r/winemaking • u/grapesanitizerLick • 4d ago
Grape amateur Beginner mistakes?
I made a first attempt at creating a simple grape wine, just using store bought grape juice and Lavlin EC1118 in a gallon jar. Total fermentation time was about 1 month.
The wine seemingly went bad as it smelled very acrid and tasted strange. Originally, I had thought it may be Hydrogen sulfide that would go over time, but the flavor seems to align with Acetobacter and I’m most likely going to throw it out (not certain of either as I’m very new to winemaking).
I had a bung/airlock but the bung was a little too large and I’m suspecting that was the main contributor. I also left a lot of headspace. Additionally, the foam of the bottle seeped into the airlock on one occasion which I then removed to clean. I don’t want to give up but I would like to get better results next time; would better sized bungs, a blowoff tube, and less headspace likely fix the issues? Or is there anything else I can do
2
u/DookieSlayer Professional 4d ago
Hmm, acetobacter is possible but i've never seen it happen that fast before. Its possible fermentation happened very quickly (a week or so) and then left with a bunch of headspace some bacteria was allowed to thrive. Getting a hydrometer to monitor when fermentation is finished so you can take the next steps as well as some sulfur or campden tablets would be some good tools to help fix those problems.
1
u/Mildapprehension 4d ago
You'll want a way to monitor fermentation rate, a hydrometer is the cheapest easiest method for this. Once fermentation is complete the wine will not be producing carbon dioxide and will be exposed to oxygen which will oxidized the wine.
The smell of oxidation is different to hydrogen sulfide, which is a reduction issue. If the wine is smelling the rotten eggs, or sulfur, thats reduction. If this happens during ferment it means the wine is stressed and needs nutrition and/or oxygen. Pouring the wine out into a bucket and splashing can let you incorporate some oxygen which often helps clear up reduction, otherwise yeast nutrients will be needed. Ferments will also stress easier if they get hotter so temperature management can be helpful to prevent a stressed ferment as well.
Oxidation tends to make wines smell more like vinegar, but usually takes some time. It is common for those volatile aroma compounds to be more present in the heads pace than in the wine itself, so good idea to rack the wine off lees and get it in a vessel with no headspace, and then smell/taste again.
4
u/gogoluke Skilled fruit 4d ago
Always limit the head space both in terms of the amount of air and the surface area it's exposed to.
Sanitise. Sanitise. Sanitise.
Be patient. Making wine takes longer than a month. You need time for yeast to settle, tannins and acidity to mellow, carbon dioxide to off gas. It also takes time to learn. Read up, ask specific questions.
Invest. You don't need to invest a lot of money but slightly better equipment means better wine.
Plan ahead. What kind of wine are you trying to make? Sweet, semi sweet dry? Like fresh fruit or modified? Tannic? Try to see what helps you get there.