cherry wine lacking

[hounddawg]

ok, I had a can of harvest sour cherry and some sweet cherry from else where, tastes is a bit flat (covering myself,, lol ,,) with no finish, the lack of taste is bad enough but the ending is very disappointing, if I could at the very least figure out how to give the ending a bit of bite or zest, but flat with a watery ending is a bit to much for me, I used enough cherry types for 10 gallon but in a 6 gallon carboy, so cherry taste should flow through your mouth, but no such luck, it's been bulk aging close to 6 months now with no detectable change in flavor or should I say flavorless
any thoughts would be gratefully taken,
Dawg

 

[Masbustelo]

What is the pH? Do you have a pH meter in order to test for the titrateable acids? I just made some cherry mead and it finished the ferment at 4.30, so I know I have to add acid to it. The TA test will let me know how much.

 

[Arne]

If you don't have a test kit, draw a glass of the wine. Add just a tiny bit of acid blend. Stir it in, taste. Not enough, add a tiny bit more. Remember a little bit goes a long way. Arne.

 

[salcoco]

also try a bench trial with some sugar. sweetness will bring out flavor

 

[botigol]

I haven't tried this, but I recently read that almond makes cherry flavor stand out, so some almond extract or a shot of DiSaronno could help.

 

[hounddawg]

sorry been in the woods all day,
I have a meter, but cant find my buffer solution,
my cherry is fairly cool and I don't have a clue what 25-C is, I'll look it up on the net, and no distilled water but I have several sealed bottles of sterile water, the cherry under them conditions is 4.5
I've had this meter for awhile but this was it's first use, I'll have to get online for some buffer solution, what ph. am I shooting for, that reading is from some done sorbated and back sweetened, the way my back is thumping it'll be tomorrow before I will sterilize every thing including myself and draw some outta my carboy, it is not stabilized nor back sweetened yet.
I spent my day dragging brush and carrying rocks to gullies, have to hurry lol after all that last doc only gave me 1 an 1/2 years and that's getting close, lol ,, it's kinda funny, poor dumb doctors think they know my time and like I told them while laughing so hard I was crying, did my lord tell you my time because no offence but only he knows so till my lord thy god calls me, i'm buying long storage term corks and planning in 9 more years on sitting down and really, really slowly drinking me a glass of 10 year old elderberry, I've not had a glass of 10 year old elderberry since the last of the old timers passed, i'm sure looking forward to a cold glass of 10 year old semi-sweet elderberry
thanks one and all
Richard AKA Dawg
OH AN AGAIN what PH. am I shooting for and how do I get their,
I have acid blend triple and some grape tanning, what do I use and what reading am I to stop at,
THANKS

What is the pH? Do you have a pH meter in order to test for the titrateable acids? I just made some cherry mead and it finished the ferment at 4.30, so I know I have to add acid to it. The TA test will let me know how much.

 

[Julie]

I would do as others have said, take a glass and add a pinch of acid blend, is the sweetness to your liking? If not add some sugar and add a pinch of tannin

 

[hounddawg]

so acid blend and tanning will make my taste fuller and give me a better finish,
thank you ma'am I'll work on it come morning or in the wee hours if sleep don't come, I knew I was over doing it today, but pain proves you're still alive,,
thank you
Richard

I would do as others have said, take a glass and add a pinch of acid blend, is the sweetness to your liking? If not add some sugar and add a pinch of tannin

 

[Masbustelo]

What is the gravity of the wine, and will you change it ?

 

[hounddawg]

I have/had a 6 gallon carboy and 2,, 1 gallon jugs, on one of the jugs I brought the SQ up to 1020, I poured a glass full and put in the refrigerator for 24 hours open to the air, it tasted tonight a lot better, but still not right, like I said I tested it for PH. and it showed 4.5 , since i'm still up tonight will be a sleepless night, but it is another glorious night god has given me. I've noticed that my wines can take 24 hours of open oxygen an still taste good, but I do use EC1118 AND MAX OUT MY ALCOHOL the trick is learning to hide all alcohol taste,,, as long as it tastes good I can drink 1 glass and most nights sleep like a baby,, I know country wines are looked down on as not real wine but I am fine with that, but I've never been part of something that freely teaches others no matter what type wine they/I make, as I've said many times I am in dept to ya'll one and all, thank you every one of you, for teacheing me and putting up with my thick head,
Richard AKA RICHIE AKA DAWG
got the name dog because when I was young my friends and I rabbit hunted they used dogs I did not but 9 times outta ten I brought more rabbits home,,,,,, ygn

also try a bench trial with some sugar. sweetness will bring out flavor

 

[Johny99]

I spent my day dragging brush and carrying rocks to gullies, have to hurry lol
THANKS

That is why aged created teenagers with strong backs and weak minds.

