For the experts "fusel" alcohol

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Eddie you are correct. We racked again today to get more lees off and I wanted to see how the vanilla bean was coming along and I decided to leave the bean a little longer. I could smell and taste the vanilla. The last gallon going into the carboy was half full of lees. So I decide to rack them all. Most only had about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of lees. Fresh fruit equals lots of lees.

The wine fine as near as I can tell. The one gallon I added a vanilla bean to had a really nice vanilla taste. I added vanilla beans to 2 of the other 5 gallons because we liked the taste. We could taste a little strawberry but mostly was an alcohol taste which is what I would expected at the 2nd racking. No off taste or smell what so ever. Added sorbate and kmeta today. Next week I will simmer down some strawberries I froze when I started the must. And then move it under the house to age.
 
I saw some photo of strawberry wine that some one made and the color difference was huge after fining. Ours is a gorgeous strawberry red color I would like to keep it that color so I do not plan to fine unless absolutely have to.
 
You mentioned strawberry wine and colors and I can say that sulfite unfortunately can strip strawberry wine of a lot of color so make sure you dont over do it with sulfites. You can stay lower on the sulfites and use some acorbic acid along with the sulfites in an effort not to lose much color. Ascorbic acid doesnt last as long as a preservative though.
 
Will lemon juice work in place of ascorbic acid? I am getting ready to simmered down frozen strawberries for an f-pak
 
The following is not my words but what I found on Goggle;

That distinct smell of nail-polish remover is a sure indicator of excess volatile acidity (often abbreviated as simply VA). When detectable (as a sharp, acidic smell), VA is generally considered a winemaking flaw that can arise during fermentation or from a post-fermentation bacterial infection. Sensitivity to VA differs widely from individual to individual, and at lower levels, it can "lift" aromas and add a certain positive presence to the wine's flavors. It is not harmful, but whenever you find any such unpleasant chemical odors, whether nail polish, airplane glue or vinegar, dominating the scent and flavor of a particular wine, that wine should be avoided.

Oy.... so I have my first (2 gallon) skeeter pee going and for the first 3 or 4 days it wasnt fermenting (OG 1.077). I followed the recipe (amounts divided by 3 except the additives which I used the per gallon package directions) but I veered after day 4 with no action, by adding additional nutrient (DAP) and energizer. Day 6 still very little activity so I added another tsp of energizer.
Yesterday it started rolling along and today was dropping SG points like an all-star. I checked again just now and there's a strong, but not yet overpowering, smell of acetone/nail polish remover. I read this thread a few times and no one mentions a way to correct it. Is there a way? Should I add campden? Since yesterday (SG 1.060) its dropped to 1.032. I stir twice a day. Maybe so much oxygen has depleted the sulfites and is calling for help?

Thanks and sorry for waking the dead.
 
Since this was our thread, I wanted to reply back. The peach is our very favorite wine. It is almost gone now, and was started in July 2012. Our grown daughter describes the peach wine as eating a peach and juice running down your arm.

It is dismaying that we worried it would be fusel wine when it is not even close to that, what EVER fusel means. We will be starting fresh peach wine again in a week or so and not worry about our high temps. We will double the peach wine this year from last year.

Because the peach wine is SO good the only person gifted bottles to was our grown daughter. While others did share wine when we opened while here, no one else received any. We hoarded it for ourselves.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top