2003 Pyment Aroma

[Pavel314]

I made a batch of pyment in September, 2003. I used 21# of crushed Concord grapes, 4# of honey and 2.5 quarts of water. I stirred, added 3 Campden tablets and let it sit overnight. The starting SG was 1.094. In the morning I added a packet of Pasteur Red yeast and let it ferment.

A week later, I pressed the mix and put into a jug with an airlock. Five months later, I racked the batch.

At ten months, I found the SG was 0.996 but it tasted thin and sharp, so I added 6 ounces of honey and 0.5 tsp of potassium sorbate. At eleven months, I bottled and noted a slightly sweet taste.

After eight years, I opened a bottle and noticed a strong aroma that I can only describe as vinyl. This pretty much goes away after a bit of airing but is still there as an after taste/aroma when drinking. The pyment is slightly cloudy. Other than the vinyl aroma, which is unusual but not distateful, the taste is wonderful.

Is the aroma I described a normal part of a pyment or did I do something wrong?

Paul

 

[Chevette Girl]

I wonder if it's a compound related to the one I get now and then that's quite reminiscent of diesel fuel... had it happen with lime mel, red currant wine and blueberry mel, and I've found that it is only an aroma, taste is completely unaffected, and one of those vacuum hand pump systems for leftover wine is pretty useful for coaxing the aroma out of my wine/mel if I pour half a glass out and then shake the heck out of the bottle, pump out the air, let fresh air back in, shake the heck out of it, repeat every time I think of it for a couple of days... this does introduce oxygen to the wine so probably not a good idea to leave it around long before drinking unless you like the oxidized aroma/taste (which I do).

Was it slightly cloudy when you bottled it or is this from its time in the bottle? Can you tell if it's stirred up sediment?

Oh, and welcome to the forum, Paul!

 

[Medsen Fey]

That sounds like something is wrong with your batch. A vinyl aroma is not typical for any wine or pyment, not even with concord grapes. It sounds like possible spoilage organisms (maybe Brettanomyces).

Can you give us any more details on the recipe and how you bottled and stored this batch?

And welcome to GotMead Paul!

 

[wayneb]

I think that Medsen's onto something when he suggests that this may be a possible brett infection. There is a classic brett impact on red wines that produces a 'band-aid' like vinyl phenolic aroma. Your note that the pyment appears a bit cloudy also lends credence to the possibility of an infection. Did you observe any residual CO2 presence (anything vaguely pettilant about the mead)?