Raspberry Skeeter, Horrible Smell. Seeking advice!

[jguy898]

I made 5 gallons of raspberry Skeeter Pee and have just racked it off of the fruit and it smells like Mold!
I think I waited to long to punch the fruit cap down and it probably began molding so when I did punch it down it contaminated the batch. It smells REALLY bad.

I sulfited and sorbated this evening and I will be sparkolloid-ing it before I go to bed.
My hope is that the sparkolloid may cause whatever it is to drop out of suspension, saving the batch but I don't know.

Any one know what to do? Is there anything you can do?

 

[bengerman]

how many brew do you have under your belt? lees normally smell pretty funky, and the funk can vary depending on type of yeast and what you're brewing.
i'd say let it clear, and re-judge the smell on bottling day.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

how many brew do you have under your belt? lees normally smell pretty funky, and the funk can vary depending on type of yeast and what you're brewing.
i'd say let it clear, and re-judge the smell on bottling day.

YEP... and I would probably cold crash it if possible and bottle it cold.. THAT WAY you can taste it and get a good reading while bottling to see if it really is moldy and bad.

 

[jguy898]

Sorry it took so long to get back.

Alright, here's what is going on.
I have 5 consecutive skeeters on the same lees. It started life as the strain 71-B and after a healthy life fermenting a Basswood Traditional (Mead) it went to work on my first skeeter. Immediately after that first skeeter, Immediately after racking the first off the lees, it went to work on another skeeter. I have followed that trend for a while and now it will ferment a skeeter "To Dry" in 48 hours, flat. Yes, 2 days after I add more lemon, nutrient, and sugar-water it is finished fermenting.

Anyway, 4th skeeter in I decided to try making a Red Raspberry Skeeter and I bought ten pounds of Frozen organic Red Raspberries, Crushed them up, and added to a larger 6 1/2 gallon carboy and then racked the skeeter containing My 'Super Strain' onto the Raspberries.
Within 30 minutes I had to take the airlock off (all the water had blown out) and just cover the neck with some cheese cloth. It continued like this for 4 days, so powerful it would spew chunks or Raspberry to the ceiling. gross. From just the suspended yeast it reproduced insanely quickly, and it developed a new yeast cake 2 inches tall on top of the fruit.

I racked it off this fruit after 7 days and I Sparkolloided it to see if that would help drop out the 'Moldy' smell.
It did drop out, and now it smells just like Raspberry Wine. However, it tastes way to powerfully like lemon. I now have Lemon Raspberry Wine with an ABV of 7%. I have no Idea what to do with it. I was hoping that it would just pull the Raspberry 'flavor' out but it fermented it into a wine.

I have No idea what to do with it! It smells of a wonderful Red Raspberry Wine with hints of citrus, but the lemon taste is entirely overpowering. When sweetened with cane sugar it takes on a kind of Syrup-y texture with a slimy mouthfeel, but when dry the lemon just kills the Raspberry. It has almost no mouthfeel when dry either, and I believe it has to do with having such a low ABV. My only thoughts as of now are to rack it off the lees and Sparkolloid and just let it bulk age for about 6 months and see how it matures.

What does everyone else think you could possibly do with this stuff?

 

[KevinM]

Backsweeten with a raspberry concentrate? Cut it with raspberry juice when serving. Or age it like you said.