Another newbie

[Darren]

I was looking at this site and decided I do need help or at least mentors. I am really green at this but hoping to improve. Of all my hobbies this is the most rewarding and cheapest so far. I have been in photography, gardening, trucks etc. I have made 4 kits without a problem (2 red 2 white all Cellar Craft) BUT last fall I wanted to do one from scratch. Since I have two crab apple trees out back that I have tried to kill for years (hate raking crab apples) I thought if they won't die I might as well use them.
I got a receipe from the wine store and gave it a shot. FAIL big time. Pretty sure I racked and bottled way too soon. This spring it had white powder lines in the bottle from top to bottom where they laid on there side all winter. Once opened they ALL were "bubbly" if that is at all accurate and tasted funky. (anyone wantta give me the proper terminolgy) Sad day when I dumped them all down the sink.
Anyway here I is.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Welcome.
I am fairly new myself but have found a wealth of information on this forum. From the great guys & gals that are always happy to help by sharing their knowledge to the search function that will lead you on a wonderful journey from post to post with the "Similar Threads" link, located at the bottom of most of the threads.

Make what you like.

Remember the 3 P's (Patience, Patience, Patience)

Sanitize Everything.

Ask before you do (Don't do something you are unsure of and then ask if it was ok to do it.)

Document Everything (How else will you recreate it if it's good or ask where you went wrong if it's not so good?)

Post your recipe when asking almost anything.

Again, welcome. You are in the right place.

 

[djrockinsteve]

UBG is right. You must be patient. Rushing the end product will result in lower quality. There are many folks on here with a wealth of knowledge and there are many resources for you to use at your leisure.

Welcome aboard and browse the forum for info, and ask what your not sure of. Please remember to include your recipe and or all the details so that we may help you the best we can.

 

[Julie]

Hi Darren,

Glad to see you here. Did you by chance write down your recipe and what you did? We would need to know this to know what you have done wrong. On a wild guess I would say that one of the things that you did wrong was not sulfite your wine. When your wine is done fermeting, and the best way to tell this is buy a hydrometer - reading should be below .990. Also, if you fermented and then added more sugar to sweeten it you would have needed to add sorbate before adding the sugar.

Anyway if you can post what you did, we would be able to tell you what happen.

Again, welcome

 

[koda_ky]

Welcome Aboard!! My crabapple done the same thing but after 6 months I was suprised now I am going for a year on the next bottle. bham and Steve are right patience patience patience.

 

[countrygirl]

welcome to the forum. i hope you find the same help i have found. it's a tremendous resource!

 

[xanxer82]

Welcome aboard. Just hang around here and we'll give you help with wines from scratch. It's a learning experience!

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Wade E]

Sounds like you had renewed fermentation in the bottles. There are a few things that could make this happen. 1 is did you use both sulfite and sorbate? Another is did you se a hydrometer to detrmine if the wine was actually stable and not still very slightly fermenting when and if you added these ingredients?

 

[Darren]

1 is did you use both sulfite and sorbate? yes to both

Another is did you se a hydrometer to detrmine if the wine was actually stable and not still very slightly fermenting when and if you added these ingredients?
Yes it was stable for several days

 

[arcticsid]

Howdy Darren. Welcome to our corner of the cyber world.

Just to warn you, we have a member in here named Darren, so if you guys get each other in trouble, dont look for any help in sorting it out!!! LOL!

The first Darren has been here a while so he has grandfather rights.

We have like 50 Steves in here, so don't feel put out and confused, just saying! LMAO!

Nice to have you on board , ask away.

 

[Redtrk]

Welcome to the forum.