Question via PM

[lockwood1956]

hi hope u can help i have a question, i recently made oak leaf wine with infused leaves from my oak tree, all was going well till the end of fermentation and i added stabilizer, the wine within 24 hrs turned black, it still smells of and seems ok, is it safe to drink like this and what do u think the cause could be
many thanks for taking time to read this

I have posted this question in open forum, I have no knowledge of oak leaf wine, havng not made it, anyone?

[lockwood1956]

It is possible it may clear of its own accord though, give it some time.

[fatbloke]

Bob/Squirrell,

I also haven't made oakleaf wine, but recall reading something about it (either here or elsewhere, but seem to recall happymondays either making it or asking about it).

Anyway, I think (no guarantee's as it might have been elsewhere) that CJJ mentions it (maybe in "First Steps").

The recommendation was that oak leaf wine was only made from new leaves i.e. spring leaves, because the older, more mature leaves contain an excess of tannins. Ergo, not such a "nice" wine.

I'm wondering if that or maybe some sort of oxidation might have occurred here....

I'll have a look at the books I have and see if I can find what it/they say on the matter...

regards

JtFB

[lockwood1956]

It is indeed a CJJJJJJJJJ Berry recipe from "first steps"

I've not made it as I apply my only ferment what you would eat/drink


just because you CAN ferment it, doesnt mean you should (parsnip for eample)



I think it is simply a reaction to the adjunct additions, it will more than likely clear on its own given time.

[Squirrell]

hi yes the oak leaf wine was made from new leaves, it was all going well i syphoned it off it was a lovely golden colour smelt and tasted good, it was only when i added youngs stabilizer to halt fermentation that this happened, checked it today and it is jet black, will it be safe to drink and bottle like this or should i wait?? any advice appreciated i wouldnt like to have to "bin it"

[fatbloke]

It is indeed a CJJJJJJJJJ Berry recipe from "first steps"

I've not made it as I apply my only ferment what you would eat/drink


just because you CAN ferment it, doesnt mean you should (parsnip for eample)



I think it is simply a reaction to the adjunct additions, it will more than likely clear on its own given time.

Ha ha! Just because one mightn't think of something as edible, doesn't necessarily mean it can't be eaten Bob

Point in case being "Mr Johnny Frenchman and his penchant for the old escargots"

Now I certainly wouldn't suggest trying to ferment the slimey little beggars (Hum? I wonder if anyone does have any "low fat, meat wine recipes) but as for the other, "they shaw makes goooood eatin" </sillyaccents>

Reactions in adjuncts isn't something that I've heard or read about Bob, do you have a link about this ?? (then again, what I really know about wine making could be written on the back of a very small postage stamp).

If the colour is something that is reacting and the pigmentation is something that might settle out, then I'd make a whole lot of sense to put it away and wait to see if it would drop out "a la lees".

Might it also be a sensible thought/suggestion to try and "fine it out" ? Or would you think that might compound the issue further ???

I'm not trying to get myself relegated to "pedants corner", it's just that as I haven't heard about such reactions it's got me thinking about what I might have to do if I experience something similar (given my world famous "hit 'n miss" wine making techniques).

hi yes the oak leaf wine was made from new leaves, it was all going well i syphoned it off it was a lovely golden colour smelt and tasted good, it was only when i added youngs stabilizer to halt fermentation that this happened, checked it today and it is jet black, will it be safe to drink and bottle like this or should i wait?? any advice appreciated i wouldnt like to have to "bin it"

Well I wouldn't bin it anyway, as I'm not in the habit of dumping stuff after all the effort of trying to make something.

I'm still pondering having a go at the recipe though, since Bob mentioned about CJJ's methodology being out-dated, while I like the idea of some of the recipes I've invariably kept sugar content down and used the suggested gravities in the 1080/1090 area as a good guide. Plus when I come across something that I've not seen/heard/read about, I think it's fair to ask the questions, irrespective of how stupid they might seem i.e. the only really stupid question is the one that's not been asked.

Plus it's got me wondering why you decided to stop the ferment and stabilised ? Mightn't it have been better to let it ferment dry and then just back sweeten if you needed to modify it a little ???

regards

JtFB

[lockwood1956]

will it be safe to drink and bottle like this or should i wait?? any advice appreciated i wouldnt like to have to "bin it"

I wouldn't drink it as it is, wait and see if the colour drops out.

Stopping active ferments is a fernickety business, I always prefer to fement to dry and then stabilise and sweeten (sometimes reserving some of the original juice for this purpose, much less trouble.

Ha ha! Just because one mightn't think of something as edible, doesn't necessarily mean it can't be eaten Bob

Yes it does!!!!

And the French doing it is reason enough for me not to do the same

Reactions in adjuncts isn't something that I've heard or read about Bob, do you have a link about this ?? (then again, what I really know about wine making could be written on the back of a very small postage stamp).

Any time you add anything to a wine, there can be adverse reactions, like hazes and changes of colour, and they quite often settle and drop out, but sometimes they need help in doing so.

If the colour is something that is reacting and the pigmentation is something that might settle out, then I'd make a whole lot of sense to put it away and wait to see if it would drop out "a la lees".

thats what I'd do

Might it also be a sensible thought/suggestion to try and "fine it out" ? Or would you think that might compound the issue further ???

First sanitise a towel......


sorry John ...couldn't resist

regards
Bob

[lockwood1956]

Thats a pretty heavily armed squirrel there in your avatar dude.....

wonder if he is related to this one?

[Mamgiowl]

I have no idea what the answer is to this question, but a long time ago I had a similar thing happen to me when I added some Young's nutrient to a Ribena wine. It went muddy black and tasted disgusting. I binned it (the nutrient) and have never used that brand again.

Here is a link so anyone interested can read the very unhelpful correspondence I had with Youngs

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=492

[medpretzel]

throw it out.

It's not worth keeping.

Anything that changes color so dramatically can't be good.

I disagree whole-heartedly with JtFB. It's just not worth risking your health for.

M

[fatbloke]

throw it out.

It's not worth keeping.

Anything that changes color so dramatically can't be good.

I disagree whole-heartedly with JtFB. It's just not worth risking your health for.

M

I was actually thinking that if the colour/sediment didn't settle out of it, then it could be put through a "water purifyer" Martina.

Or something along those lines

regards

JtFB

[fatbloke]

-----%<-----
First sanitise a towel......


sorry John ...couldn't resist

regards
Bob

Oooooooooh! Catty

Though laboratory grade filter paper would probably get shot of a fair amount of the pigmentation, as would a 0.25 micron filter element on a tandem/enolmatic setup........

Actually, the only reason this recipe "piqued my curiosity" is wondering what it tastes like if theres no problems like the one squirrel described.

regards

JtFB

[lockwood1956]

Oooooooooh! Catty

Guilty as charged dude

[fatbloke]

Guilty as charged dude

Da nada mi amigo, da nada

regards

JtFB

p.s. scrolls back to the top of the page only to see that Karls been chucked out the Jedi Knights and replaced by Zeb !

[Her Lushness]

I was actually thinking that if the colour/sediment didn't settle out of it, then it could be put through a "water purifyer" Martina.

Or something along those lines

regards

JtFB

I also thought that, I assume that the purifyer would remove all the cr@p and the colour as well?