Should I Wait?

[Oyarsa]

For my second wine attempt (started shortly after the kit wine that was my first), I tried to make a gallon batch of tamarind wine.

I ended up with about 3.75 bottles. I drank the .75 bottle on bottling day. It was very tart, but I kinda liked it. That was about 3 weeks ago.

My second kit wine is almost done, so my fermenter will be available for use again and I'd like to give the tamarind another go at a 5 gallon scale. However, I don't know if I need to change my process any because I've only had the bit from bottling day. If I were to open another bottle after only these three weeks, would I be able to have any sense of how it will be after a proper aging period? What IS a proper aging period? 6 months?

 

[Nooner]

I'd say no, you really won't be able to tell at this early stage. I mean you might be able to glean something really bad, but the wine is probably going to change dramatically over the next 6 months to a year. I've had wines that tasted great and then went through a funky period after a few months and tasted weird, and then turned into a great wine at about a year. My advice is to just decide how interested you are in making the wine; it sounds like you're enthused, so I would just make the bigger batch. That way you can taste some every few weeks and still have some left over to age more than a year (1 year is when I think wines usually mature enough to really represent themselves accurately, although most will take a few years to peak).

 

[Nooner]

Also what you are doing right now is fantastic in making sure you don't have this problem in the future. make a ****-ton of wine so it can all age and you won't be itching to drink them young.

 

[Oyarsa]

Nooner, I like the way you think I'll hold off to taste and make myself another batch. Just have to decide whether to make the wine first, or a cider or beer first...

 

[Mallerstang]

Also what you are doing right now is fantastic in making sure you don't have this problem in the future. make a poopy-ton of wine so it can all age and you won't be itching to drink them young.

I second that - start lots in the first couple of years to get ahead of the aging process. Make enough to age properly, plus enough that you'll inevitably drink too soon.

 

[Oyarsa]

I gave in and opened a bottle. I did intend to heed your advice, but willpower and patience isn't always a strength of mine.

I'm kind of glad I did. I apparently wasn't very successful.

At one point during the process I sampled and there was a very strong turpentine taste/smell. I figured there wasn't anything to do about it, and I didn't notice it in the sample I tried at bottling.

Unfortunately it's very strong in this bottle. Next time around, I'll use some sulfites before pitching yeast, be more careful with sanitation, etc...

 

[nik2]

I'm storing my wine in bags (bought on ebay). It means I can tap off a small glass just to see how it's going rather than a whole bottle (apparently doesn't let any air in unless the bag is starting to get empty). It's easier to store than bottles too.

 

[Oyarsa]

Interesting...

 

[Nooner]

nik2- the bags are OK for (relatively) temporary storage, but the plastic is O2 permeable so the wine is aging and oxidizing much faster that if it were in glass (with only a permeable cork). There are many great commercial wines that are being sold in boxes, tetra-paks, etc, but they are only put into those containers when they are ready to drink and are meant to be drunk when purchased (within a year or so, but most if not all are consumed within a few days of purchase). The plastic bags are not appropriate for any kind of aging.

 

[Nooner]

I'm kind of glad I did. I apparently wasn't very successful.

At one point during the process I sampled and there was a very strong turpentine taste/smell.

Keep in mind that tamarind might not be something that makes a good wine. I'm not familiar with it at all (had to look it up on google) but there are many many vegetables that make awful wines, and many many more that take a winemaker many batches to make a good one.

 

[Nooner]

poopy-ton of wine

Thank you moderators for making my post both more entertaining and more appropriate. I shall keep my language in mind in the future.

 

[nik2]

nik2- the bags are OK for (relatively) temporary storage, but the plastic is O2 permeable so the wine is aging and oxidizing much faster that if it were in glass (with only a permeable cork). There are many great commercial wines that are being sold in boxes, tetra-paks, etc, but they are only put into those containers when they are ready to drink and are meant to be drunk when purchased (within a year or so, but most if not all are consumed within a few days of purchase). The plastic bags are not appropriate for any kind of aging.

Thanks Nooner, that made me rethink things. I had a search and found some good research that matches what you say (http://www.academicwino.com/2014/02/bag-in-box-versus-glass-bottles.html/) - for my beginner wines and non-expert palate I'm probably getting away with it, but looks like bottles was a better way to go. I'll start collecting empties...

 

[Oyarsa]

Nooner, thanks for all the advice. I think this weekend I'm going to make two batches: a tamarind wine and a tamarind cider. I'm pretty sure my wine was infected somehow. Maybe when the krausen blew the airlock and it was exposed for a while. Or who knows. At least it was a small batch. In any case, I love tamarind flavor so I'm going to stick with it! Even if it takes a poopy-ton of batches...