As for pH, if you get your meter calibrated, I'd shoot for ~3.8, but let taste be your guide. Since taste is what you are after, Arne's method should be your guide and pH just information.

 

[hounddawg]

SINCE I've had a triple bypass, my back broke T-12, T-2 THRU T-7 bulging, the top of my backbone grinded down to mt spinal cord, my right leg amputated below the knee, almost 1/2 my left foot amutated and many more things, so brush dragging an rock carrying is how I keep my doctors from being right, 4 has said I would pass without of getting out of the hospital, another one gave me a year and 1/2 to live, yet as a testament to god almighty here I still is,,, as for Arne he is my life line when it comes to helping me with wine, the gallon jug is SQ of 1015 which is my taste range ,, 1010 to 1020,,, the carboy is still got a SQ of 990,,, you know when I get to thinking how cruel the world really is I come here and everyones kindness shows me there is still good in this world,,,
thank you for your advice, it is sound,
DAWG

That is why aged created teenagers with strong backs and weak minds.

As for pH, if you get your meter calibrated, I'd shoot for ~3.8, but let taste be your guide. Since taste is what you are after, Arne's method should be your guide and pH just information.

 

[Masbustelo]

If your at 1.020 I would add enough acid to bring it up to TA .8. This will balance out your sweetness, and let the pH become what it will. Try it with a gallon and I bet you'll be happy. Also you might want to experment with some tannin as well.

 

[hounddawg]

tannin's ,, miss Julie mentioned that as well, ok using the meter I can easily transfer that reading from a gallon to 6 gallon, sounds like a plan, I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.
thank you
Dawg

If your at 1.020 I would add enough acid to bring it up to .8. This will balance out your sweetness, and let the pH become what it will. Try it with a gallon and I bet you'll be happy. Also you might want to experment with some tannin as well.

 

[hounddawg]

ok my stabilized and back sweetened wine was at 4.5 PH. I drew a glass of it, and added some acid blend to the wine,, PH. went down to 3.3 is that the way it works do I keep adding till I get down to .8
guess i'll change my name to root beer I got such a thick head
Dawg

 

[Julie]

3.5 to 3.6 is good for PH, so I would let it sit at 3.3.

 

[hounddawg]

I'll leave this where it's at, Thank You,,,,
but does adding acid blend make the PH. go lower with the more you add to it, just wanting to know.
and I got some PH. 7 buffer coming
Richard

3.5 to 3.6 is good for PH, so I would let it sit at 3.3.

 

[Julie]

yes the more acid you add the lower the ph and the higher the acid. Also, something to think about is adding some tannins. Acid is going to give you that bite that goes well with a fruit wine and the tannins will give you a better mouth feel.

Acids give you the bite, tannins give you the pucker.

 

[hounddawg]

sorry I forgot to thank you last night, my back was killing me,
I very much appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me. this is my first go around with out using crab apples for my acid, cedar fungus,,
last night when I added acid blend and the meter went down I was lost,
but I really appreciate you and all the rest on here for the help,
Richard

yes the more acid you add the lower the ph and the higher the acid. Also, something to think about is adding some tannins. Acid is going to give you that bite that goes well with a fruit wine and the tannins will give you a better mouth feel.

Acids give you the bite, tannins give you the pucker.

 

[hounddawg]

son of a gun,
I can only hope an pray I can one day be as helpful to others as ya'll are to me, I played around with the tannin's after I (thanks to ya'll) got my PH. right.
of course it is green but I'll bet my bottom dollar that one year from now I will be blessed to sit down to a ice cold glass of cherry that I believe will be awesome,, to me anyway, dang if only I can relay the help that I have received to others, thank you one an all. I'll bottle this week then to my wine rack for a year. picked a couple clusters today of elderberry, I'll pick as each bunch comes off, dang birds have killed me in the past, so i'm on the ball this year...
Dawg