Urgent: how do I save/finish my wine ?

[MrFruitwines]

OK, long story short... 5 years ago I fermented a mango wine in a plastic pail fermentor. I racked it off into a cornelius (sp?) keg and didn't look at it until today.

Today I racked the contents of the keg (19L) into a 6 gallon Better Bottle carboy and put it under an airlock.

Observations

- the wine has no smell, other than that of faint mangos.
- the SG is 0.990
- its a bit cloudy
- there was some brown deposit in the bottom of the keg, maybe 1/4" or so.
- a glass of the wine has the same color as a thin applejuice
- the carboy full of wine has the an oak color. I might have gotten some of the deposit in the carboy. I didn't make much of an attempt to rack off the deposit as much as just get the wine into a clear carboy to see what I had
- it has no harsh tastes. It tastes a bit bland and a bit like mango. I don't know what else to say about the taste.
- I think its a bit hazy.

I'll post some pictures and more information shortly.

So... how do I save/finish this wine ?

I am worried about all the air in the headspace. 3L+. I have a CO2 tank, so I could purge it. I don't want to top up that much volume with water. What should I do about the headspace ?

The wine is a tad cloudy. Should I do something to clear it ? I have a filter system that uses a home water filter.

Should I sweeten it ?

Some wine kits call for sulphiting the wine by adding potassium metabisulfite. Should I do that ?

 

[MrFruitwines]

The recipe used 10 pounds of peeled and chopped mangos, 9 pounds of sugar and 1 quart of white grape concentrate.

Its from Anderson, on page 110.

The recommended finishing was to top up to 23L. Mine only got topped up to 19L because it went into the keg instead of a carboy for secondary fermentation.

Then it was supposed to be finned, add 1/4 teaspoon of sulphite and 1 teaspoon of abscorbic acid crystals. Bulk age 1 month and then add 300 ml of wine conditioner. Then bottle age 5 months.

What should I do ?


OG was supposed to be 1.095.SG right now is 0.990.

 

[MrFruitwines]

I'm sitting here drinking it as it came from the keg and it isn't bad. It isn't really good, its a little bland. But its not bad. I'm afraid it will be darn thin if I dilute it to 22 litres.

I've got some apple juice and some raisins and some grape concentrate on hand... would there be any sense in starting it fermenting again ? Just thinking out loud. Edited by: MrFruitwines

 

[Wade E]

I would get a tester to check the sulfite level of the wine but it more
than likely needs to be sulfited after 5 years. As far as head space
you can put sanitized marbles in there to make up the difference. I
dont know much about CO2 but that sounds like a good idea if you could
lock it in. I would definetely use a clarifier on it such as KC
SuoerKleer. Wait and see what someone else says about the filter you
have as I know nothing about what this could do. Have you ever used
this fitration system for wine?

 

[MrFruitwines]

How long do I have until the wine will oxidize from that headspace ? Where does one find 3 litres of marbles ? Great idea, btw. I never would have thought of that. And thanks for replying so quickly.

And yes, I've filtered wine with the filter before. Peach and apricot and it came out sparkling. Edited by: MrFruitwines

 

[MrFruitwines]

Pictures:

<a href="http://www.pbase.com/me2001/image/71305724" target="_blank">carboy pic

</a>glass picEdited by: MrFruitwines

 

[MedPretzel]

Well, rack it is something I would say to do right off the bat.


I would hope after 5 years it had fermented to dryness.


Cloudy could be results of a pectin hase.


The deposit is just sediment. It might have rotted and ruined your wine. But we don't know how often you had racked beforehand.


Color sounds okay for mango.


Ditto for the carboy color.


Sounds like a good wine.


Probably a pectin haze.


All in all.... Enjoy your wine, albeit a bit hazy. So many years after fermentation, the pectin haze is here to stay. Most likely.


SHould you sweeten it? Well, you said it was a bit bland. A pinch of sugar in a glass could give you more insight. Before you add sugar to the whole carboy, though, add sorbate and let it sit a week. Then add the sugar.


Since your wine made it through 5 years of doing nothing, don't worry about sulfiting it. You must have done right by the wine if it lasted that long without any intervention. When you rack, you might want to add some (according to the instructions on the bottle) just in case.


Mango wine is bland to begin with. Don't be discouraged. Add a bit of sugar to one glass and see what it tastes like.


Hope this helps,


M.

 

[MrFruitwines]

I would get a tester to check the sulfite level of the wine but it more than likely needs to be sulfited after 5 years.

Could you tell me more about this ? Why does one sulfite a wine ? Where does one get a sulphite tester ?

I dont know much about CO2 but that sounds like a good idea if you could lock it in.

Yes, I can lock it in.

