Black Mission Fig wine taste like cigarettes?

[catfishhoward]

Why would my Black Mission Fig taste like cigarettes? I bottled it today in a gallon jug back sweetened with grape concentrate to 1.024.

 

[Corey Fish]

Why would my Black Mission Fig taste like cigarettes? I bottled it today in a gallon jug back sweetened with grape concentrate to 1.024.

What was the full recipe?

 

[catfishhoward]

I recorded everything on my phone which I lost in the lake so I don't remember it exactly but I think it was as follow.

4 lb fresh Black Mission Figs (had a little white hairy mold which I washed off)
1 gallon water
1-3/4 lb sugar
3 1/2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp nutrient
1 campden tablet

I have read that some wines might smell/taste like cigs if there was a forest fire where the fruit was growing, It's possible that the figs I bought in August 2018 came from west US? I think there was some forest fires there this summer?

 

[Corey Fish]

Hmm, I don't know about the forest fire thing, all I can say from experience is that young wines can have all sorts of off smells/colors that tend to get better with time as the residual yeast clean it up. When did you start it?

I've been bulk aging my plum wine since I made it in July and it's just now starting to taste good. My best advice to you would be to crack open a bottle in 1-2 months and see how it's doing. Fruit wines usually need many months to hit their peak. 6-12 months is ideal.

Corey

 

[catfishhoward]

I made the fig wine and 13 other fruit wine in august of this year just to try a bunch of different fruit wines. I bottled all of them this weekend and all tasted good but the fig so I racked it back into the gallon jug so I didn't waste my bottles, so I guess I'll see in about another 6 months but I don't think it will turn out good.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Brett (or other wild yeast) can make smoky and tobacco flavors.
It's possible you have a sulfite-tolerant strain, the sulfite didn't penetrate the figs very well before it off-gassed, or the sulfite dosage wasn't adequate.

Brett flavor wheel

Of course it could be something else ... I don't know anything about fig wine.

 

[Maylar]

Did you eat any figs before making the wine? You would know if they tasted smokey. And yes, figs grow in California but the wildfires are north of that area.

 

[catfishhoward]

Did you eat any figs before making the wine? You would know if they tasted smokey. And yes, figs grow in California but the wildfires are north of that area.

No I didn't taste the figs or remember smelling smoke before smashing them up.