brewing. It's our forum, and our rules will apply.

You've been told of our rules. You don't have to like them. But you do have to abide by them. There are distilling forums out there, and some of them (one in particular) are very good. I suggest you look into it if you want to talk about distilling.

Like it, or lump it. It's their forum, so it's their rules.