wine tasting strange?

[wendywj]

my home made wine (birchsap) tastes rather yeasty, does anyone know why?

Thanks

[Booldawg]

Did you ferment it within the desired temperature range? It can get a bit too warm in terms of ambient temperature in the summer. Unless you have means of controlling the temperature making wine or beer in the summer can be a bit hit or miss.

Did it ferment out quicker than usual? That would suggest you were on the upper limits of the yeasts' desired tolerance to heat.

[wendywj]

Booldawag, The Birch Sap wine did ferment a bit quickly and the temp was probably too warm - is there anything i can do to get rid of the yeasty taste?

[Sir Alec]

It could be stuck fermentation. Add yeast nutrient and move it to a warmer or cooler place to get it to the correct temperature. If this doesn't work, try adding more yeast and re-ferment. I had a stuck fermentation recently, added nutrient and it's now fine.

[Booldawg]

testing the gravity with a hydrometer will give you an idea if the fermentation is stuck. You will also notice alot of residual sweetness as well.

If fermentation is complete then maybe keep in a cool place for a week before bottling. This will help the yeast drop out and improve the taste.

[wendywj]

The wine is actually very very dry.

[Booldawg]

No problems with stuck fermentation then! Is it a yeast you've used before? each strain has its own particular taste. Yeast is pretty much the most fundamental affect on overall taste.

[wendywj]

Thanks for all the help, I'm going to bottle it anyway and see how it tastes in a few months time. Fingers crossed it's improved!

[Booldawg]

Hope all goes well. It may taste totally different once conditioned. The taste changes so much from bottling to maturing. My guess is the yeast will drop out and wont taste so pronounced.