Brown tinge in red blend kit

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Amandolin

Junior
Joined
Feb 28, 2019
Messages
20
Reaction score
2
I started a red wine blend from a kit a few months ago. I left it in the primary longer than was necessary but otherwise followed all the instructions. I’ve made at least 5 kit wines previously so while not an expert I feel like I avoided any rookie mistakes.
It’s been in the secondary carboy with airlock for about a month and as I’m racking it to a fresh carboy in preparation to bottle in a few weeks, it appears to have a brown tinge.
there is no reason for me to think it got exposed to air - the airlock and bung seemed fine and it’s been in a dark closet between 70 and 80*.
And it even still tastes like it has a bit of CO2 so if it was oxidized it should taste flat, right?
So should I be concerned about the brown color?
Should I just make up a homemade dark Cherry fpac to cover my sins just in case? 🤪
 

Attachments

  • 667D5268-0AE4-492A-9D6D-B970CA38E3DF.jpeg
    667D5268-0AE4-492A-9D6D-B970CA38E3DF.jpeg
    1.4 MB
What does the wine smell like? Your nose will tell you things long before the other senses will. Color is a great indicator, but trust your nose.

If you have oxidation, you can cover it with an F-pack, but your best bet is to use the wine up sooner than later.

If you've got excess CO2, try stirring to see what happens. If you have excess CO2 in the wine at bottling time, you will have 25+ of your very own volcanoes! [Having blown corks in the past, I recommend avoiding it!]

How long is too long in the primary? How much head space in the carboy? 5 or 6 gallon carboy? If you have oxidation, there's a cause -- it's just a question of what.
 
It smells ok and tastes ok, at least insomuch as new wine tastes …my husband was like “I dunno I think it’s ok”
It was in the primary for maybe 4 weeks instead of 2, but stayed well sealed and I don’t remember it being brown on the first transfer to secondary.
And only an inch (or less) of space in the 6-gallon carboy.
It’s so weird … I can’t point to anything wrong. And the fact that it doesn’t smell or taste oxidized really has me stumped.
Any advice on how long to wait after adding an fpac before bottling? I might try splitting it into 2 3-gal carboys and flavoring half of it.
 
I did a WE red blend kit a few months back and I've thought it had a hint of brown as well. Pictures are always so hard to on the www, but I consider mine to be perhaps a different tone of red. I can pour 3 different reds side by side and you can really tell that each has its own color even though they are all "red". I'm a rookie so I have nothing to offer other than to say the type of kit my red blend is and that I'd noticed somewhat of the same.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top