Watermelon wine ... I did it!

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Johntodd

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Oh yeah ... I'm melting gently into my chair.

I made watermelon wine this year. As a recap, my forte is country wine only made from leftover fruits from my farm here in TN. So each year's wine is different, seeing as we have different amounts of the various fruits left over each year.

This year we only had leftover watermelon. Lots of it. Gave it away, ate it, dehydrated it, and still had enough left to make wine.

Here's my log entries if anyone is interested. If not, skip to the next section:


Fri, 22 August 2014 Wine Started 1 scant gallon watermelon wine from leftovers unable to fit in dehydrator.

Tue, 26 August 2014 Wine Racked wine through strainer X2. Added sugar, xferred back to jug, topped up with reserve must.

Thu, 28 August 2014 Wine Wine bubbling nicely in secondary.

Wed, 3 September 2014 Wine Racked through strainer, discarded lees. Added small qty of dehydrated watermelon to secondary.

Sat, 20 September 2014 Wine Racked wine, removed watermelon, strained, and added a good portion of bentonite.

Sun, 21 September 2014 Wine Bentonite has worked it's way halfway down the jug. Some cloudiness remains above the line.

Fri, 26 September 2014 Wine Racked wine. Lost about 3 inches due to bentonite sediment. Tried to filter that through a washcloth, but it would not pass through.
Placed wine under airlock again to check for additional fermentation. Will bottle in about two weeks.

Sun, 28 September 2014 Wine Added 1/4cup sugar to try and restart fermentation.

Tue, 7 October 2014 Wine Moved wine to top of dehydrator, wrapped in towel and tied. Attempting a last minute heating to encourage fermentation before bottling. Don't want exploding bottles! Dehydrator running at 125F for tomatoes. Top is warm.

Fri, 10 October 2014 Wine Bottled wine. Had enough to fill 750ml bottle, and one Qt. Mason Jar. Taste test confirms deliciousness.

Sun, 12 October 2014 Wine Had a chilled glass of watermelon wine. Delicious and potent.


So, let this be an inspiration to any new winemaker. My totally ghetto technique has produced a lovely country wine in a short time. I bottled a 750ml bottle, and had a solid quart left over. That was put into a mason jar and chilled overnight. Had some with dinner tonight, and it was lovely!

What does it taste like? Well, I can tell it's immature, and it needs to age a while. But it is surprisingly good for a young country wine. I would have another glass if I could figure out which refrigerator is the real one! :D

It's like a medium-bodied white wine. A little heavy for a white, but still very good. Of course it isn't "white wine", it's watermelon wine. The addition of the dehydrated watermelon pieces gave it back some watermelon flavor. I nailed that one, it's just the right amount to say "watermelon" gently in your ear like a sweet whisper on the wind before a tornado hits your brain. The slight bitter aftertaste will mellow over time. I know from previous year's country wines.

So there you have it! If there are any questions, I'll answer them after I wake back up. If you'll excuse me, I have to go fall down now. :D

Thanks!
-Johntodd
 
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LOL! Good stuff, matey, good stuff.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Bxbu4IsvE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Bxbu4IsvE[/ame]
 
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