Wine with a bite?

[koolaide187]

So before adding my sorbate, sulfite, clearing agent, and degassing. I tasted a sip of the wine I am making which is done. It finished at 1.010 unfortunately. I wanted to have a nice dry wine but I wanted to taste it before calling it done. It tastes fine... but it has a little bit of a bite to it like a soda does. I had a buddy who gave me his recipe he goes by which he adds 6 cans of concord grape concentrate and 8 cans of white grape concentrate. His wine tasted really good so I did the same thing and mine has a bit of a soda taste to it. It tastes like wine with a bite. Is there a way to get rid of that or should that go away with the degassing/clearing/aging? If there is anything I need to do before doing those last few things to get rid of that bite I would appreciate any help with that. Thanks.

 

[Julie]

can you post your whole recipe with hydrometer readings? It is difficult to figure out what is wrong if we don't know what you have done. At 1.010 I would think the wine was not done fermenting but I don't know what your sg was. Another reason for the bite could possibly degassing but again, don't know what you have done. And dates, if would be nice to know how long ago you started this

 

[koolaide187]

Yea I wanted 12% alcohol so I added enough cane sugar to equal 1.095SG before adding yeast. I started it about a month and a half ago to the date. But at a month I measured the SG which was 1.010 and 2 weeks later I measured again last night which had not changed any. I have asked about it being stuck at 1.010 and everybody on here said give it a while and if it hasn't moved then call it done because you can ruin a wine if you try to push it past 1.000 if it's stuck at 1.010.

 

[jswordy]

The bite is residual CO2, I think. You don't have it degassed, or not all the way.

I have made quite a bit of that kind of wine and it generally starts high, so 1.095 is no surprise. Mine is 1.100 all the time. Finishes at 14-15% abv.

Anyway, I think you'll be fine where you are. I would try degassing, again if you have already done it. If you are doing it by hand with a spoon handle or dowel, it takes a looooong time of swishing around before all the gas is out. I do mine by hand, so I know you need to do 20 minutes minimum of vigorous back and forth swishing. Don't stir, that is much less effective.

Be sure to rack to a clean carboy before you start swishing it around!

This wine also has a sort-of bite to it young that it will lose in as little as 3 months aging. But I think yours is CO2. Right on the tip of the tongue, sort of, not an acid taste but definitely like a soda pop. Stronger on sipping and goes away once the wine is swallowed? That'd be it.

BTW, the wine does benefit from adding concentrate and some sugar to it after stabilizing, IMO. Say to around 1.015-1.020. Let us know what happens!

 

[koolaide187]

thanks jswordy. You're always so helpful on this stuff. I haven't degassed it at all. I am almost certain that is what is doing it. So after I stabilize it... i'll rack it into clean carboy and swish away. Thanks a lot!