Wine in first carboy smells vinegary/acetic, tastes "strong"?

[firemachine69]

So I purchased an all-in-one winemaking kit from Costco, proceeded to get the second equipment so we could make both "bags" of grape juice at once.


Me and my partner were extremely thorough at sanitizing everything. Still, our first carboy/pail tastes very strong / smells acidic (we are at the degassing phase here), I also noticed that some of the airlock sulphite solution had exploded alongside the carboy "plug" down the side of the jug. The rubber plug was also sitting flush, but not snug. On that note, we filled up the carboy up to the neck almost at the first step, was that possibly part of the problem?


I'm sitting with a completely degassed carboy of (almost) wine, only the chitosan remains to be added.

Should I quit while I'm ahead?


This is our first attempt at homebrew, and bags of grape juice are relatively not cheap. If the second batch doesn't work out (two bags of grape juice we are making simultaneously), we'll stick to making it at the self-brew place (where even if I end up paying an extra $100 per batch, if it goes wrong I can at least get a free restart).

This is seriously getting me down. Help?

 

[Dave_D55]

Don't panic. Follow through with it and try it agin in a few months.

When I was a new winemaker, I thought I smelled all kind of flaws in my first few batches (including acetic acid) - but they all turned out well.

Regarding the taste. When I first tasted very young wine, it was disappointing and I couldn't see how it would ever be drinkable - but it was.

You may be right in your perception of your wine; but stay the course and it will probably be OK.

Regards, Dave

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is you have successfully made a kit wine, the bad news, and they don't really tell you this bit, is that kit wines from concentrated varietal juice are almost always kinda funky tasting and won't be like wine you buy at the store or make from grapes. It's simply (and sadly) just not the same as making wine from fresh ingredients. BUT! you will have a product you can drink, and I've had many friends take kit wine and make sangria from it and throw a party, which always goes over well. The things that can go off with kit wines are typically following directions to the T. They are juice concentrates that are meant to come out at the end at exacting numbers, making any modifications is hard at best and adding too much/too little water can change the final product rather drastically. Also, kit wines are made to be drunk while fairly young as they don't have the complex polyphenols etc. to age very gracefully into the future. Some REALLY expensive products on the market come with grape skin packs etc that give them a little more character and ageability, but it's terribly expensive for what you're getting. I speak from experience with kit wines and from making wine professionally for a while now. BTW, none of this is meant to malign your judgement, and I can also tell you that the frustration you feel from trying to follow kit wine instructions drove me crazy too, with many sleepless nights thinking about fermentation! Don't give up hope though! The hobby is filled with so many brilliant options and alternatives, the first of which I would suggest to you would be to look in to making fruit wines from fresh ingredients that you enjoy until you get the hang of it, then you can start sourcing from other venues such as buying frozen red must or grapes from a local producer that doesn't mind parting with some. I can guarantee that the products you make from fresh ingredients will outshine your sophomore attempts at winemaking so drastically that you will feel a sense of gratification as you sip your first good wine. Keep it up! hope this helps.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is you have successfully made a kit wine, the bad news, and they don't really tell you this bit, is that kit wines from concentrated varietal juice are almost always kinda funky tasting and won't be like wine you buy at the store or make from grapes. It's simply (and sadly) just not the same as making wine from fresh ingredients. BUT! you will have a product you can drink, and I've had many friends take kit wine and make sangria from it and throw a party, which always goes over well. The things that can go off with kit wines are typically following directions to the T. They are juice concentrates that are meant to come out at the end at exacting numbers, making any modifications is hard at best and adding too much/too little water can change the final product rather drastically. Also, kit wines are made to be drunk while fairly young as they don't have the complex polyphenols etc. to age very gracefully into the future. Some REALLY expensive products on the market come with grape skin packs etc that give them a little more character and ageability, but it's terribly expensive for what you're getting. I speak from experience with kit wines and from making wine professionally for a while now. BTW, none of this is meant to malign your judgement, and I can also tell you that the frustration you feel from trying to follow kit wine instructions drove me crazy too, with many sleepless nights thinking about fermentation! Don't give up hope though! The hobby is filled with so many brilliant options and alternatives, the first of which I would suggest to you would be to look in to making fruit wines from fresh ingredients that you enjoy until you get the hang of it, then you can start sourcing from other venues such as buying frozen red must or grapes from a local producer that doesn't mind parting with some. I can guarantee that the products you make from fresh ingredients will outshine your sophomore attempts at winemaking so drastically that you will feel a sense of gratification as you sip your first good wine. Keep it up! hope this helps.

