# HELP! Apple Wine Tastes Sour! What Did I Mess Up?



## jcook5003 (Feb 24, 2011)

So I started my apple wine based on a recipe at EC Krauss....

I used organic all natural no preservative apple juice from the whole foods store.

I started it three weeks ago, I racked it into the secondary two weeks ago. I just racked it off again to another carboy. I just checked the specific gravity and it read 1.000 on my hydrometer.

I decided to taste it, and although it doesnt have an off smell it was sour and dry? Is this normal or is it spoiled?

HELP!

Josh


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## Julie (Feb 24, 2011)

Yes that is normal. Remember your yeast is converting sugar to alcohol. Since this is happening your wine will taste dry and sour. Once it is down below 1.000 take a reading for the next couple of weeks if the sg stays the same then fermentation is complete at this point you can sulfite, sorbate and backsweeten.


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## ffemt128 (Feb 24, 2011)

Julie said:


> Yes that is normal. Remember your yeast is converting sugar to alcohol. Since this is happening your wine will taste dry and sour. Once it is down below 1.000 take a reading for the next couple of weeks if the sg stays the same then fermentation is complete at this point you can sulfite, sorbate and backsweeten.



Everything Julie said. Let is sit for a couple weeks. Check SG 3 different times (consecutive days, every other day) and if it remains constant you should be done fermenting. At this point as Julie said, add sorbate and k-meta to stabilize. Wait about a week or so and you should be safe to backsweeten to your taste.

I prefer to sweeten my apple with an f-pac which brings back alot of apple flavor. This is not necessary, but to make an f-pac, I take apple juice and simmer down to 1/2 volume then add to stabilized wine to taste.


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## djrockinsteve (Feb 24, 2011)

It will be good after it has cleared aged and sweetened. All wines need IMO at least a tiny bit of sugar to bring back the fruit flavor.


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## Duster (Feb 24, 2011)

ditto, I dumped a full batch of pumpkin wine based on my first taste, about 45 days after starting, I wish now I would not have done that, my second batch turned out ok not great but ok and I am letting it set for a couple of years before jumping to conclusions again.


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## captainl (Feb 24, 2011)

I just tasted some of my apfelwein that is 6 months old. We originally drank all of it except one bottle by 2 months old. It was noticably better at 6 months. Less of a sour yeast flavor and more of an apple flavor. And I hear it is even better at 1 year. My recipe was just apple juice, corn sugar and yeast. I now have 5 gallons bulk aging which is about 4 months old. I plan on bottling soon. Good luck. And don't dump it.


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## sjo (Feb 24, 2011)

jcook5003 said:


> So I started my apple wine based on a recipe at EC Krauss....
> 
> I used organic all natural no preservative apple juice from the whole foods store.
> 
> ...


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## Luc (Feb 25, 2011)

jcook5003 said:


> I decided to taste it, and although it doesnt have an off smell it was sour and dry? Is this normal or is it spoiled?
> 
> HELP!
> 
> Josh




You are experiencing the flavor of a young wine.

Applewine has to age for a year before it is any good.

Luc


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## jcook5003 (Feb 25, 2011)

Whew! Thanks for the advice guys, I'm glad it's just the phase its in.

So for my next batch I'd like to make something that wont need to age so long before we can drink it. 

Something that I could drink immediately after bottling. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Josh


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## winemaker_3352 (Feb 25, 2011)

Welcome aboard!!

I think the folks in the above posts already got you covered..


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