lesson learned

[kevin]

I have only been making wine for about a year but things have been pretty good so far. I have had a few errors some obvious and some not so much. I usually follow recipes but sometimes I go out on a limb. I have experimented with some stuff on my own which didn't turn out too bad but being new I wasn't sure if something was wrong or if my recipe wasn't a success. I was noticing an odd flavor obviously from the fruit but I couldn't exactly identify it. One afternoon I was talking wine with blaine and we were discussing how long to leave the fruit in the must. Now I have read articles on wine problems before and even read about what I believe is my problem. The odd flavor I noticed I believe is a result from leaving the fruit in too long after looking in the recipe book I noticed it suggested only leaving the fruit in three to five days and I usually leave it in untill I rack off the primary 10 to 15 days. The book also mentioned that the gravity should be down to 1.040 or 1.030 in the 3 to 5 days. So the lesson learned was if in doubt read the recipe again and use the hydrometer especially in the first week when the fermentation should be the most vigorous to understand what is going on with your wine. If still you have questions ask a friend.

[wvbrewer]

I understand that.  I just started not to long ago and I did not use a recipe just winged it with a Little help from my father and law.  I used grape juice and bread yeast and let it go in the primary for around 11 days.  My wife and I racked it off last night onto a camphen tablet and a little tannin.  It's in a one gallon carboy with a airlock.  I think I'll let it sit a month and taste it again, before we racked it it was a little harsh.

Thanks
Dave