Watermelon Wine - First Batch

[blackpage]

I am now currently on my second batch of homemade fruit wine; watermelon. My first batch, blackberry, worked out the way it was supposed to (or atleast how I expected it to). This one however has me somewhat curious.

I used honey instead of sugar this time because it was suggested for a better taste with watermelon and it had a lower potential alcohol (PA) to start with at 7% than the blackberry batch did with sugar at 13%. At that point I did not think anything about it but when primary fermentation was over I checked the PA again when I put it in the secondary fermenter and it was at 0%. I thought that was weird but I continued racking it and it has been in secondary fermentation for about a month. I racked it again today and it seems to be ok but I'm curious if anything is even happening since there was no more sugar/honey to be fermented. Is there something that I should do different than just leaving it in fermentation for another few months (and rack one more time)? I'm just afraid how it will turn out. Not that I really know how it is supposed to taste anyways since I've never had watermelon wine. My husband and I just wanted to try it!

Let me know if anyone has any incite for me.
Thanks

 

[Wade E]

Not sure of what you mean cause from 7% - 0% is what it is supposed to do. 7% is a little low so I wouldnt try and cellar it for much more then a few months.

 

[Runningwolf]

Blackpage, welcome to our forum. I agree with what Wade said earlier. Feel free to ask any questions as there are a lot of experieance wine makers here. Julie is our resident expert on watermelon. Please keep us posted on how you make out with this.

 

[Julie]

Hi Blackpage,

Are you sure about this ABV? For you to have this your sg when you started had to be about 1.040. I know you said you added honey instead of sugar how much did you add and what was you sg? If your wine is currently at 7% you are going to need to bump that up, you should have 10% ABV. Watermelon does not come into it's own until you have let it age for at least one year and with an ABV of 7% I not sure if it will be ok at that point.

Can you post your recipe? That would help so we would be able to tell you what you would need to be doing now.

Thanks

 

[blackpage]

Well I thought that 7% was low but figured it was just different because of the honey.

Wade, should it have gotten to 0% by the end of primary fermentation? If so I guess maybe I'm confused at the differences between the two stages of fermentation, besides that you are fermenting on the fruit for the first stage. I would think that since it has no more honey to turn to alcohol it is pretty much done.

As for the recipe here is what I have (per gallon)

3 1/2 qts of water
2 lbs of light honey
4 lbs of watermelon
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 Campden tablet
1 packet champagne yeast

I crushed the watermelon in a straining bag and put the boiled water with honey over it. Then I added the acid, tannin (I estimated since the recipe didn't give an exact amount of tannin), and nutrient. After it cooled I added the Campden tablet and 12 hours later added the pectic enzyme. Here is when I checked the PA that gave me 7% and I wrote that down. Next day added the yeast. A week later is when I took out the fruit and racked it into the secondary fermenters and checked the PA again and it read 0%. Just today, which has been about a month in secondary fermentation, we racked it into another set of fermenters. The recipe says to rack it again before I bottle it in another 3 - 5 months.

Thanks for all of your advice though I'm still unsure what to do. I think I'm hearing to just let it go and finish the secondary fermentation as planned and bottle. I am planning on stabilizing and sweetening it after I am done also.

Thanks guys

 

[blackpage]

Bump???????

 

[Julie]

Since you used honey, this is now a melomel and will need to age at least a year or longer. 2# seems to be a little on the light side but I don't think by much. I think most people use 2 1/2# to 3# per gallon. What was your sg? For this to only be about 7% your sg would have been around 1.040 and I think 2# of honey would have been higher than this. Watermelon is a fruit that needs to age a year before the flavor comes out in a wine and honey needs to age at least a year preferrably longer. I would be very leary about trying to keep a wine that long with an abv of 7%. If your starting gravity was around 1.040 then you need to bump up the alcholol.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

i'm going to have to agree with julie. unless you add extra sulfites, i'd bump the abv. i prefer to use the alcohol to protect it vs sulfites. watermelon spoils very easily, so you have to be very careful, although honey can last forever. wondering if that's a good trick for keeping the watermelon from spoiling? on "when humans are gone" or whatever the name is, honey in a plastic container will be last longer than anything in the supermarket.

fyi, our watermelon using sugar, spoiled before making it to the secondary.

