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Undrinkable flavour in wine
Hello Everyone,
I made 3 gallons of elderflower wine last summer ,when we sampled it last week, it had a promising initial taste, but there followed a disgusting "mousey" aftertaste which renders the whole lot undrinkable. I made sure that the necessary filtration was done when fermentation ceased. Only elderflower of the wines I make is affected in this way. Anyone else had and overcome this problem?
Hello darius,
I know that using too many elderflowers to the gallon will make it unpalatable to say the least. Another cause could be leaving it too long on the must; I rack mine after about 4 weeks or so, sometimes it takes several rackings.
What does rack mean to bottle? Does it have to be with a cork rather than a screw lid please?
I have elderflower wine sitting now for 3 months - would u say that’s too long then Luath?
Racking is when you siphon the wine into a fresh demijohn, making sure you don't sook up the dead yeast from the bottom.
The best book to get you started is C.J.J. Berry's "First Steps In Winemaking".
I think that's right with the bacteria causing mousey-ness - nuke everything with sulphite before starting your brew. The bucket, the stick you stir with, the demi, the airlock, the bung, the siphon tube - EVERYTHING!
But you do get a nasty off sort of flavour if you leave it too long on the lees (the dead yeast layer you get at the bottom). Don't be scared to do your first racking while fermentation is still well underway - mostly I do the first rack as soon as you get a really firm deposit at the bottom and the wine has just started getting a bit clearer - you'll still get fermentation aplenty after the first rack - albeit slower.
Also, a good yeast to use is SB23 Super Yeast - really easy to get started, copes with slightly lower temperatures, goes like a bomb and has a high alcohol tolerance - which means it carries on working up to a high ABV so you can get a stronger wine.
Just picked a load of elderflower - it's only just coming out up here!
Best wine last year - red clover with honeysuckle and rose petals. Yummy.
Recipe on request!
Good Luck darius!!!
Thanks for this very informative post, Pablo. I'm starting to remember everything that's involved. It was quite a few years ago that my ex and I made wine, and it was more his hobby, although I had plenty to do and we learned a lot together. However, when we split up, he took all the equipment and notes. So it's good to read posts like this to re-learn stuff.
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