# Apple wine problems



## Juggernaut (Oct 27, 2011)

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and could use a bit of help. I'm making 5 gallons of apple wine and I've run into a couple problems. I've made two batches of sparkling apple wine that I was happy with, but I'm still pretty new to wine making.

My first problem is the taste is strong and not pleasant. Hard to describe the flavor, but a real strong alcohol smell and taste Its mellowed out some but I'm still a bit worried about its taste.

Second it's cloudy after three total months, racked once a month. I was planning of making a sparkling apple wine. I added a thing of apple juice concentrate for the priming sugar and started bottling. Unfortunately I didn't realize it was cloudy, because its hard to tell in the fermentation bucket I'm using. After filling one of the clear bottles I saw how cloudy the wine looked. I've now poured the bottles back in to the bucket and now I'm not sure what to do. Should I abandon the sparkling apple wine, back sweeten, add Camden tablets, potassium sorbate, some clarifying agent and hope the taste is improved?

On a side note. I just sanitized my bottles. Will I have to resanitize when I'm ready to bottle again?

The recipe I'm using is 5 gallons of apple juice, 5 pounds of granulated sugar, 2 containers of apple juice concentrate (one during fermentation and one for priming sugar), 5 tsp yeast nutrient, 2.5 tsp pectic enzyme, 1.25 tannin, 1 pkg of champagne yeast, and enough acid blend to get it to a ph of 3.5 or so. I didn't check the starting sg, but the sg is at .99 now.


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 27, 2011)

Did you degass the wine enough? Did you clear with any sparkolloid or other fining product.
Did you heat any of the apple juice? This can lead to a haze.

Yes you will need to sanitize the bottles again.


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## Juggernaut (Oct 27, 2011)

djrockinsteve said:


> Did you degass the wine enough? Did you clear with any sparkolloid or other fining product.
> Did you heat any of the apple juice? This can lead to a haze.
> 
> Yes you will need to sanitize the bottles again.



I have not degassed. I thought Its sat long enough and it's been racked enough times that I don't need to degass it?

I didn't clear with anything. The two I've made cleared on their own. 

I didn't heat any of the juice, but I do wonder if the juice concentrate I added clouded up the wine.


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## Minnesotamaker (Oct 28, 2011)

Apples are pretty high in pectin. It could be that there is still a pectin haze and needs another treatment. You can test for pectin haze using the method described on Jack Keller's website. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/problems.asp (about half way down the page). 

Late addition of juice could have added more pectin or fruit solids.

So you are aging this in a bucket? It really should be in a carboy under airlock to minimize oxygen exposure.


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## Juggernaut (Oct 28, 2011)

Minnesotamaker said:


> Apples are pretty high in pectin. It could be that there is still a pectin haze and needs another treatment. You can test for pectin haze using the method described on Jack Keller's website.
> 
> Late addition of juice could have added more pectin or fruit solids.
> 
> So you are aging this in a bucket? It really should be in a carboy under airlock to minimize oxygen exposure.



I'll have to buy a carboy for next time. What effect does aging in a bucket have on the wine?

I'll buy some rubbing alcohol tomorrow to check for pectin haze but I think I clouded it up with solids from the apple juice concentrate and stirring up the bottom of the bucket. Someone suggested I try priming with apple juice concentrate and that may have been a mistake.

I just crushed up 5 campden tablets and put those in along with 2.5 tsp of potassium sorbate so fermentation doesn't start back up from the addition of the apple juice concentrate.


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 28, 2011)

The addition of concentrate would have clouded it up for sure. In time that should clear.

Degassing would help and not necessary but would expedite the clearing would be to use sparkolloid or another fining agent. Is it in a warm area? Wine will clear faster warm as opposed to cool.

Absolutely should be in a carboy to avoid the oxygen contact.


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## Juggernaut (Oct 28, 2011)

It's siting at 68 degrees. I'm worried that I will just oxygenate the wine more if I try degassing it by stirring it. I tried spinning a paddle between my hands, no bubbles came up and it doesn't taste fizzy at all. Do you think it still needs to be degassed?


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## Juggernaut (Dec 29, 2011)

The wine did clear out on it's own. I racked the wine a month ago and I've drank a couple bottles now. I have not seen any gas at all, so it looks like I got away with not degassing. The Wine has smoothed out some but it still is not a very pleasant taste. Did aging it in the bucket oxygenate the apple wine? What does oxygenated wine taste like? Will it get better with age? Can someone please give me an estimate on the alcohol content of my wine?


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## PCharles (Dec 29, 2011)

Juggernaut said:


> The wine did clear out on it's own. I racked the wine a month ago and I've drank a couple bottles now. I have not seen any gas at all, so it looks like I got away with not degassing. The Wine has smoothed out some but it still is not a very pleasant taste. Did aging it in the bucket oxygenate the apple wine? What does oxygenated wine taste like? Will it get better with age? Can someone please give me an estimate on the alcohol content of my wine?



Juggernaut,

What was your initial specific gravity? Knowing that should give you some idea what your final alcohol % will be. In general, 45% of sugar is converted into CO2 with the remaining 55% being converted to alcohol.


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## Juggernaut (Dec 29, 2011)

PCharles said:


> Juggernaut,
> 
> What was your initial specific gravity? Knowing that should give you some idea what your final alcohol % will be. In general, 45% of sugar is converted into CO2 with the remaining 55% being converted to alcohol.



I didn't get a hydrometer till after I fermented the wine. I'm hoping someone can ballpark it.


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## PCharles (Dec 29, 2011)

It sounds like you had plenty of sugar. After you bottle it you can give it the *tipsy test*... chug a bottle and see what happens 

Sorry, I'm no help at all.


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## Arne (Dec 29, 2011)

I just started a batch of fresh apple juice. My juice was at 1.050 out of the bucket. I added 5 lb. sugar and that brought it up to 1.082. However all juices do not have the same amount of sugar so yours will probably have a different starting s.g. than mine. That is about as close as I can come to giving you a ballpark figure. Arne.


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## wood1954 (Feb 25, 2012)

*alcohol level*

my apple must started out at 1.050%, i added 4.75 lbs of sugar and 2 cans of old orchard concentrate and ended up at 1.090% so give or take a little, alcohol will be about 12-13%.


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## Juggernaut (Jun 10, 2012)

In case someone runs across this, I thought I would give an update. My wine tasted harsh for a long time put it mellowed with time and now it tastes great. I used a bucket as my secondary fermenter and the wine still tastes great. I never degassed the wine and I've never seen any gas come out of any of my bottles. I believe it is because the wine was raked four times over a period of four months.


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## Runningwolf (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the update, glad it worked out.


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## cpfan (Jun 10, 2012)

Juggernaut said:


> In case someone runs across this, I thought I would give an update. My wine tasted harsh for a long time put it mellowed with time and now it tastes great. *I used a bucket as my secondary fermenter* and the wine still tastes great. I never degassed the wine and I've never seen any gas come out of any of my bottles. I believe it is because the wine was raked four times over a period of four months.


I suspect that using a pail instead of a carboy for the entire fermentation would help the wine to degass on its own. The large surface area and open area would encourage the CO2 to come out of solution. Do you know the temperature of the wine during this time frame?

Steve


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## Juggernaut (Jun 10, 2012)

It was around 68 degrees. Maybe the bucket and this: http://www.winemakersdepot.com/Degassing-Wine-W87.aspx


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