Clearing, then bottle aging.

[BassSpy]

I started a watermelon wine toward the end of July. It is currently stabilized and waiting for a racking on Saturday. It tastes great as of now. Would it be too soon to clear with bentonite for 2 weeks, then bottle for aging? My big concern is the headspace in the carboy after reading so much about it. The same goes for an apricot mead in the same stage.

 

[BassSpy]

This is a pic of my mead, after racking. It's stabilized and clearing. Head space problem?

 

[Yooper]

This is a pic of my mead, after racking. It's stabilized and clearing. Head space problem?

Yes. You want almost NO headspace in the carboy! It needs to be either topped up, racked to a smaller carboy, filled up with sanitized marbles, etc, whatever it takes to reduce the headspace immediately.

 

[BassSpy]

OK. I'll use marbles. Thanks.

 

[BassSpy]

Would you consider my wine to be "young."

 

[Yooper]

Would you consider my wine to be "young."

Yes, absolutely. It's what? Less than three months old? I bottle most low ABV wines when completely clear and no new lees fall after at least 60 days- often 9-12 months.

 

[BassSpy]

That's good. I think I'm just over anxious. I'm very patient and get excited every chance I get to rack or any other steps I get to take concerning the process. My biggest concern, being a first-time brewer, is how I can tell, in the early stages, that my wine is going to be good and age properly. I'm guessing the only thing I can go on is smell. I've tasted some batches, and I share the opinion with my mom, that its bearable, not awful, but the taste is strong. If it where needed to be drank, we could probably only have 2 glasses. Like a light beer drinker drinking a stout. Is that about right?