 

[Julie]

i'm going to have to agree with julie. unless you add extra sulfites, i'd bump the abv. i prefer to use the alcohol to protect it vs sulfites. watermelon spoils very easily, so you have to be very careful, although honey can last forever. wondering if that's a good trick for keeping the watermelon from spoiling? on "when humans are gone" or whatever the name is, honey in a plastic container will be last longer than anything in the supermarket.

fyi, our watermelon using sugar, spoiled before making it to the secondary.

Hey Midwest,

I have only made watermelon for the last two years but here is a trick that I think works. When you put in your chemicals and wait the 24 hours before adding the yeast, keep the must on the cool side, around the low 40's and have a starter boiling so it can hit it at a run when you do add the yeast. And even though it has a nasty smell it just might not be spoiled. There is a (I call it a rind smell and my husband calls it a butt smell) smell that will go away as the wine ages.

Give it another try and try adding some strawberries for a StrawMellon flavor.

 

[blackpage]

Next step

Ok so if the agreement is to bump up the abv then my question is how do I do that with it already being in secondary? I mean if I add more honey/sugar should I leave it in the glass gallon jugs with the air locks that they are currently in? Should I add more yeast? Sorry but like I said this is only my second batch of wine and the first worked as the book said it would. So I guess this is my REAL first batch of wine!! haha

 

[Julie]

Make another wine either the same or something that you can blend it with. Have the sg at 1.090, this will give you an abv around 13%.

 

[blackpage]

Ok now I just feel dumb. Because you seem to be giving me these really simple answers but they are beyond me. Do you mean make another 2 gallon batch and make sure the abv is around 13% then after primary fermentation mix the batches? or are you saying just toss this batch and start over adding more the next time? Sorry if these seem like silly questions just trying to be specific so I can get it right the next time.

 

[Julie]

Ok now I just feel dumb. Because you seem to be giving me these really simple answers but they are beyond me. Do you mean make another 2 gallon batch and make sure the abv is around 13% then after primary fermentation mix the batches? or are you saying just toss this batch and start over adding more the next time? Sorry if these seem like silly questions just trying to be specific so I can get it right the next time.

Blackpage I am so sorry for confusing you. Keep the watermelon going, you are not doing anything wrong with that just to low of alcohol. Make another batch of wine of watermelon or another flavor and make that wine a higher starting gravity, make starting gravity around 1.090. Don't bottle anything until they are both ready for bottling and blend them together. I have done watermelon and strawberry and I think that turns out really good. Or buy another watermelon or play, I think a pear/watermelon would be a good wine. Does this help?

 

[djrockinsteve]

I bought a (seeded) watermelon last week and I did some research. FYI

Weight 18 pounds 8 ounces whole (medium size)
8 pounds 4 ounces was rhine leaving 10 pounds 4 ounces fruit

That's around 57% fruit to rhine ratio

I would guestimate that since watermelon is very thin you would want 10 pounds per gallon if not a little more for volume. Once again this was a seeded watermelon.

 

[Julie]

I bought a (seeded) watermelon last week and I did some research. FYI

Weight 18 pounds 8 ounces whole (medium size)
8 pounds 4 ounces was rhine leaving 10 pounds 4 ounces fruit

That's around 57% fruit to rhine ratio

I would guestimate that since watermelon is very thin you would want 10 pounds per gallon if not a little more for volume. Once again this was a seeded watermelon.

Hi Steve,

Haven't talk to you in awhile. Good research, I do not add water to mine, whatever amount of liquid I get when I go from primary to secondary is what I make.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Julie I wonder if you simmered your juice to remove excess water would help before fermenting??????

 

[Julie]

Hmmm, that is a nice thought. I might have to do a gallon experiment on that. I don't freeze it either and I am thinking of freezing it first.

 

[blackpage]

hmm...well now I realize why I had troubles with mine. My recipe called for only 4 lbs per gallon. I wish I would have talked to you guys earlier because we definitely had enough to make it with 10 lbs per gallon. Well we will see how the strawberry - watermelon wine turns out in a few months I suppose.

Julie, thanks again for your advice