I've Accidently Made Tawny Port

[Rhona]

I was trying to make damson wine. I started it last year, and just bottling now. One batch is ruined (let the air lock run dry) and the remaining two gallons tastes just like tawny port. Not a bad thing I suppose, but why?

Have a ton of cooking pears on the tree and want to have a bash at pear wine since I've got all the stuff, but where'd I go wrong do you think?

[organic]

Do you have a hydrometer?
I wonder if it could be a stuck fermentation or something.

I've got my first ever attempt at winemaking in a demijohn at the moment so can't give any particular advice, but I've got the "What went wrong" section in my winemaking book.

If the gravity is a lot higher than 1.000 it could be that it was too cold (or too hot) and the fermentation is stuck.


As for the ruined batch with the dry airlock, have you thrown it out or are you going to give it time to turn to vinegar? I dunno if you'd use damson vinegar in the kitchen but it could be worth a try.
The "what went wrong" section in this thing does say "Be careful, though, that you have not mistaken vinegar for dryness..."
I'm not saying you have, especially considering the dry airlock (which reminds me, I must keep an eye on mine!) but it's worth a mention just in case.

[Rhona]

Thanks for that. The ruined batch was fairly rank and Mr R decided fairly swiftly to cleanse the drains of Sheffield with it.

I never got to grips with the hydrometer though - I think you may have something there!

[Two_Sheds]

how does an airlock go dry?

[Rhona]

how does an airlock go dry?

dunno...I assume it just evaporated. I did ignore it for months. Though why one and not t'other I have no idea.

[HeyWayne]

You know you're not supposed to put the owl in it don't you!? It's just a name.

[organic]

Rhona - if you've got a trial jar just put some wine in and gently lower the hydrometer in (don't touch the stem though it needs to be free of fingerprints to work properly) - if the reading is much above 1.000 it could well be stuck.

From what I can tell, hydrometers look far more complicated than they actually are.
Take a reading when you're about to add the yeast (or at another convenient moment at the start of the process) and another at the end. Ignore the decimal point in the 2 readings, subtract the last from the first and divide the result by 7.36and you'll get the alcohol content... roughly.

Next time it might be worth hanging onto wine that's spoiled in the demijohn and see if it can mature to a nice vinegar.