Odor of finished Watermelon Wine

Greg,

My very second batch of wine ever was a large batch (6 gal) of watermelon. The must the entire time was on he rotten smelling side, kinda like you would expect from a very overripe watermelon. The fruit was fresh and sweet when I started, and I kept with it. It actually is a higher alcohol batch than usual, about 15%, and I racked after primary, and a month after that. I had a little leftover at this time and the smell was still strong, almost bad. I refrigerated it for two weeks and tried it. The color at this time was still a soft pink, and the stabilizing in the fridge did let the smell rest, and the taste was rough, but not bad. I could tell it needed to age, but had potential. On the bright side, it packed a very quick kick that would tell me that this is strong stuff.

It cleared a little, but had a wee bit of haze to the pink color. I finally cleared it with superkleer and within a day it was pee yellow, all of the pink was sediment at the bottom. I racked to bottles 3 days later. I sweetened half and left half dry, stabilizing both.

I am holding my hope that this turns out very mellow for next summer.

Greg, Erie, PA

Hoss, Watermelon wine does smell "odd"; that's the only way I can describe it. I've made it 2 times, it just has a unique smell. I had trouble my first time to, it wouldn't clear, and then the bottles started to pop. Anyway, I looked at my first batch as a learning experiment. After making some adjustments, I started my second 1 gallon batch in July 2003. And yes, this batch turned out to have a 15% alcohol level too. My taste buds prefer it sweeter, especially to offset the rocket fuel taste; so I sweetened and added sorbate. I think this wine needs time to mature, so I have not opened a bottle yet. You're right, it does not come out pink, but sort of yellow. Hang in there. Darlene Wisconsin

Well, from what everyone has described, it looks like my watermelon wine may be on track. It definitely has that very, very overripe smell, with a high alcohol content. It also has the pinkish, redish, orangy color, with a slight haze.

I just bottled an elderberry a couple of weeks ago. It was delicious, without the age. I hope we can stay away from the bottled ones for a few months :) Up to be bottled in a few weeks is muscadine. During racking, it had a good taste, too.

Thanks for the feedback on the watermelon. It's been spared the drain for a year or so.

Greg, It is always interesting when making a wine for the first time...I was ready to dump my watermelon the first time around too - the smell was just so odd. So when I made it the second time, avoiding what I thought were the negatives during the first time, and it still smelled the same...heck, this must be how it smells. I'm glad I didn't throw the batch out, because I learned a lot from it. Sometimes though, it is hard to know if you're on the right track - how something smells and tastes is a hard thing to tell others about, Darlene

Ok here comes the KID in me...

Have any of you ever though about using some of the watermelon wine to make jello or something else fun for the weekend?

David

Lol. Sure, but I'm over 21 (well a bit more than that) and I like to try new things. Believe me there was a watermelon around my house to eat. Darlene ;o)

Sure, I'm over 21 too and love to try new things. One thing I have never tried is watermelon wine Jell-O.

Bet it would be good. :-)

David

Well, she smelled it and said "What the hell is in that, vodka?" She hast tried it yet though. I have and it s pretty good. But no panty hose removed tonight, perhaps tomorrow. David

This was a red Welch's grape cocktail. I have tried the concord too which is better. I actually picked up the cocktail by mistake but decided to ferment it anyway. I Kind of just did the Welch's as experiments. I tried the juice form a kit once and thought to myself "this tastes like Welch's". I have heard good things about the Niagara and will probably try it eventually.

David