Oh no

Commander Toasty · #1 07-09-2005, 08:49 PM

Darn it.
Been making this Three Berry from a juice concentrate, been fermenting like crazy for two months because I've been 'feeding' it to pump up the punch. And as far as that goes it has worked great - the stuff really has a kick to it.

But - it threw esters, mostly in the nose, and way too strong. Somewhat in the taste but I figure I can hide that later. This nose though - it has to go. Ruins the stuff. The flavor is pretty good, and I think with some balance and maybe a little spice it'll age into a nice drink. But not with that nose! Anybody have ideas how to rid that? I doubt it can be masked, that's a pretty serious odor to try to hide.

The good news? I'm typing this as I sip a wonderful pear mel!

WRATHWILDE · #2 07-10-2005, 12:27 AM

Don't know if this would work or not but here's a thought...

Wikipedia- An ester is a product of the reaction of an acid (usually organic) and an alcohol (the hydrogen of the acid R-COOH is replaced by an alkyl group R"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester

Acidity of Wine - http://www.wineperspective.com/the_acidity_of_wine.htm

Remake a proportion of your must, use Calcium Carbonate to reduce the acidity (I'm thinking this will reduce the amount of acid available to convert to esters) blend with your current batch and finish fermentation at the lowest temp. range you can achieve for your yeast. From what I've read higher fermentation temps increase ester production.

No personal experience... it's just a plausible sounding solution I worked out. If anyone has Ideas whether this would work or not let me know.

Wrathwilde

Oskaar · #3 07-10-2005, 12:50 AM

Hey Toasty,

If you have a good pad filter in the .5 to .02 micron range you can take a good portion of that bad smell away based on my experience. Also, if you hit it with some tannin, a bit of acid, and some dark toast French Oak that should help to mitigate the offensive nose. It won't cure it, but it will help.

Cheers,

Oskaar

byathread · #4 07-10-2005, 12:52 AM

wrathwilde,
i've no idea if your suggestion will work but it sounds BRILLIANT! then again, i've been drinking strong belgian ales for a few hours now, my cat is brilliant.

cheers

WRATHWILDE · #5 07-10-2005, 01:18 AM

byathread... LOL, thanks for the vote of confidence

or are you in possession of Schrodinger's cat perhaps?

Interesting side note - Schrödinger himself is rumored to have said, later in life, that he wished he had never met that cat.

Wrathwilde

Oskaar · #6 07-10-2005, 01:44 AM

Good old Erwin Schroedinger! I have an excellent book called Schroedinger's cat by Robert Anton Wilson (also an interesting character that I have met and spent some time with) It's a fictional work (trilogy) with characters named Ped Xing and chapters like Dematerializing Gorillas.

Schroedinger, besides being a brilliant physicist really set the the bar high with quantum physics in the famous "EPR" letter to Albert Einstein in 1935 which then lead to his publication of one of the most celebrated paradoxes in quantum theory, Schroedinger's Cat.

I'm currently knee deep in relativistic acceleration and mass conversion drives vs. growing gravity drives. Cool stuff, but very heady for a non physics guy like me.

Cheers,

Oskaar

WRATHWILDE · #7 07-10-2005, 02:19 AM

Good ole Bob. Always enjoyed his writings. Never had the opportunity to meet him but did hang out with Wavy Gravy back stage for a few days at Solar powered concert in Nevada... had no idea who he was at the time.

A seven degrees of separation sort of thing linking them through Ken Kesey & Timothy Leary.

Wrathwilde

byathread · #8 07-10-2005, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oskaar

I'm currently knee deep in relativistic acceleration and mass conversion drives vs. growing gravity drives. Cool stuff, but very heady for a non physics guy like me.

My head is still reeling from The Dancing Wu Li Masters...and this was written by and for the physics novice.

Re: Schroedinger's cat - please also listen to Steve Martin's track of the same name from Pure Drivel. For those of you who ever wondered about "A banana flying first class from New York to LA..." or "Apollo running backwards around the rings of Saturn while holding a hot dish of apple strudel."

Highly recommended!

Oskaar · #9 07-10-2005, 03:04 AM

I actually got to meet Timothy Leary and G. Gordon Liddy when they were touring together. They acutally became quite good friends. Liddy told us that whenever he went to see Leary that "Good old Tim" would let them know which brownies not to eat! LOL

Also, G. Gordon said that since he was a convicted felon he was not allowed to own any guns, and that his wife had an extensive collection that she kept under HIS side of the bed! They're both characters. Tim is gone, but Liddy remembers him fondly when he speaks of him.

RAW is another thing altogether. This guy has an encyclopedic knowledge of European history and can regurgitate it on request. He's a total nutjob, but pleasant and very willing to talk about anything you can imagine. The first lecture I attended by him was in the Santa Monica, CA, Masonic Temple. I'm sure the rammifications of that material are running rampant through your mind.

Also, don't forget Tom Wolfe.

I have a great tape of an interview with Ken Kesey at the Grateful Dead Concert on New Year's Eve from the Great American Music Hall in NoCal. Wild, very wild, especially since Bill Walton was there looking "railed" during the interview as well.

Anyhow,

Back to mead,

cheers,

Oskaar

jab · #10 07-10-2005, 10:34 AM

And for anyone thinking they should go out and read Schrödinger's Cat, might I suggest you read The Illuminatus Trilogy first. Gives some helpful insight to quite a few of the characters and some back story as to how people got to where they are.

Or was I just stoned and imagining all of the synchronicities between the books?

Hagbard Celiene is my father.
We all live in a golden submarine.