Help! Need advice with pear wine.....

[Wendy McGuire]

About 18 months ago I started a 6 gallon carboy of wild texas Mustang grape wine at the same time I started a 3 gallon jar of pear wine. Mustang grape wine is now ready to bottle and it's beautiful however a few weeks after starting the pear wine it wouldnt bubble and It had a funky scent so I decided to toss it... my husband took it out to the barn to go empty at later. Now fast forward 18 months later to now he just found it he forgot to empty it. Oddly enough the air lock still had water in it. And the liquid inside was clear on top with fruit must on the bottom and a strong alcohol scent... To say the least we were quite surprised it wasn't just rotten mold.... So we cyphered tiny bit off the top to taste, it was alcoholic for sure.. like rubbing alcohol..tasted horrible! I mixed it up when moving it around of course but tested it anyway with hydrometer.....it read at..0* alcohol potential and .900.....Any suggestions?Should i try straining and adding sugar to restart or toss it?

 

[hamiltonkiler]

In my experience unless the liquid is clean a hydrometer is a POS.

I would rack it over to a new carboy and re airlock if temps are right.

Taste it mid run. If it's ok keep it. If not toss it.
New wine is going to taste "hot"
That's why we age it.

 

[jgmillr1]

It is oxidized to death and you are smelling/tasting ethyl acetate (aka fingernail polish remover). Just dump it and move on to the next batch that is going to be drinkable!

 

[IslandLizard]

it was alcoholic for sure.. like rubbing alcohol..tasted horrible!

That's your cue for tossing the content. Sorry!