Lemon Lime Cherry Pee Unforunately not for me!

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chasemandingo

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Hey all,

I made a one gallon batch of cherry pee not too long ago. It has cleared and I have been tasting it tonight. I must say I'm disappointed. I used 4 oz. lime juice, 6 oz. lemon juice, 12 ounces tart cherry juice and too much sugar. My abv. was 15%!!! I have brought it down since I have racked the wine three times now and have topped with water every time. I also threw in a pound of sweet black cherries into the primary and used an FPac of black cherry juice to back flavor. I may have used too much though as I boiled 12 oz. down to 3 oz. lol. I am in the process of back sweetening the pee and haven't tasted it sweetened yet but I am worrying already. The cherry taste is strong but subdued at the same time( I know it doesn't make sense but that is the only way I can describe it, like a strong taste but not the atypical cherry flavor many are used to). It also is way too acidic ( could just be because it is not properly balanced). Also it is very very thin bodied. I made a DB with 1 1/2 pounds of triple berry melody and the high acidity and extremely light body worked very well with it. It tasted like a fruity white zinfandel and was light and refreshing. Any way, I don't wanna waste all that hard work so I am looking for advice on what to do. Should I attempt to bring down the acid with sodium bicarbonate? Is there something I can add to add body to the wine at this point? I am back sweetening to 1.02 and I know this will eventually bring out more of the fruit flavors but I still don't think it will be good as it is. Anyway, if all else fails I guess a bottle of cherry flavored vodka some 7up and some sherbert could turn this failure into a drinkable alcoholic punch. All advice and comments are welcome. Also, even though I enjoyed my fruity zin DB, the next batch i do will be with 6 or 7 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice, a can of Welch's white grape concentrate for body and a half pound fruit pack after fermentation. Thank you all very much!
 
Wow, Chase! I mean, Wow! Maybe you should have called it a lemon-lime cherry port.

Now you have a "high ABV, watered down, black cherry super-concentrate f-packed, back sweetened, thin-bodied, high acidic, unbalanced, strong-flavored, subdued taste, lemon-lime cherry Skeeter Pee". I'm affraid I have no good advice for you, my friend. Good luck in straightening this one out.

DB = fruity white zin? That's a good comparison. Must be why my wife likes it so much. Like you, I'm still experimenting with it. Again, like you, my next step is to add fruit post fermentation. I have three batches (18 gallons) finishing fermentation as we type. One will be original (wife's request), while the other 12 gallons will be for variations. Soon, I hope, I will try a batch with a lot more fruit. Like 30 pounds for six gallons. The thirty pounds of fruit will run me about $100 (about the price of a mid-range kit). Painful, but not out of budget range. I'm just curious what a genuine, full bodied, full flavored DB might be like. Never know until you try!
 
I'm just curious what a genuine, full bodied, full flavored DB might be like. Never know until you try!

Dave, I like to use a couple of pounds of lite dried malt extract in my skeeter pee/ dragons blood. It certainly adds body!
 
I know Dave, I think I may have screwed the pooch on this one. But I guess that is how we learn right??? And I was surprised by how similar the DB is to a white zinfandel. Just a little more light bodied and much fruitier! That is why I think the white grape concentrate and fpac might make it that much better! Anyway, I'm gonna see how the stuff tastes when sweetened and if no change then the stuff will be used as a mixer for cocktails. I can not justify pouring it down the drain lol!
 

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