So, in the fall of 2012 twelve, I decided to do my first batch of Welches Wine. On this particular batch, I decided to do a Cranberry since thanks giving was in the near future, and I wanted to have it available for that time. And since this is drinkable within a month or two, I figured "why not."
Now having said that, let me tell you about what I did with this batch. First, I have a hiatal hernia. Meaning, essentially, anything spicy, acidic, greasy, etc gives me heartburn and makes me yack very shortly after consuming. So, I decided to use about half of the recommended does of acid blend, because wine is (although I love it) gives me heartburn quicker than drinking a glass of ghost pepper extract. I also skimped a little on the frozen concentrate. I don't remember how much I used, but I am thinking it was about 7-8 cans versus the 10 that is recommended. I used a RedStar Champagne yeast package. And the recommended amount of sugar.
The resulting wine was a lightly flavored, probably about 8% ABV, wine that was pleasant to drink. And about half of it was bottled in 750ml green bottles, with the other half being bottled in 375ml clear bottles.
Flash forward to May 2014. I was going through my "stash" of various mix-match homebrews the other night and stumbled upon a half case of the 375ml bottles labeled as being this wine. I decided to pull it out and see how it had done over the course of the last year and a half.
Upon pulling the bottles out I had noticed two things. First off, the wine was no longer a pinkish color that it once was, but was brown. Secondly it had stuff floating around the bottom, it looked like sediment but didn't rest on the bottom like it. Considering I have a friend that makes some of Wine and Beer's other Brother, I opened a bottle to ensure that this might not be that. It wasn't. It's definitely wine.
Now my next thought was oxidation. Lack of acid blend, and a fairly minimal amount of metabisulphite, could be responsible for the browning of the wine. No worries, I was sure that if it was oxidized that doesn't mean it wasn't drinkable. So I tried it...
Let me say this. If this wine is oxidized, I'm a nun. This is the one of the best tasting wines I've had in quite some time. It is well aged, smooth, it has a nice clean and crisp aftertaste on the palate, and is not over powering.
Now, I do have to sacrifice about the last 1/4 of the bottle to keep from the sediment from finding it's way into my glass. However, its otherwise very good. So my only conclusion would be the applejuice reacting with the small amounts of oxygen in the wine.
Just figured you guys and gals would like to know what my latest experience with welches wine was...
Now having said that, let me tell you about what I did with this batch. First, I have a hiatal hernia. Meaning, essentially, anything spicy, acidic, greasy, etc gives me heartburn and makes me yack very shortly after consuming. So, I decided to use about half of the recommended does of acid blend, because wine is (although I love it) gives me heartburn quicker than drinking a glass of ghost pepper extract. I also skimped a little on the frozen concentrate. I don't remember how much I used, but I am thinking it was about 7-8 cans versus the 10 that is recommended. I used a RedStar Champagne yeast package. And the recommended amount of sugar.
The resulting wine was a lightly flavored, probably about 8% ABV, wine that was pleasant to drink. And about half of it was bottled in 750ml green bottles, with the other half being bottled in 375ml clear bottles.
Flash forward to May 2014. I was going through my "stash" of various mix-match homebrews the other night and stumbled upon a half case of the 375ml bottles labeled as being this wine. I decided to pull it out and see how it had done over the course of the last year and a half.
Upon pulling the bottles out I had noticed two things. First off, the wine was no longer a pinkish color that it once was, but was brown. Secondly it had stuff floating around the bottom, it looked like sediment but didn't rest on the bottom like it. Considering I have a friend that makes some of Wine and Beer's other Brother, I opened a bottle to ensure that this might not be that. It wasn't. It's definitely wine.
Now my next thought was oxidation. Lack of acid blend, and a fairly minimal amount of metabisulphite, could be responsible for the browning of the wine. No worries, I was sure that if it was oxidized that doesn't mean it wasn't drinkable. So I tried it...
Let me say this. If this wine is oxidized, I'm a nun. This is the one of the best tasting wines I've had in quite some time. It is well aged, smooth, it has a nice clean and crisp aftertaste on the palate, and is not over powering.
Now, I do have to sacrifice about the last 1/4 of the bottle to keep from the sediment from finding it's way into my glass. However, its otherwise very good. So my only conclusion would be the applejuice reacting with the small amounts of oxygen in the wine.
Just figured you guys and gals would like to know what my latest experience with welches wine was...
