I have a strawberry kit wine that I made exactly as instructions said and bottled even tho I didnt like it. Instructions said to bottle and let age at least 3 months then drink. Well, three months later I still dont like it. But playing with the bottle I opened I found I can make it better with a little Strawberry concentrate or even a sugar syrup. So, I want to pour it all back into bulk container, sweeten to taste, and rebottle. (I have 24 bottles of this stuff) I know rebottling is not something you really want to do but In this case, if I dont do something I'll have 24 bottles I wine I dont want to drink. What are your thoughts...
Newbie question about rebottling
- Thread starter JonC
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You can sweeten it when you drink it, and that's probably the best bet. If you pour it into a carboy, you will probably oxidize it and make it far worse.
I completely disagree with Yooper (no disrespect, ma'am!).
But I've done that a few times, mainly for blending (too dry of pumpkin with too sweet pumpkin made it just right). Also for adding ingredients (Triple Sec to a Key Lime).
None of them had color, smell or oxidation issues. Just be smart, pour it as close to the liquid as possible to minimize air contact, don't splash, stir slowly, rebottle right away. You will be 100% OK, I promise. I added 1/2 of campden tab for each gallon (i'd use 2 for your 5 gallons total), just to be safe.
But I've done that a few times, mainly for blending (too dry of pumpkin with too sweet pumpkin made it just right). Also for adding ingredients (Triple Sec to a Key Lime).
None of them had color, smell or oxidation issues. Just be smart, pour it as close to the liquid as possible to minimize air contact, don't splash, stir slowly, rebottle right away. You will be 100% OK, I promise. I added 1/2 of campden tab for each gallon (i'd use 2 for your 5 gallons total), just to be safe.
devilsbeltbrewing
Active Member
i also disagree with yooper, i am a commercial winemaker and i have ran into a similar problem. i never suggest using any syrup or extract as they dont blend with the wine. you will actually end up having a different wine in each bottle as you bottle. most the time baacksweeten with sugar is fine but if you are using syrup just thin out so it can mix with wine. also make sure it is mixed up well. i usually pump over tank for 20 min if using a carboy just stir for a few min. as far as oxidation is concerned just avoid any splashing and vigorously string. last thing is you need to ass potassium sorbate or you will ferment in bottle. good luck
pumpkinman2012
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I agree with Yooper, she posted "you will probably oxidize it and make it far worse."
This is sound advice, if you were to dump the wine into a bucket to add sorbate and back sweeten before bottling you run the risk of oxidizing your wine, if you've done it before without any issues my compliments to you, but again, you run the risk of oxidation.
Oxidation doesn't necessarily appear instantly, it can take several days or even weeks, plus, when making a wine such as a pumpkin wine it can mask the faults, add triple sec and lime and it will be hard to detect any oxidation.
As far as commercial wine making, I'm surprised to hear that you've experienced the same thing, I have a good friend that is the GM and head wine maker of a decent size winery, with all of the "checks and balances" that the wine goes through before it is deemed ready to bottle, I'm surprised that it could get that far with no one aware of the issue.
devilsbeltbrewing
Active Member
The problem we ran into at the winery was completely different we just had to use the same practice to re bottle it. we wanted to try a new method of sweetening one of our wines. so we heated up a sugar water mix only a few gallons of water and figured the hot water &n heat would help it dissolve. we did not know the mixture was not able to blend into the wine it just layered the tank with about 10 different sugar profiles. so we had to carefully put back into tank, chill quick to drop sugar out of suspension. added our sugar the normal method and pumped over tank for 20 min. the wine sat in bottles for about 4 months after bottling with no issues. my experiences with oxidation is that as long as your on top of everything and you have good freer so2 and dont rack your wine like a jerk you will be fine. if pumpkinman2012 just dumps his bottles back into the carboy he most likely would oxidize it. just have to go slow and have little to almost none air exposure.
Mismost
Well-Known Member
Just a different line of thought here...3 months? That is not very much time at all really. I would suggest putting 1/2 the bottles away for another 9 months...just let it sit. There, that just cut your problem in half! Play with back sweetening with other half...you may wind up learning twice as much from this one batch.
I mention this because I did 5 gallons of a "terrible" apple frozen concentrate wine. Hated it. Now, months later, it is a real nice dry white wine. TIME was the lesson I learned.
AND....that terrible apple wine in it's early days, still made a really good White Sangria. What about a Strawberry Sangria? Make a tub full!
devilsbeltbrewing
Active Member
our problem was there was no consistency, every bottle was tasting different. we had 1500 liters of it so we needed to fix the prob before we lost the product. i say 3 or 4 months in the bottle after 7 months aging in tank. also we sell out of every wine before we get a chance to age it. once its gone we have other wine following it up so holding 1/2 would tie up valuable space. after the re bottling everyone loved it and even won a bronze metal in an international competition.
Okay, so after seeing all the responces, and me being an idiot, I decided to go ahead and sweeten and rebottle. I added a little bit of the same strawberry concentrate I used to make the wine to a bottle and made it taste alot better than it was. So I multiplied that measurement by 23 (since I had 23 more bottles and sweetened the rest in bulk. I WAY over shot the sweetnes so not its just a sweet strawberry drink. Now I just did this, Its still in the carboy, So now i'm wondering if I should go ahead and rebottle and just let it sit, or give it to the bugs in the back yard. I know ageing will help melow a wine, but what about a super sweet wine. Hell, with my luck it'll probably oxidize it a few weeks anyway. May just chauk it up to "dont do that again" and start my next batch
I've never made wine but plenty of cider and beer. If you've added new fermentables to the carboy / bottles then assuming there is enough yeast these will convert to alcohol. You won't have any sweetness left - just a higher ABV.
pumpkinman2012
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Those are some strong words, Maybe you took my reply the wrong way.
I don't think that pumpkinman2012 would pour his wine back into a carboy, nor would I rack like a "jerk"...
Does your winery have a website? I'd love to check it out. Do you make primarily fruit wines? The reason that I ask is that you said that you usually sell out before you can age.
Is your winery Blind Bat Brewery out of NY?
torilen
Well-Known Member
If I can toss in a newbie response here...I don't have much to offer in the terms of advice on how to fix your problem.
I simply would like to urge you to find some way to use what you made instead of dumping it in the yard or down the drain. I just hate to hear about alcohol going to waste. As someone else said, maybe sangria?
I simply would like to urge you to find some way to use what you made instead of dumping it in the yard or down the drain. I just hate to hear about alcohol going to waste. As someone else said, maybe sangria?
Or, if it is not wretched, give it to friends? Throw a big party, get super blasted. You'd be surprised how fast it will disappear. Otherwise, you could brew a dry batch and mix it. Or, even buy some commercial dry white wine (cheap sutter home), and blend in 10 bottles into your 20 bottles. Then rebottle the whole batch. That would help.
You learned a lot today! Better next time.
You learned a lot today! Better next time.
I did learn alot with this batch. Main thing being, just becouse I dont like it, dont mean it isn't good. I'm not happy with it, but after having a few others try it, some said it was okay, some said it was great. Everyone has a different taste for wines. Got 19 bottles back on the shelf. Had 24, used one for tasting, and 4 bottles left with my tasters. Lots of good people here with good information, Thank you all
pumpkinman2012
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I agree with making Sangria, I wasn't happy with a small batch that I had made several years ago from a juice bucket, I made sangria and everyone loved it.
