Vinegar?

[elswitzer]

Hi all,
New here and new to wine making. I'm trying to make a gallon ofcherry wine and today noticed it has a very strong smell of vinegar;so strong I thought it was fumes from the alcohol or something until my fiance said it smelled like vinegar. Am I screwed?


*If you already know the answer you can skip to the last few sentences*


Ingredients:
1/5th(19.2 ounces)canned Vintner Harvest Cherry Fruit Wine Base
approx. 2/3rds gallon of water(brought it up to one gallon)
5.6 cups sugar
1 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp Nutrient
1 crushed campden
1 pkg ec-1118 wine yeast


Method:
-sanitized everything with the sanitizing stuff from the kit
-added everything except yeast, let sit for 24 hours
-stirred mixture(must?)
sg: 1.130
-added yeast
-let sit 24 hours/stirred twice/squeezed pulp
sg: 1.135
acid: .80%
-let sit 24 hours/stirred twice/squeezed pulp
sg:1.150
vinegar smell


Thanks for your help in advance, and whether or not this batch is dead, if you could point me in the right direction of a good(easy) recipe I would greatly appreciate it. The recipe I used was a combination of the recipe off the can that was for a 5 gallon batch, and a 1 gallon recipe that used fresh cherries. kinda confusing.

 

[Tom]

I will tell you that this will be a SUPER HIGH alcohol wine. I bet what you are smelling is pure alcohol.

Fruit wines should be in the 1.085 range what you have 1.130 is almost 18%. You will have no flavor all alcohol.

I would toss it and rack it up to experience.

 

[elswitzer]

So did I add too much sugar?

 

[Goodfella]

Yes... to much sugar.


As Tepe said... 1.085 is target

 

[vcasey]

Any one of these recipes are pretty simple and easy to followhttp://www.finevinewines.com/wine-recipes.html The only change I would make is to use about 5 lbs of fruit per gallon. Make sure you use a hydrometer to get the correct starting SG. And don't worry about losing a batch or 2, I have tossed a couple and I am pretty sure others have as well.
VC

 

[Tom]

One thing to remember is NEVER just add sugar because a recipe calls for it. You need to make sure the sugar is dissolved and use a hydrometer to check the gravity.

Alot of old recipes are low in fruit and high in sugar. This gives a high octane wine with little flavor. This is what you have.

 

[elswitzer]

How soon after adding sugar/fruit can I get an accurate sg reading from a hydrometer? Should I just dissolve the sugar in some water before adding or make a simple syrup?
Thanks again everyone for the help.

 

[Wade E]

Definitely dissolve the sugar before adding it and you will get a accurate reading after stirring very well.

 

[paubin]

Also remember that you have to adjust your sg due to the temp of your must. Hydrometers are set for 60 degrees. If your must is 70 it'll give and inacurrate reading. As far as the vinegar smell, you very well could have made vinegar. One lil fruit fly is all it takes. As far as yur recipe goes, try one that gives amounts by weight....not volume. Hope this helps you out.


Pete

 

[elswitzer]

Well after consulting with my local homebrew store I am going to just see what happens instead of dumping it. I'm still not sure if it is a vinegar smell or just a whole lot of alcohol, but I did taste the must last night and other than being really sweet it tasted fine to me. The sg has since dropped to 1.100, I guess I will leave it in the primary till 1.040 or lower. Either way I broke down and bought another primary and secondary and started a strawberry/blueberry wine and did things the right way, with a starting sg of 1.085. Smells great already! Thanks for all the feedback everybody.

 

[smokegrub]

I wouldn't dump it. I would proceed as normal, taste it when it is finished. Dump it if it is vinegar and bottle it, if not. Give it a year and taste it again. If it is too hot, try blending a relatively small measured amount with another wine. If that results in something palatable, bottle the blend. Best wishes.

 

[vcasey]

I agree with Smokegrub, you never know .......
VC

 

[pelican]

Heck if it's really vinegar, stablilize it and bottle it and label it "Cherry Wine Vinegar" - maybe even gets a large jar of Marishino Cherries and pop a few into the (clear) bottle to float around - put a red ribbon and a snazzy label and you've got 30 unique and lovely Holiday "Love from the Kitchen" Gifts

When the winemaking fairies give you vinegar, make a BIG SALAD -- don't dump it unless it's foul and toxic ....

 

[elswitzer]

Oh I'm not dumping it, and I'm glad I didn't. The cherry wine will be strong, but it seems like it is coming along nicely. Im not afraid of a little alcohol in my drink, and so far it tastes pretty good!