Final Stage

[bladeofthemoon]

Hi all,
its been a while and i hope everyone's doing great. i wanted to know, its been about 10 days since i added gelatin and about 5 since i added the sulphites. however, the wine still tastes a bit sour. Its cleared up a lot but its not crystal clear and although ive racked twice, there is always some deposits at the base of the container. Ive just put it a 3rd time in hopes that there wont be now, but i had to add about 700 ml of cold water to top up. is that fine??
. so my other questions :

1. should i add some honey or sugar to make it a bit sweeter to counter the sourness?? ( Its a honey and apple wine and the SG which should have been about 7 g/ltr is about 9 g/ltr ) or should i just let it be.

2. how long should i wait to bottle it??

regards.

 

[Sacalait]

On both questions it's your call. I like mine a little dry (sour) but my wife likes it a little sweeter so she just adds a little artificial sweetener to her glass. IMO, the wine looses a bit of the sour taste over time.
Wine will age just as well in the carboy as it will in the bottle so it's it's your call as to when to bottle. I bottle when it has cleared if I have need for an empty carboy.

 

[Wade E]

I would not bottle it until it stops dropping sediment or that will be in the bottle. As far as sweetness goes that is a personal preference but to let you kow that the sourness will fade a little over time as the natural sweeteness eventually will come back through and will not be a sour, sweetening will mask some of that sourness also but thats up to you if you want it sweater. Meads really improve with lots of time.

 

[bladeofthemoon]

awesome... thanks

 

[smurfe]

Draw you out a sample and sweeten it a little bit at a time to see if it changes into anything you like. Go a little bit at a time. Use what ever you consider sweetening with to get your flavor profile. If you find you do like it sweetened a little, go slow sweetening the whole batch as well, it is really easy to over do it. Also remember that if you indeed do sweeten the wine you will need to stabilize it first with some Sorbate and sulfite's as if you don't it can referment as the new sugars are introduced.

 

[bladeofthemoon]

do i need to add more sulphites if i add some sugars now?? cause i did add some a few days ago to terminate any chances of reactions

 

[Wade E]

No more will be needed as long as you added the sufficient amount already. In another 3-4 months it will need more sulfite but a better way to determine this is by getting a S02 test kit.

 

[bladeofthemoon]

lol... thats the bane of all my problems... i dont get stuff here. still, i'll try and find out what can be substituted for an SO2 test kit. i'll ask my Lab incharge and see what he can recommend.

 

[Wade E]

Lots of people just do the every 3-4 month addition and that seems to work just fine during the beginning when still racking off sediment.

 

[arcticsid]

Blade, I don't want to get your hope up but I may have found you a supply house in Australia that will ship to you directly, that way you can order right off their website. Will let you know ASAP. Glad you are at this stage, we had all the faith in the world in you
Troy

 

[bladeofthemoon]

Lots of people just do the every 3-4 month addition and that seems to work just fine during the beginning when still racking off sediment.

hmmm. ok i'll add a few grains of sulphite after 3-4 months just to be on the safe side. infact, i wont even bottle it till then. just to be safe. hehe then i can be sure that my bottles wont have any sediment.

Blade, I don't want to get your hope up but I may have found you a supply house in Australia that will ship to you directly, that way you can order right off their website. Will let you know ASAP. Glad you are at this stage, we had all the faith in the world in you
Troy

hi troy, naah, i have learnt to keep my hopes down so that if something does fall through then i will have a huge pleasant surprise. but i really appreciate the forum helping me out so much. i know i ask too many questions, but i hope u guys will find it interesting and not irritating.

 

[arcticsid]

Got You Hooked Forever Now

As you know by now I was able to find you someone who will ship to you.
No more chemistry experiments for you and you will be able to get the equipment you need. Hope you get more going as soon as you can. Soon you will be the most popular guy in the town!
GoodLuck
Troy

 

[bladeofthemoon]

lol... and the thanks goes to you bro.