just finished my first chardonnay

tommm

I can discribe it as a total disaster. First of all no bubbles in the airlock, not enough %, was a bit scarred that would have to bin everything. Decided to add more sugar. 1.5 kg. Left for 3 days. After three days gravity reached 0.990. So it was enough for racking. I started drinking it on thursday: rather like a rocket fuel, very strong, no chardonnay taste. This is the problem when somebody want to be smarter then instruction provided. If there was no bubbles it doesnt mean that there is no alcohol inside. Will storage it in a bootles for few weeks and then decide to keep it or to bin it. So for the first time it looks like i have produced a wine with at least 16-17 % which is a bit too much

HBO_Staff

Sorry to hear it has got off to a bad start, but try not to let it put you off, if we learn from any mistakes we make then our next brews will be great! We've all got it wrong, and you point out what went wrong yourself so there is not much we can add to it, it has ended up strong as the extra sugar has fermented into alcohol, and this could really affect the taste, but you could leave it in the bottles for a while and see if it improves, all wines should be left in bottles for a few weeks or longer if possible for the best flavours to develop. What you could perhaps try so that you don't throw it away, is mix it with something when drinking to dilute the strength and flavour, as it is a shame not to drink it. The only true way to check on your wine when it is fermenting is with a hydrometer, ideally take an initial reading at the start of fermentation, then monitor it and make note of the final, lowest reading. Often brews wont bubble or be obviously fermenting, the hydro reading gives an accurate idea of how it is doing. Let us know how it turns out, and persevere with it, it is worth it and you will make wines of great quality for not much money