What should I do with these?

[Scottishnewbie]

An old pal of ours 'gave' me 3 demijohns the other day...complete with apple and raisin wine that he'd made in August 2008 that he says has stuck somehoworother...not quite sure what he means!

There is loads of sediment in the bottom of all 3 but the wine seems to be clearing well enough so, other than racking it into clean demijohns, I'm not quite sure what I should do (if anything).

I'm only new to wine making so I don't fully understand the whole process yet...but of course am willing to learn....

Scottishnewbie

[shirlthegirl43]

I would taste it first then make your decision. If it tastes okay (or better) rack into clean dj's and leave to clear for a while then bottle. If it tastes rubbish, chuck it away and put something else in to brew

[Hazel at the Hill]

Sounds like he thinks that it hasn't fermented through properly - scientific course of action is to get hold of a hydrometer (a couple of quid in wilko - and you'll want one for your next batch of wine anyway) and measure the specific gravity. If the reading is less than 1, you have wine - and it will keep when bottles - if the reading is a lot higher, you have problem, Houston.

The more practical course of action is - as Shirley says - give it a slurp. Sweet and disgusting means that fermentation hasn't happened properly (i.e. the yeast hasn't converted the sugar into alcohol). If it tastes ok, rack it and drink it.

[Hilary B]

Deffinitely 'taste it and see'. Unless it is totally horrible, I wouldn't give up on it (and don't assume all 3 are exactly the same, taste all of them).
If it hasn't fermented out, you may be able to get it going again by making up a starter, adding a pint or so of the wine to the starter, and once fermenting, you may be able to add the re-started wine back into the demijohn. If the airlocks dried out you may have vinegar, or verjuice (which is halfway between vinegar and wine), only of use for culinary purposes!

[newgrower09]

get the demi johns clean and start making your wine!!

heres a good place for info etc

JIM'S BEER KIT: HOMEBREW FORUM • Index page

[Scottishnewbie]

Thanks folks. Have decided the official 'testing' will take place tomorrow night and then we'll decide what we're doing from there.

[rana]

Alternatively you could pour the wine down the sink, knock the bottoms out of the demijohns and use them as cloches.