Help with Orange wine.

Total volume of must in primary was 12.5 ltrs. In secondary was 10.5 ltrs. Now After the first transfer I have 9.5 ltrs.

There was over half inch layer of yeast in my secondary and I ended up transferring today. The sg reading was 1 and the wine is still visibly fermenting!!

The taste of the wine was horrible!! It tasted of alcohol (my mouth felt dry after tasting it) and hardly any orange flavor. I could smell the yeast all the way! Also feel that the acidity is low in the wine and there is some mild bitterness and a sharp burning plain soda taste. Yes!! it tasted like alcoholic no sugar soda but way stronger.

I didnt have a bottle to rack some of this and ended up blending my about to oxidase grape wine. After the blending I could kind of get some amount of the orange flavor. The blended wine seemed like it was a better product!!

I am not sure why I feel no acidity in this wine? Should acid be added to citrus wine? If adding lemon juice, how many spoons at a time for a 10ltr batch?

Should I do anything or should I simply wait?

My recipie

Boiling water was added to Oranges and Raisins. Sulphited in secondary.

totally used 31 oranges
1.8kg of banana
750 gms of Raisins
1/4tsp tannin
2.5lb sugar
Papaya peel for pectic enzyme - Works good!

Sorry about the double post...

It would help some if you can post a starting specific gravity and an ending specific gravity. Then we can tell about how much alcohol is in there. Did you add a bit of sugar to the sample you tasted. It will usually help bring the fruit flavor forward. If you do not have too much alcohol in there it should mellow out some with time. Usually letting the wine sit helps bring the fruit flavor out. Arne.

Oh... Missed the starting sg. I started at 1.08 on day 1 day 2 the sg was 1.09 day 5 1.012 and moved to secondary and day 13 transfered due to lees... its pretty close to 1 and still fermenting...

So this is not an incredibly high ABV. It's about 10 or 11%. I wonder if the problem is the amount of tannins in the wine. Bananas have a great deal (I think) in the fruit when the fruit is not fully ripe and the tannins are in the skins too. In addition, papaya has enzymes (like pineapple) that break down protein - papain , I think it is called which is why that fruit is often used as a meat tenderizer... If the alcohol extracted that enzyme then that may be why you experienced the wine drying your mouth...but you may want to test the pH of the wine. Oranges are very acidic.

At first I thought you were talking about orange wine . . .

Orange Wine is the New Rosé

I simmered the banana without skin for 30 min and only used the juice no pulp not very ripe.

Don't have a ph meter... have ordered one. Don't feel the acid. My husband says there is no acid the wine tastes flat. I think the dryness and mild bitterness is more due to the flatness. The grape wine was a bit too acidic and the blend seemed to work.

Is there a time frame for acid addition? Don't want to do it before my kit arrives and i confirm if acid is a problem.

Well... This is kellers orange wine recipe that i had to modify a bit due to some mistakes i made

Bernard, I did check with a ph strip the reading is closer to 4. When tasting the wine I feel the tannin at the back of my tongue but there is no tartness to balance it... And the must too seemed a bit low on acid at the beginning. .. and before seconary. But such drastic change in taste is surprising.

The drop in acidity has happened in the secondary. Does that even happen? Acid being consumed by the yeast in the secondary?

Let it finish fermenting, then try it. Try it again a month from when it finishes. you will find things change as they sit for a time. Arne.

Am a noob... curious about the reduction in acidity after the secondary.

Could there be a natural malolactic fermentation happening given that there is banana juice and raisins in the wine? Wondering how this is happening from a scientific perspective.

It wouldn't be unusual at all for a citrus wine to be low in acidity. It all depends on the type of oranges used.

Also, it would be unusual for you to have MLF. I doubt an orange wine would have that much malic. Perhaps if you used acid blend then you might have some. But seems unlikely.

More likely you started with sweet oranges and your acidity was low to start. You can get some orange back with orange rind or extract. You will need some citric or acid blend to get it balanced. I would personally avoid any malic. No need to be in a hurry to do anything yet however. I'd make sure it is off the gross lees then let it sit for a month or two.

Thank you stressbaby. Finally my kit arrived... The PH reading is 3.9...

the wine is so much better now, starting to look thinner and is starting to clear gradually. Jotting down what I felt after tasting the wine...

Can taste a mild sourness today... my palate did tell me it needs a tad more acid.
Alcohol bite and the soda taste has gone down considerably and it is definitely a lot smoother than what it was in the last tasting
Sadly still no flavor and almost tastes like water, insipid...
Seems to have good alcohol content a few sips did give me more than a mild kick
Color is pale yellow... I thought I would get a nice orange color!!

In my next transfer I would definitely need to add more orange peelings. So far I have added only one to 9.5 ltrs of wine. And how many peelings would I approximately need to add...

Look forward to your suggestions and what I should or not do...

Citrus wine will be yellow, not orange. Sorry. The only orange fruit that I've worked with that actually makes orange wine is carambola.

The PH reading is 3.9

Click to expand...

Sadly still no flavor and almost tastes like water, insipid

Click to expand...

No surprise. Sounds like it is flabby and needs acid. Go by taste but expect to have to get pH down to 3.5 or lower. That is my experience anyway.

The wine is coming along nice and tastes like a white and is clearing up good. I have tried test batches with the citric acid. They taste good initially. But after a while dries up the mouth and irritates the tongue... . Feel this is the citric acid's effect. .. Will this change with aging?