Alas, I am sure this may be a "stupid question," but I am not
educated enough on the subject of making wine to know if it is
even a valid question or not, let alone know the answer.

In October I started my first batch of wine, using Concorde Grape
juice. All went well as far as I could tell: fermentation was
robust and protracted, and eventually it ceased after a month or
so. I have kept the air lock on, and it has sat still ever since
after one racking at the end of October.

Now I wish to know--- how does one know if the wine is good or
bad? That is, how does one know if it has turned to vinegar? I
have no idea what it is supposed to taste like. I can tell it is
alcoholic, and that all of the sugar is gone (it is "dry" as far
as I can tell), though I do not know the alcohol content (I broke
my hydrometer in October) nor do I know if it tastes the way it
should.

I will probably bottle it in a day or two and take a sample to the
"Yeast Herder's Gatherum" at Dragonfest in August and ask someone
to taste it for me.

I followed what I believe to be the correct steps, as I have
outlined in my two videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZWyYeDQnUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJPhkDwIZro


--
http://desertphile.org
Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
"Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz

On May 15, 7:53*pm, Desertphile >
wrote:
> nor do I know if it tastes the way it should.

Simple answer- do you like the way it tastes? If you do, then it
probably tastes the way it should.

If it was vinegar, it would be obvious to the taste.

On May 15, 10:53*pm, Desertphile >
wrote:
> Alas, I am sure this may be a "stupid question," but I am not
> educated enough on the subject of making wine to know if it is
> even a valid question or not, let alone know the answer.
>
> In October I started my first batch of wine, using Concorde Grape
> juice. All went well as far as I could tell: fermentation was
> robust and protracted, and eventually it ceased after a month or
> so. I have kept the air lock on, and it has sat still ever since
> after one racking at the end of October.
>
> Now I wish to know--- how does one know if the wine is good or
> bad? That is, how does one know if it has turned to vinegar? I
> have no idea what it is supposed to taste like. I can tell it is
> alcoholic, and that all of the sugar is gone (it is "dry" as far
> as I can tell), though I do not know the alcohol content (I broke
> my hydrometer in October) nor do I know if it tastes the way it
> should.
>
> I will probably bottle it in a day or two and take a sample to the
> "Yeast Herder's Gatherum" at Dragonfest in August and ask someone
> to taste it for me.
>
> I followed what I believe to be the correct steps, as I have
> outlined in my two videos:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZWyY...?v=tJPhkDwIZro
>
> --http://desertphile.org
> Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
> "Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz

Is it drinkable? Do YOU like it?

Go buy a bottle of concord wine at the wine store. Manashevitz is a
well known one. Compare the two.

Desertphile wrote:
> Alas, I am sure this may be a "stupid question," but I am not
> educated enough on the subject of making wine to know if it is
> even a valid question or not, let alone know the answer.
>
> In October I started my first batch of wine, using Concorde Grape
> juice. All went well as far as I could tell: fermentation was
> robust and protracted, and eventually it ceased after a month or
> so. I have kept the air lock on, and it has sat still ever since
> after one racking at the end of October.
>
> Now I wish to know--- how does one know if the wine is good or
> bad? That is, how does one know if it has turned to vinegar? I
> have no idea what it is supposed to taste like. I can tell it is
> alcoholic, and that all of the sugar is gone (it is "dry" as far
> as I can tell), though I do not know the alcohol content (I broke
> my hydrometer in October) nor do I know if it tastes the way it
> should.
>
> I will probably bottle it in a day or two and take a sample to the
> "Yeast Herder's Gatherum" at Dragonfest in August and ask someone
> to taste it for me.
>
> I followed what I believe to be the correct steps, as I have
> outlined in my two videos:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZWyYeDQnUk
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJPhkDwIZro
>
>
> --
> http://desertphile.org
> Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
> "Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz

On May 19, 8:21*am, wrote:
> Go buy a bottle of concord wine at the wine store. Manashevitz is a
> well known one. Compare the two.
>
>
>
> Desertphile wrote:
> > Alas, I am sure this may be a "stupid question," but I am not
> > educated enough on the subject of making wine to know if it is
> > even a valid question or not, let alone know the answer.
>
> > In October I started my first batch of wine, using Concorde Grape
> > juice. All went well as far as I could tell: fermentation was
> > robust and protracted, and eventually it ceased after a month or
> > so. I have kept the air lock on, and it has sat still ever since
> > after one racking at the end of October.
>
> > Now I wish to know--- how does one know if the wine is good or
> > bad? That is, how does one know if it has turned to vinegar? I
> > have no idea what it is supposed to taste like. I can tell it is
> > alcoholic, and that all of the sugar is gone (it is "dry" as far
> > as I can tell), though I do not know the alcohol content (I broke
> > my hydrometer in October) nor do I know if it tastes the way it
> > should.
>
> > I will probably bottle it in a day or two and take a sample to the
> > "Yeast Herder's Gatherum" at Dragonfest in August and ask someone
> > to taste it for me.
>
> > I followed what I believe to be the correct steps, as I have
> > outlined in my two videos:
>
> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZWyYeDQnUk
> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJPhkDwIZro
>
> > --
> >http://desertphile.org
> > Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
> > "Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Dry Concord wine is an aquired taste that I will never aquire. It's
just not typical; normally Concord is sweetened to taste. I doubt it
is bad, if it smells grapey it's probably fine.

Joe

On Mon, 19 May 2008 14:08:38 -0700 (PDT), Joe Sallustio
> wrote:


> Dry Concord wine is an aquired taste that I will never aquire. It's
> just not typical; normally Concord is sweetened to taste. I doubt it
> is bad, if it smells grapey it's probably fine.

Unfortunately I didn't know what I was doing when I made it--- I
was supposed to add sugar; otch, well.... perhaps I'll make
another batch. I must buy another hydrometer. Thank you for the
reply.

--
http://desertphile.org
Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
"Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz

On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:21:30 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

> Go buy a bottle of concord wine at the wine store. Manashevitz is a
> well known one. Compare the two.

That is a great idea.... why didn't I think of that? I do not
recall ever seeing Concord wine in stores, but surely it's there
if I look for it. Thank you.


--
http://desertphile.org
Desertphile's Desert Soliloquy. WARNING: view with plenty of water
"Why aren't resurrections from the dead noteworthy?" -- Jim Rutz