When I sulphite it and stir it, it will release a bunch of CO2, right ? What if I did that and kept it under airlock for a day and then sealed it off ? I'll fine it and the rest in a few days ?

Thanks. Edited by: MrFruitwines

 

[MrFruitwines]

Well, rack it is something I would say to do right off the bat.

I just did rack it. It is now in the carboy.

Cloudy could be results of a pectin hase.

Add some pectic enzyme ?

The deposit is just sediment.  It might have rotted and ruined your wine.  But we don't know how often you had racked beforehand.

There is no sulfur smell to it. No bad smells at all. No bad tastes. Its just a bit bland.

It got racked ONCE in 5 years. From the primary to the keg. I just racked it the second time, into the carboy.

Color sounds okay for mango.Ditto for the carboy color.

See the pictures.

Sounds like a good wine.

It seems a bit bland. The alcohol is there, but not a lot.

Probably a pectin haze. All in all....  Enjoy your wine, albeit a bit hazy.  So many years after fermentation, the pectin haze is here to stay.  Most likely.

Even if I added pectin enzyme and then finned it and chilled it and filtered it ? Does pectin haze affect flavor or is it just cosmetic ?

SHould you sweeten it?  Well, you said it was a bit bland.  A pinch of sugar in a glass could give you more insight.

I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm still mostly worried about the headspace.  

Since your wine made it through 5 years of doing nothing, don't worry about sulfiting it.  You must have done right by the wine if it lasted that long without any intervention.  When you rack, you might want to add some (according to the instructions on the bottle) just in case.

I guess cleanliness pays off ! Those corny kegs are perfectly air tight too. They will hold 100 PSI.

Mango wine is bland to begin with.  Don't be discouraged.  Add a bit of sugar to one glass and see what it tastes like.

I'll try the sugar. Thanks.

 

[Wade E]

George sells them. #5412 under testing and it costs $18.99. Theres
enough to do 10 tests before you have to replenish supplies. I would
try to filter since your filter works and see what that does. Like
medpretzel said, try to add a little sugar to a sample and see if that
brings back some flavor. As far as the headspace, either CO2 it like
you said, get a smaller carboy, get a lot of marbles from Walmart or a
craft store, or bottle it quick. As to how long you have, that I'm not
sure on but someone should jump in soon hopefully with the answer to
that one.

 

[MrFruitwines]

OK, I sweetened it up and somehow it made it too sharp. It wasn't a nice taste.

Then I added some water and it mellowed out.

I think I should give it a shot of sulfite and and top the carboy up with water. Does anyone see why I shouldn't do this ?

The original recipe called for a 6 gallon carboy. I racked it into a 19L carboy. Topping it up now should just bring it where it was supposed to be all along, right ?

How much metabisulfite should I use for the 22 litre carboy with 19L of wine in it ?

Should I add the water before or after ?

Should I add the finnings now or later ?Edited by: MrFruitwines

 

[Wade E]

If it is already bland I dont know if I would water it down, you might
lose taste alltogether. I would probably agg 6 campdens. I always save
fining for last just to make sure I have the clearest product I can get.

 

[MrFruitwines]

We did some taste testing and decided that it tasted best sweetened and watered down. So to prevent oxidation, I topped up the carboy with 5l of water and put it under an airlock.

I've got Potassium Metabisufate in powder form. How much of that is 6 campden tablets ?

 

[smurfe]

We did some taste testing and decided that it tasted best sweetened and watered down. So to prevent oxidation, I topped up the carboy with 5l of water and put it under an airlock.

I've got Potassium Metabisufate in powder form. How much of that is 6 campden tablets ?

Dissolve 5 teaspoons in one cup of water. Each teaspoon of the solution equals one campden tablet. Got that off of the label of the can of fruit base I just started.


Smurfe

 

[Wade E]

Check out the recent K-meta vs campden posts about two days ago
mrfruitwines and smurf.Thats what I said the other day to smurf .

 

[smurfe]

Check out the recent K-meta vs campden posts about two days ago mrfruitwines and smurf.Thats what I said the other day to smurf .

I guess I missed that post. I don't remember asking about it though.

Smurfe

 

[kutya]

http://www.finevinewines.com/sulfites1.htm




Check this out...

 

[masta]

We did some taste testing and decided that it tasted best sweetened and watered down. So to prevent oxidation, I topped up the carboy with 5l of water and put it under an airlock.

I've got Potassium Metabisufate in powder form. How much of that is 6 campden tablets ?

1/4 tsp/1.5 grams of K-meta in 6 gallons = ~40 ppm free SO2

 

[MrFruitwines]

That is a great link, thanks.

How many ppm should I be shooting for ?

 

[masta]

40 ppm is sufficient as long as the pH of the wine is in range ( &lt;3.6)