"Michael Thompson" > wrote in message
om...
> Hello All,
>
> I went against the advice of friends and decided to try and tackle
> orange wine. I used a recipe from an old book I found at the library with
a
> few modifications. Below is the recipe and racking schedule.
>
> Orange Wine:
>
> 1. The juice of 25 Valencia oranges. I juiced all twenty five which made a
> little more then a gallon of juice. I triple filtered this and it came out
a
> little less then a gallon, but there was absolutly NO pulp.
>
> 2.The Zest of 5 orange peels. I was sure not to grate any of the white
stuff
> in the peels with this zest.
>
> 3. I mixed the zest in 1 1/2 gallons of water and slowly boiled this.
While
> slowly adding 2 lbs of sugar.
>
> 4. At this point I mixed up a standard yest starter.
>
> 5. I added 2 tsp of fermax yeast nutrient to teh must.
>
> 6. I waited 12 hours and then added the yeast starter to the must.
>
> 7. 5 Days later I added another 2 lbs of sugar and racked into a carboy
with
> an SG of 1.040.
>
> 8. 2 months later I racked with an SG of 0.990
>
> I gave the brew a little taste at this point and noticed it still had a
> yeastie flavor. It was very dry and tasted rather acidy.
>
> My question is, how should the acid content look in an orange wine and
what
> should it be? Further more what rolls does acid play in the fementing
> process and the aging process?
>
> Any help would be great
> Thanks
> Mike T.
>

I'm working on a grapefruit wine right now and have the same results so far
for the most part, very acidic taste etc. However, from what I have read,
most citrus wines need at LEAST a year before they can be appreciated, and
the taste improves as the wine clears with each racking (once a month).
Give it time and it should come around, it has a long way to go yet.