Total fail of a post...kit wines can be every bit as good as commercial wines if made correctly.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Total fail of a post...kit wines can be every bit as good as commercial wines if made correctly.

No, I'm afraid they won't, unless you mean to make wine that tastes better than the $4.00 and under category. Useful post though, very insightful, strong arguments were made to be sure. Best of luck to the OP! Not real good contributions around here from the peanut gallery.

 

[mgonbrewlab]

Should I quit while I'm ahead?

No. Wine really does take time to age, and even a few weeks to month in the bottle will make a huge difference. A poor quality kit will make indifferent wine, maybe, but don't get discouraged.

I will second the opinion, though, that it is beneficial to try making wines with solid fruits. Country wine is pretty tasty and can be made from a wide variety of fruit. You can also get cans of fruit specially prepared for winemaking from Vinter's harvest. They can potentially turn out a bit thin, but the 5 gal of peach wine I made from a can is coming along nicely (you can also make a very full bodied 3 gallon batch of wine from one can). I want to get a can of elderberry or blackberry and mix it with red grape juice to make a country fruit dry red, but I digress . Plus, country wine is cheap. If you spoil a batch, you are probably only out $10 per gallon depending on how far along you are.

Buy 3-4 jugs of Carlo Rossi. Rebottle or drink it. and put a different type of wine in each one (secondary, that is. Use a bucket or pail for your primary). Start something every two to three weeks so you can blend them together, too. It will be hard work at first, but you will learn quickly and you will quickly get a knack for the process.


Finally, sanitation is important, but wine is fairly antiseptic. Proper SO2 levels prevent a lot of issues.

 

[mrchaos101]

I was sad with my first wine. Thought all kinds of things were wrong. Welches wine...not even a kit. After 3 weeks in bottels it is night and day differance. All my friends loved it.....no bottels left to go 6 months. Now...im on a 2nd batch. Rasberry version. It is clearing now....Cant wait to see final product.

 

[jensmith]

So I purchased an all-in-one winemaking kit from Costco, proceeded to get the second equipment so we could make both "bags" of grape juice at once.


Me and my partner were extremely thorough at sanitizing everything. Still, our first carboy/pail tastes very strong / smells acidic (we are at the degassing phase here), I also noticed that some of the airlock sulphite solution had exploded alongside the carboy "plug" down the side of the jug. The rubber plug was also sitting flush, but not snug. On that note, we filled up the carboy up to the neck almost at the first step, was that possibly part of the problem?


I'm sitting with a completely degassed carboy of (almost) wine, only the chitosan remains to be added.

Should I quit while I'm ahead?


This is our first attempt at homebrew, and bags of grape juice are relatively not cheap. If the second batch doesn't work out (two bags of grape juice we are making simultaneously), we'll stick to making it at the self-brew place (where even if I end up paying an extra $100 per batch, if it goes wrong I can at least get a free restart).

This is seriously getting me down. Help?

