Probably the most vague description given but last September-October I made some mustang wine 3 different batches and two different 5 gallon batches of mead. I recently bottled it and I tried each when I was bottling. They all had this kind of strong "off" taste to them. A few days after bottling I drank a half bottle or so of the mead I did not get sick but it just had that taste to it. Could it be the campden tablets and I need to let it age out? Since its bottled will it always taste like that? Is it most likely malolactic bacteria fermentation that caused it is there any hope or will it always just taste bad. Maybe oxidation? The liquid is clear no haze or sediment.
similar off taste in all batches?
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If you’ve sulfited properly, it’s doubtful that MLF is the culprit, nor should it cause “off” tastes unless your wine has potassium sorbate added to it, and that would cause a taste like geraniums and you probably would have pitched it.
If the taste is common to all wines, both grapes and meads, then it’s possibly a common ingredient, process, or error. Sulfite was your first thought, how much sulfite have you been adding to these wines? Did you use the same yeast in them? What sort of nutrient protocol did you use during fermentation? Did they all ferment dry, or were there stuck fermentations? What is the storage environment like?
Sorry for all the questions, but maybe it’ll help narrow down possibilities. Lastly, don’t rule out that it might just be young wines, in need of time in the bottle, it’s only 9-10 months old, and wines do evolve in the bottle.
If the taste is common to all wines, both grapes and meads, then it’s possibly a common ingredient, process, or error. Sulfite was your first thought, how much sulfite have you been adding to these wines? Did you use the same yeast in them? What sort of nutrient protocol did you use during fermentation? Did they all ferment dry, or were there stuck fermentations? What is the storage environment like?
Sorry for all the questions, but maybe it’ll help narrow down possibilities. Lastly, don’t rule out that it might just be young wines, in need of time in the bottle, it’s only 9-10 months old, and wines do evolve in the bottle.
No I absolutely appreciate the questions and the attempt to help. I do have potassium sorbate but I don’t think I used it. They all fermented to less than 1 sg or about that. The geraniums thing has me worried but I have no idea what geraniums smell like. I used llavin 77b on all batches I put 5 camden tablets in each carboy after about three months post fermentation and then right when I bottled it.
Your sufiting regimes should have prevented any MLF, plus you used 71B (I’m assuming you meant 71B), which gobbles up some of the malice during AF, and if you didn’t use sorbate, the geranium thing should be off of the table.
How about the nutrients and storage conditions during bulk aging and bottle storage?
How about the nutrients and storage conditions during bulk aging and bottle storage?
Storage was glass carboys in a closet in my house 70-75 degrees. It’s been so long and I do not remember exact nutrient regime but I followed some mead recipes I added the nutrients. The carboys I mostly used in the airlocks bisulfite water but sometimes topped off with regular water. I used well water can it impart a taste like it does to beer?
So...no notes to fall back on? Did the grapes get the same nutrient regimen as the mead?
Don’t know the impact of well water on taste, could be the culprit, I can’t say.
meadmaker1
Member
I too, on some early batches have experienced an off taste, i can smell it as well, oxidation was my first thought but it happened in young wine that was treated with Camden tablets.
Ive since switched to straight K meta.
I believe i over treated, and the taste is fading in what ive bottled.
I have backed off of the k meta as ive learned its purpose, and believe that i am sensitive to it as an allergen,( asthma flairs ups) .
I am the only one that tastes it so far, friends and family have commented that my wine lacks the home made taste they've come to expect from wine makers that arent info junkies like me, and serve wine that is cloudy and unaged .
Ive since switched to straight K meta.
I believe i over treated, and the taste is fading in what ive bottled.
I have backed off of the k meta as ive learned its purpose, and believe that i am sensitive to it as an allergen,( asthma flairs ups) .
I am the only one that tastes it so far, friends and family have commented that my wine lacks the home made taste they've come to expect from wine makers that arent info junkies like me, and serve wine that is cloudy and unaged .
I had a similar problem and I felt that it was due to a crock that I was using for the primary. I could tell that it was absorbing some wine because the outside of the crock was weeping a small amount of a dark sticky liquid after a week of primary fermentation.
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