Never work with fermentables when you are tired. This is what I learned today... (or re-learned, since this isn't the first stupid mistake I made when tired).
Today, I racked over and de-gassed five six-gallon batches of full juice fruit and grape wines and meads (that I also had to drag up from the basement into the upstairs kitchen to work with so I was pretty wiped out). The two batches I wanted to add oak to were the last two. Tired but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I boiled the oak chips for the Pinot Noir, poured them into the carboy, racked over... and then realized I hadn't drained the chips (I THOUGHT something looked strange about that 1/2 cup of brown liquid that went in with the chips). Oh no no no no... :-O
Has anyone else ever done this? Is there any reason to be optimistic about this working out all right in the end (don't lie to me, but if there is hope...)? I tasted it, and the poor delicate Pinot has been well bittered by the oak liquid. Argh. I keep seeing that character from, "Sideways," in my head talking about how careful you have to be with Pinot...
:-(
Today, I racked over and de-gassed five six-gallon batches of full juice fruit and grape wines and meads (that I also had to drag up from the basement into the upstairs kitchen to work with so I was pretty wiped out). The two batches I wanted to add oak to were the last two. Tired but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I boiled the oak chips for the Pinot Noir, poured them into the carboy, racked over... and then realized I hadn't drained the chips (I THOUGHT something looked strange about that 1/2 cup of brown liquid that went in with the chips). Oh no no no no... :-O
Has anyone else ever done this? Is there any reason to be optimistic about this working out all right in the end (don't lie to me, but if there is hope...)? I tasted it, and the poor delicate Pinot has been well bittered by the oak liquid. Argh. I keep seeing that character from, "Sideways," in my head talking about how careful you have to be with Pinot...
:-(