5 gallons of Watermelon juice for nothing...

[hmmmbeer]

I've been brewing beer for some time now and as of last year decided to try a few batches of wine.
My last go was a watermelon wine. I pressed about 80lbs worth of watermelon, added a bit of tannin, about 5 cups of sugar, 1 can of white grape juice concentrate 5 cambden tablets but forgot to add the acid blend. I let it all sit for 24 hours then added the wine yeast and after about 3 weeks and a fresh rack to a new carboy and tasted it and it already has lost its watermelon taste.

My SG was only about 6% alcohol and thats all I taste...

What can I do next or next time I try this to keep that flavor I'm looking for or at least make it taste better then it does now?

I'm letting it clear/age in hopes it is at least drinkable.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Yooper]

Usually, for wine you check the SG and add enough simple sugar (usually table sugar) to bring up the OG to a wine level- most often 1.085-1.100.

You can still do this- check out jackkeller.net's recipes for watermelon wine to get an idea of how to proceed with what you have. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/watermel.asp

 

[hmmmbeer]

Usually, for wine you check the SG and add enough simple sugar (usually table sugar) to bring up the OG to a wine level- most often 1.085-1.100.

You can still do this- check out jackkeller.net's recipes for watermelon wine to get an idea of how to proceed with what you have. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/watermel.asp

yeah, I went for a low SG just to make it a simple easy wine and in hopes it would keep the watermelon flavor too.

Thanks for the input though

 

[WIP]

You can add acid after the fact, it doesn't have to be added early. Try it in a sample and see if it helps.

 

[hmmmbeer]

You can add acid after the fact, it doesn't have to be added early. Try it in a sample and see if it helps.

Thank you! I wasn't sure and didn't see anyone note this anywhere else. I'll give it a try... I'm afraid watermelon wine doesn't hold its flavor due to the "pulp" settling out of it. It was worth a try seeing how i got it for 15 cents a pound.

 

[rniles]

Yooper is correct. For a wine you need to bring the ABV up ... Otherwise it is something else (like a cider or perry).

In either case, For more watermelon taste, let it ferment out then backsweeten with sweet watermelon juice. That will give you what you want.

 

[hmmmbeer]

Yooper is correct. For a wine you need to bring the ABV up ... Otherwise it is something else (like a cider or perry).

In either case, For more watermelon taste, let it ferment out then backsweeten with sweet watermelon juice. That will give you what you want.

Back sweeten, I thought of that but wondered if the fact that within 24 hours the "pulp" will settle so I figured I'd be in the same boat I'm in now. I'll at least try it.

 

[Insomniac]

Did you use pectic enzyme? Might help