Watermelon Wine

[LAgreeneyes]

Anyone here have any success making watermelon wine? I don't think mine is doing too well.

 

[Loner]

Mine scared me too but it appears it will come out ok. It did discolor my fermentation bucket and a vacuum hose. It's clearing nicely now and tastes ok. It's still too early to call it a success. I started out with a melon zin kit and added watermelon juice to it.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

I'm still learning how to make wine and I didn't take notes, so I don't remember what the heck I did. LOL.

What recipe did you use? I moved mine from my bucket/hose setup to what you see in the pic. My excuse was because I really wanted to see what it was doing. Not sure about the smell. I have read that watermelon will spoil quickly but the smell was "ok". I'm thinking I need to add something, anything to it.

 

[cmason1957]

I haven't made watermelon wine, but I hear it is a tough one to do. There are some hints on what to do on Jack Kellers wineblog: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp
that you probably want to check out.

Also, and this is pertinent to all wines, not just watermelon. You really don't want that much air space when you have wine in a carboy. I try to keep mine to about two inches or so, which means keeping the wine level up to the neck of the carboy. Air isn't your friend, once you get to this stage.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

I haven't made watermelon wine, but I hear it is a tough one to do. There are some hints on what to do on Jack Kellers wineblog: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp
that you probably want to check out.

Also, and this is pertinent to all wines, not just watermelon. You really don't want that much air space when you have wine in a carboy. I try to keep mine to about two inches or so, which means keeping the wine level up to the neck of the carboy. Air isn't your friend, once you get to this stage.

I just logged on to that site to get some tips. I think I will have to add something to it and i hope I don't mess up the batch by adding at this point. I'm not sure how that taste will turn out.

 

[Loner]

The color looks right. If as you say there isn't a bad smell it looks like you are going in the right direction. What have you got in it in the way of water/juice/chemicals ? What was your SG and where is it now ?

 

[LAgreeneyes]

The color looks right. If as you say there isn't a bad smell it looks like you are going in the right direction. What have you got in it in the way of water/juice/chemicals ? What was your SG and where is it now ?

Well, the problem is that I didn't right anything down. I have 5 batches of wine going and I have no idea what I did. :'( I think I will have to start with another batch after this one if this does not turn out well. I tested the SG last night but I was so frustrated, I forgot the readings. I THINK I saw .90 SG? 12% alcohol? and a number that may have been 25?

 

[LAgreeneyes]

But even if the numbers are OK, what does that say about the taste? Could the taste be HORRIBLE and the readings be ok?

 

[Loner]

I'm afraid the taste will be bad until it ferments out and you add sorbate / sulphite and back sweeten it a bit. I did have a reply to my thread that said they did not back sweeten at all and theirs really came around and tasted good after one year in the bottle.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

I'm afraid the taste will be bad until it ferments out and you add sorbate / sulphite and back sweeten it a bit. I did have a reply to my thread that said they did not back sweeten at all and theirs really came around and tasted good after one year in the bottle.

Tasted good after one year????????? OH LORD!!!

Do I back sweeten now or do I wait?

 

[Loner]

That was my thought too. I back sweetened and plan to tweak it again this weekend to give it a little more kick. It will probably rack for the final time and then age for a few months before I bottle.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

That was my thought too. I back sweetened and plan to tweak it again this weekend to give it a little more kick. It will probably rack for the final time and then age for a few months before I bottle.

What did you use to back sweeten?

 

[Loner]

The kit I started with had a F pack (juice). I regret that I used the entire bag because IMHO it's too sweet. In your case I would siphon off two cups of wine and stir in a cup of sugar and pour it back in the Carboy. Stir well and give it a taste test. Repeat as needed until its where you like it. More fruit flavor will come forward over time so try not to over sweeten.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

The kit I started with had a F pack (juice). I regret that I used the entire bag because IMHO it's too sweet. In your case I would siphon off two cups of wine and stir in a cup of sugar and pour it back in the Carboy. Stir well and give it a taste test. Repeat as needed until its where you like it. More fruit flavor will come forward over time so try not to over sweeten.

I bought some wine conditioner at the wine supply store today. Can I use that? If so, how much?

 

[jamesngalveston]

lol. a whole year, 365 days, 52 weeks....roflmao...that will never happen.

 

[Loner]

I had to google it since I've never used it. Google says two to four ounces per gallon of wine to be sweetened. It also contains stabilizer.

 

[Rampage4all]

Yes after a year in bottle ours was great. it was the last bottle though out of 60. wish had kept them all that long was completely different wine after a year.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

lol. a whole year, 365 days, 52 weeks....roflmao...that will never happen.

Silly you.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

Yes after a year in bottle ours was great. it was the last bottle though out of 60. wish had kept them all that long was completely different wine after a year.

In order for me to allow a bottle of wine to set for 1 year, I would have to have a wine cellar to keep me occupied until that time.

 

[Rampage4all]

In order for me to allow a bottle of wine to set for 1 year, I would have to have a wine cellar to keep me occupied until that time.

That's why you make some 4 week wines to let your others to sit and make larger batches