Airlock spillage. Probely too full of a carboy, or the airlock was too full, or there was a little fermentation still going, or it started to degass on its own. Not anything to worry about. Especially if there was still liquid in the airlock. If the bung was only loose a few days also not anything to panic about.
Give an inch or so of air space between the top of the wine and the bottom of the airlock/bung. Ussualy I fill mine to the narrow neck opening but not much further up. When filling the airlock do not overfill. There should be a fill to line on it. Sometimes if the bung is damp it will not stay in the carboy tightly. Dry both the bung and the inside of the carboy. Then push the bung in snugly. Watch to see if it pushes back up. If it is gonna do so it will be right away.
Have you taken a hydrometer reading? What is the currrent sg? When did you start this batch? Did you airlock this wine from day one or start in an open bucket with daily stirrings? The smells can be easier explained with these questions answered. Most likly you are just smelling new wine in its gassy state.
Welcome to the fun and frustrations of wine making! Lucky after a few batches it will just be the fun part


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

 

[DoctorCAD]

No, I'm afraid they won't, unless you mean to make wine that tastes better than the $4.00 and under category. Useful post though, very insightful, strong arguments were made to be sure. Best of luck to the OP! Not real good contributions around here from the peanut gallery.

Not going to get into this with you in this post, but perhaps its YOU that can't make better than a $4.00 bottle from a kit. Thousands of gallon of high quality wines come from kits every day.

I got no more use for this guy...Thank you.

 

[firemachine69]

Alright, lots of questions to answer, thanks for helping me out folks!

First and foremost, it went in the pail for the required number of days, lid on, but not snugged tight. It was kind of neat to watch the CO2 bubbling a couple days after fermentation took place. By the degassing phase I came to realize the instructions were more guidelines, kind of like baking, 1/4 science, 3/4 art.

We are continuing along with the instructions (sort of) on that pail, but I'm virtually convinced we have vinegar on our hands. It's a malbec if that matters.

Interestingly, our second batch/pail of Merlot is ticking along perfectly - no acidic odors, smells exactly like a young wine my parents used to pick up when they went to local wine making place for bottling. Haven't tested it yet, but I'm extremely optimistic about it.

Both the malbec and Merlot are registering SG @ 0.98. They didn't move over three days, so according to the instructions it was time to degas and add the three packets (stabilizer, etc.)

Right now both carboys are sitting on the floor of my basement, thermometer is registering 16 degrees C, not quite the 15C or less optimal, but I don't have anywhere else to put it without worrying about cross-contamination.

 

[calmingapple]

Hello! I love meeting people who are new to kit wines because I am only on my 4th or 5th kit but really having fun and already learned a lot.

So I am going to take a stab at this and guess that you bought a two-in-one Paklab kit? Merlot and Malbec you say?

I have exclusively made Paklab kits. Just wanted to give my two cents and say that all my wines tastes a bit vinegary after the primary stage has completed.

My first kit that was made back in January is really shining right now and was bottled in February or so (I need to start a wine journal).

But I just wanted to stress that I would take a taste test at every hydrometer reading just to learn about the changes that occur. Believe me, once or twice I was really worried.

I find it easier to just make the wine, taste very little of it, bottle it when ready and wait a MINIMUM of two months to make a judgement.

Hope to get an update soon (after you've left it alone for a bit!)

 

[calmingapple]

Ah! This makes sense. Too much K-Meta dumped into your batch and floating unmixed will definitely produce a foul taste in the wine.

Good point.

Airlock spillage. Probely too full of a carboy, or the airlock was too full, or there was a little fermentation still going, or it started to degass on its own. Not anything to worry about. Especially if there was still liquid in the airlock. If the bung was only loose a few days also not anything to panic about.
Give an inch or so of air space between the top of the wine and the bottom of the airlock/bung. Ussualy I fill mine to the narrow neck opening but not much further up. When filling the airlock do not overfill. There should be a fill to line on it. Sometimes if the bung is damp it will not stay in the carboy tightly. Dry both the bung and the inside of the carboy. Then push the bung in snugly. Watch to see if it pushes back up. If it is gonna do so it will be right away.
Have you taken a hydrometer reading? What is the currrent sg? When did you start this batch? Did you airlock this wine from day one or start in an open bucket with daily stirrings? The smells can be easier explained with these questions answered. Most likly you are just smelling new wine in its gassy state.
Welcome to the fun and frustrations of wine making! Lucky after a few batches it will just be the fun part


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew