Same initial Beet Wine must, yet COMPLETELY different tastes

[GiantSquid]

ok, my roommate wanted to make some beet wine with me cause she wanted to learn brewing. so we started and we made 2 gallons worth of beet must, but then separated them into 1 gallon carboys (one for me, one for her). the recipe i used was heavily based off a jack keller recipe, however i did f up and add WAY too much tannin (it was the first time i used it). so it fermented, we racked, and started aging in the carboy. during the aging we tasted it a time or two and of course it was quite harsh on the tongue. i began to not care about the wine and needed the airlock for another wine, so i took it off and was going to bottle it but forgot to and left it for a month with just a plastic bag layered about four times rubber banded on it (very stupid to do, i know). BUT i got back from a month long trip, and tried it (so 8 months aging, one month with just plastic bag) and it tastes WONDERFUL. im like WTF??? we try hers and its still super harsh, and the color looks way clearer. i am sort of at a loss here. how did this happen. did the oxidization that happened with mine help take away the tannic harshness? if i was to do the same to hers now would it help hers? i've never heard of oxidization helping a wine in any way, its suppose to be a bad thing right? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[seth8530]

Oxidation can mellow certain flavours, however it can be pretty difficult to control. How would you compare the flavor profile of yours and your girlfriends wine?

 

[GiantSquid]

im still relatively new to wine making and so i have a hard time describing flavor. but the best way i could describe it is that the plastic bag one is a lot more mellow on the harshness, there seems to be quite a bit of flavor with some sweetness, a pretty strong beet aroma, and has a very murky cloud color. the airlock one is kind of hard to taste any flavor, not even a slight sweetness, just because of the harshness, i cant even really get the same aroma of beet as i did with the other, the color however is great and clear which seems to be the only plus. would you say it was just a toss up whether or not doing the same to her wine would help? thank you much!

 

[seth8530]

Could you post a picture of the wine? Is the murkey one brown in colour? Does it have a nutty taste? Oily?

 

[GiantSquid]

the oxygenated beet wine is quite brown in color compared to the airlock version. i did bottle it yesterday, and it doesn't seem as murky as it did in the carboy. i wouldn't say it has a nutty taste however, and i noticed no oiliness with it. thanks again.

 

[Deezil]

Looks like oxidation to me, but i'm no expert on it..

Anything about it remind you of vinegar or raisins?

 

[GiantSquid]

yea, it definitely seems like oxidation. im just surprised that it came out better with the oxidation. i dont notice any vinegary taste, and when i tasted it i wouldnt really think raisins, it had a characteristic beetiness to it. do you think doing this same plastic bag procedure to the other batch would yield similar results? i would be fine with the ugly color cause it just tastes so much better to me.

 

[Deezil]

Actually i'd probably let it age as it is and see how it turns out..

Theres a good chance that the gallon thats oxidized wont last very long before it really turns south on ya.. So if you like it now, i'd really suggest drinking it and leaving the other to compare to so the next time you venture into this you'll have a better idea of what kind of wine you wish to make.

If you wanna oxidize a further batch later on down the road, a little bit of research into how they make sherry or madeira-style wines - granted, they're usually fortified, but they're intentionally oxidized, in a somewhat controlled / overseen manner - would give you some more insight into a better procedure if you end up liking that oxidized batch you have now over the one i suggested to age.

 

[GiantSquid]

awesome! thank you much for the info.

 

[seth8530]

Yep, pretty much what they said.

 

[seth8530]

The top one has a lovely colour btw
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[GiantSquid]

Thank you! now to just get the flavor down...