Beaverdale 4.5 litre Chardonay kit - aftertaste

[RobbieD]

Hi

I have made my first batch of wine (ever) which i bottled yesterday from the above kit.
It tastes ok however is leaving a bit of a chemical type hard to describe aftertaste. Any idea what i may have done wrong?

Sorry for the useless descrippton but its hard to describe...

Thanks in advance, any guidance is welcome

Rob

 

[robsan77]

did you treat the water used with sodium metabishulphate or campden tablets? They remove the chlorine which can otherwise lead to such chemical flavours in the final product.

 

[RobbieD]

did you treat the water used with sodium metabishulphate or campden tablets? They remove the chlorine which can otherwise lead to such chemical flavours in the final product.

Ummmm nope, ok then bit of reading required, then ding ding batch 2 =)

Thanks
Rob

 

[shadow47]

I always use chlorinated water and have never had any problems with strange chemical tastes.

It might be that you didn't leave it to fine long enough and are tasting dead yeast cells/sodium met/potassium sorbate or whatever, I did exactly the same thing when I made my first kit, but you soon learn that patience is the name of the game when winemaking.

Leave it in the demi for another few weeks and it should improve.

If you bought your kit from a homebrew shop then take a sample to them and they'll taste it and tell you what the problem is in seconds (if they know what they're doing).

 

[shadow47]

did you treat the water used with sodium metabishulphate or campden tablets? They remove the chlorine which can otherwise lead to such chemical flavours in the final product.

My wines have been fine, but I guess it depends on where you live and what your local water company does to your water.

Check your local water supplies website or phone them and see whether they add Chloramines to the water, if so then you'll need to treat accordingly.

 

[RobbieD]

Thanks for all of the replies, i went back to the shop today and i think i may have disturbed the sediment when bottling and as you described i am tasting some of the yeast.

I will leave it for a while and see if the taste changes

Batch 2 here we go!

Rob

 

[shadow47]

Glad to help! :

Good luck with your next batch~!

 

[MostlyHarmless]

Just out of curiosity...did you add the oak chippings that came with the kit? I've done two Beaverdale kits (both red) and for the first I added the oak chippings and it tasted like feet...omitted the chippings the second time around, based on a few comments I saw on the 'net, and the results were much better.

 

[RobbieD]

Yes i did add the oak chippings, i have another kit to make so i may try without....