Question:
Trevor, well said and enjoyed. Your story of the apple/grape/orange reminds me of a juiced pomegranate/mulberry I made once at a 4:1 ratio and twice as much water. It never really enjoyed a vigorous fermentation, but did start off fairly well. After 4 months it stuck at SG 1.050 and nothing I did seemed to matter. I must have dumped 2 whole ounces of yeast nutrient/energizer and 4 packets of Lalvin K1V-1116 yeast in that 5-gallon carboy before I simply gave up on it and pushed it into a corner. It always had positive pressure inside, but I never actually saw a bubble escape in the airlock. But because it had internal pressure and kept throwing lees, I knew there was activity. Every 3-4 months I removed the airlock, stirred the lees deeply, and refitted the airlock with new meta solution in it. After two years, I measured the SG and found it to be at 1.015. Some 8 months later, I stabilized it at 1.002, degassed the hell out of it, and bottled it. It was arguably the best pomegranate wine I have ever made, but it took 36 months just to get it down to 1.002! Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page, http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1172/ Before you buy.
Response:
Isn’t life so wonderful! I make something like 100 gallons of wine every year both with kits and using wild fruits in season. Some wine turns out to be delicious and memorable and at other times ( using identical recipes ) ordinary and drinkable "in house" only. It is sometimes frustrating when sampling a particularly delicious result and I know that it is unlikely that I will achieve the same end product again. This even applies to kit wines. But it is still a most pleasurable exercise. I remember one particular single gallon of a recipe of commercial fruit juices, which, at a time I thought suitable to try — was awful. So I pushed it to the back of the shelf in my store and it sat there for 2 years. But not un-noticed. For that time, regardless of the seasonal variation in temperature, it kept fermenting, even through a cold English winter, and producing CO2 at a very slow rate for over 18 months. I have never reproduced this effect since! However the wine when I tried it was quite delicious — crisp and dry, lively and palate refreshing (it was a mix of apple/grape/orange juices in the ratio 5/3/2 ) and I still use the recipe today for summer drinks but never have I repeated that strange fermentation period again nor the extra delicious result! Just goes to show! And how many home vintners throw away a "failed" fermentation? No we spend even more time trying to rectify and in the end still use it. I have the remnants of a 10 gallon batch which was certainly not my best but when introduced later on in a particularly well lubricated meal would slip down very easily. Wine is like me ( or vice versa ) sometime smooth, sometimes rough, sometimes delicate and full of hidden nuances – other times extrovert and outspoken. But always noticeable!
Response:
Patience, quite necessary. That’s why, after 9 years, I still hang on to a goosberry my wife says tastes like show polish remover! I said "Oh, so you have a frame of reference do you. And just what DOES shoe polish remover taste like!" She quips back " Goosberry wine!" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Isn’t life so wonderful! I make something like 100 gallons of wine every year both with kits and using wild fruits in season. Some wine turns out to be delicious and memorable and at other times ( using identical recipes ) ordinary and drinkable "in house" only. It is sometimes frustrating when sampling a particularly delicious result and I know that it is unlikely that I will achieve the same end product again. This even applies to kit wines. But it is still a most pleasurable exercise. I remember one particular single gallon of a recipe of commercial fruit juices, which, at a time I thought suitable to try — was awful. So I pushed it to the back of the shelf in my store and it sat there for 2 years. But not un-noticed. For that time, regardless of the seasonal variation in temperature, it kept fermenting, even through a cold English winter, and producing CO2 at a very slow rate for over 18 months. I have never reproduced this effect since! However the wine when I tried it was quite delicious — crisp and dry, lively and palate refreshing (it was a mix of apple/grape/orange juices in the ratio 5/3/2 ) and I still use the recipe today for summer drinks but never have I repeated that strange fermentation period again nor the extra delicious result! Just goes to show! And how many home vintners throw away a "failed" fermentation? No we spend even more time trying to rectify and in the end still use it. I have the remnants of a 10 gallon batch which was certainly not my best but when introduced later on in a particularly well lubricated meal would slip down very easily. Wine is like me ( or vice versa ) sometime smooth, sometimes rough, sometimes delicate and full of hidden nuances – other times extrovert and outspoken. But always noticeable!
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