My wine wont clear.. what can i do?

I made a 5 gallon batch of pear wine (took hours to peel those damn things) on 8/28/08 - Now its pretty much done, but it wont clear up. it has been cloudy forever and im not sure what to do to clear it up so i can bottle it. I racked it off the lees and got 3 1-gallon jugs from the original 5 gallon batch.

About 4 days ago i put isenglas in the jugs in an attempt to clear it up but it doesnt look like it has started to do anything yet.. any ideas?

Well, the first thing that I would do is get it really cold- like in a fridge. A couple of weeks should clear it up. If it still doesn't clear, there are other finings you can use. I like Sparkelloid- it seems to work well for me.

In order to get the best fining for the job, though, it's good to try to figure out what's causing the haze. In this case, I'm wondering if it's a pectin haze. Did you use pectic enzyme at all? Did you happen heat up the fruit? I'd maybe try the chilling first, then try pectic enzyme. If that doesn't work, then maybe the sparkelloid.

+1 on the fridge, clears really fast!

I did use pectic enzyme in the begining part of the recipe. I peeled and chopped the fruit, then boiled honeywater and poured it over teh fruit, added the enzyme etc.. then 10 days later rack to carboy and a month later to the 3 1-gallon jugs. where they sat for another couple months.

+1 to the sparklloid and pectic enzyme

thats the one two punch combo I use in my fruit wines. The sparkloid does take about 2-3 days to see a difference and 2 weeks for crystal clear.

Do NOT BOIL HONEY!

I would wait. Maybe rack in 60 days.

Tusch said:

Do NOT BOIL HONEY!

Click to expand...

check this one out! hahha

http://www.washingtonwinemaker.com/blog/2008/10/28/making-mead-testing-the-controversy-over-boiling/


but I would try the fridge before putting any chemicals into it. the fridge does wonders.

LakeErieBrew said:

I would wait. Maybe rack in 60 days.

Click to expand...

+1 I have a wine that I started back in January. I tried to remain consistent and rack every 2 to 3 months. I just racked again last week and it was very clear. Yet when I held it up last night, I could see some faint traces of lees dropping. I vote give it time.

Not to hijack, but if OP/I were to put it in a fermentation cooler to help the clearing along, what temp range should he/I shoot for? I'm guessing 50ºF - 60ºF?

Sticking to no boil. I have read that article before though, thanks for bringing it up for those that have not seen it. In the end it gets down to preference, but I enjoy the body of my meads and prefer to have the stronger aromatics.

Tusch said:

Sticking to no boil. I have read that article before though, thanks for bringing it up for those that have not seen it. In the end it gets down to preference, but I enjoy the body of my meads and prefer to have the stronger aromatics.

Click to expand...

the only mead I have made is JAO, and that is still fermenting right now. so my mead knowledge is pretty low. ill take your word for it.

/hyjack

for cold temp clearing I would go with fridge temps, low 40's to no colder than 35deg. 50-60 is too warm. ( I know because my house is at 59 during the day and 50-53 at night. College student, rather spend my money on making wine than running the heater! )

anyway that didn't really help it to clear at all. I did an experiment. I have two batches going right now of strawberry, same yeast same recipe. one went in the fridge one in the closet. Its only been a week, but wow there is a huge difference. the one in the fridge has more dropped lees too.

for one gallon country batches I am too cheap to use clarifiers. I usually just wait the wine out. Plus it needs the aging anyway.

If refrigeration does not throw the wine clear then fine with your choice of:
gelatin,
Polyclar,
Sparkloid,
Bentonite,
egg white

information about using these finning agents is readily available via google search.

I have used all of those except the egg whites. I would not recommend the bentonite, its better added pre-fermentation.

keep racking... you can't expect it to clear after the first racking. if after the third rack, it still doesn't clear, then you can use wine finings.

Well i put the 3 1-gallon jugs of pear wine, 1 gal red grape wine, 1 gal white grape wine, and 1 gal gooseberry wine i made early summer into my front room which isnt heated and near the 35 degree mark. I let them set there for 3 weeks. During that 3 weeks all the wines cleared up except the pear. It is still as cloudy as it has been since I made it. So I took one of the jugs out of the front room and added more pectic enzyme. Hopefully it will clear it up in a few days.

So to date I have tried:

Pectic Enzyme
Crash Cooling
Isinglas

Not sure what ill do next if it dont clear. I sampled it a couple days ago and it was great. I just gotta wait till it clears so I can bottle it.

Mirilis said:

I made a 5 gallon batch of pear wine (took hours to peel those damn things) on 8/28/08 - Now its pretty much done, but it wont clear up. it has been cloudy forever and im not sure what to do to clear it up so i can bottle it. I racked it off the lees and got 3 1-gallon jugs from the original 5 gallon batch.

About 4 days ago i put isenglas in the jugs in an attempt to clear it up but it doesnt look like it has started to do anything yet.. any ideas?

Click to expand...

Are you sure it is done?

If you are sure, then plain old cold crashing and time should do the trick.

I like sparkelloid better than isinglass for clearing fruit wines. Give that a try if the cold storage doesn't work!

Is my pear wine clearing or not? Help!

I have a 3 gallon batch in glass secondary, and a pint Ball jar for topping off. Wine is 7 weeks old, and is still dropping a little sediment. I used Jacks recipe, and used Pectin enzyme in the primary.

Now, in the Ball jar, i see a crystal clear (except for a substantial golden hue) 1" layer on top. Does this mean the clearing is stuck or just getting started? that 1" layer sure looks beautiful!

Another problem, it already tastes better than the junk wine i buy. The Ball jar is already 1/2 empty. My last batch was gone by 6 months never even got to taste a mature bottle.

Thanks for looking, this is my first post, So hello everybody.

Junbao said:

Is my pear wine clearing or not? Help!

I have a 3 gallon batch in glass secondary, and a pint Ball jar for topping off. Wine is 7 weeks old, and is still dropping a little sediment. I used Jacks recipe, and used Pectin enzyme in the primary.

Now, in the Ball jar, i see a crystal clear (except for a substantial golden hue) 1" layer on top. Does this mean the clearing is stuck or just getting started? that 1" layer sure looks beautiful!

Another problem, it already tastes better than the junk wine i buy. The Ball jar is already 1/2 empty. My last batch was gone by 6 months never even got to taste a mature bottle.

Thanks for looking, this is my first post, So hello everybody.

Click to expand...

Welcome! It sounds like it is clearing up still. My most recent batch of cider in a 5gal better bottle had the couple inches of crystal clear liquid on top of haziness that you mentioned. After a few more weeks, the whole thing cleared up nicely. Just give it some more time. You could try using some eggwhites to fine it if you're feeling impatient.