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I have noticed a similar thing with my homemade wines - they don't taste strong (most are ending up around 12%), but my family / friends and myself get toasted much faster on them as compared to commercial wines (and trust me, I have had a LOT of experience with this!).

Reading this post reminds me of my first batch of rice wine - it smelled sooo rank and tasted even worse. I bottled it anyway (it was a small test batch) when it cleared and opened one 6-8 months later and it is divine. I have also had fruit wine that tasted and smelled great in the carboy...

I have a bottle of K-meta solution that I used to rinse everything and if I shake it up, it foams the same way. When bottling, if I let the bottle set for a few seconds, the foam dissapates (?SP). The water I am using is filtered rain water.

It is handy to have 2 batches going at the same time (not sure I would mix Red with White). When my rice wine wasn't taking off a few days ago, I "borrowed" a little liquid from my mango blend and it worked beautifully. The yeast was similar Levin 1116 and 1118 (or maybe I just think they...

Peach wine sounds delish! I use a lot of mango (which reminds me of peaches and I am a Georgia girl) in my wines and usually blend it with other fruits, but if it is heavy on mango ratio, I follow the peach recipes as a guide. I live in Belize now, so peaches are out for me :) I didn't...

I have been making fruit wines for > 2 years now and have had mixed results with the bouquet. The natal plum wine bouquet is not that good (sort of flat), but the taste is really nice. My tropical fruit wines are coming out with nice fruit smells - pineapple seems to dominate if it is present...

Mixing Would you guys consider this "mixology" then? I was working on being a vintner when I grow up, but may have to throw in mixology as well.. LOL

Welcome to the forum! I wasn't so good in the beginning about taking notes, but have learned my lesson and document everything in my "notebook". To help me keep up with the wines I started numbering them and cross referencing them to my notes (A,B,C.... A2,B2,C2) I am up to "K" now. This way...

I boil m water in a small coffee cup (filled halfway) then you can just dunk the bottle top all the way to the bottom for a few seconds. It's amazing how fast they shrink. Oh, and the water needs to be very hot or it get a little lopsided.

Oh, and I only have access to white rum 80 proof (live in the caribbean), and truly cannot tell that it is rum (have done blind tastings with local bars). Who knew? This may not be up to par for you, just thought I would share my mixology tricks :)

I started out making mango and plum infused liquor, but they have proven very difficult to clear/ filter. I later tried some flavored extracts (real, not artificial) and am pleased with the lemon and use glycerin to thicken. Others impart a cloudiness (the orange and anise), but still taste...

I agree that you should remove the fruit pieces. In the past I have used a strainer on top of a large funnel to filter into the carboy, which works great (you have to be pretty coordinated unless you have a helper). Now I use the big painter bags to keep the pulp separate in the primary....

Hey Allie I think I told you I had made a test batch of rice wine about 8 or so months ago and it was sooo nasty looking, smell and taste (it did clear nicely). Well, I just bottled it anyway. I got myself some amylase enzyme (this helps convert the starch to alcohol) to use the next time as...

Then I don't feel so bad :)

Thanks guys - I have some sorbate on order, so should be fine (just curious). Wow! Wonder how filtering substitutes for sorbate? Guess I need to do more research on this. I do have a little filter manual system (it's a little hand pump with different size filters). While I have used it...

Wow - I had no idea that bananas help with clearing! In looking back to my "high banana content" wines and it does seem that they clear faster than others. Who new? I have a lime wine going > 4 months now that is still pretty cloudy, so I might end up trying that. I have used the cold...

Yes - I have also had my simple syrup "without sulfites" go bad with the black flecks (but it was there for months). Another question: I am running low on sorbate. Is there anything I can substitute for it? Citric acid?

Welcome! I have found this forum to be a great resource in my wine making - they have seen me through my "panic times" when I thought I did something wrong or helped me when I ran out of certain ingredients. I don't think you will find this level of expertise anywhere else :)

I am curious as to the concentration of the wine - were you supposed to add additional water? If you used peaches along with the grape concentrate, it may be > 1 gallon, based upon the # of lbs of fruit. Just a thought :)

Do the skins on plums have tannin? What about banana peels? I am never sure if I need to adjust the tannin I add according to what fruit I am using.... Also, will raisons also add tannin? I am full of tannin questions today :)