Clearing wines

[Kretzy]

So I started making wine with a pear wine recipe and have two bottles waiting they are still having a little issue clearing... It though maybe it was just because it was a fruit wine so I tried my hand at a nut wine and am still having the same issue after 10 days in the primary I siphoned it off into one gallon secondaries. I thought that it might be somewhat clear by now but it still extremely cloudy, it something that you just really have to wait for it to clear? Any advice would be helpful I am new at this!!

 

[Tbone66]

I'm still a new-fish when it comes to making wine but from what I understand time is your friend when it comes to clearing. I've read on this forum and on Jack keller's website that if you rack it off the lees every 1-3 months most wines will eventually clear on their own (6-12 mo). If you don't want to wait that long, I had good luck tag teaming an apricot wine with bentonite and sparkolloid. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong and hook you up with more details too.

Ryan..

 

[brazedowl]

+ 1 for being paitent I'm not a big fan of racking over and over again. I find it as an oppertunity to introduce oxygen, pathogens and inevetably suck up some of the lees and resuspend them.

I'm also a fan of bentonite. i have a little food processor and I blend bentonite, warm water and pectic enzyme and rerack onto it if a batch is being stuborn and cloudy at 5+ months.

 

[Turnerdude1]

In the past when I have wine that is slow to clear, say some blackberry wine I made last spring. What I do is place the wine in my basement entrance and leave it for a couple of months during the winter. It stays around 55 deg there and this helps it clear...This is also know a cold crashing..

 

[Cjacquette81]

So cold crashing is putting the wine in a cold place and allowing the temperature to clear it? Noobie question I know but I gotta learn

 

[brazedowl]

Cold crashing will make the yeast go dormant and settle out, but if you have OTHER THINGS like pectin and whatnot causing haze that won't get rid of that.

 

[summersolstice]

If you continue in this hobby you'll eventually have enough wine in various stages (including bottled wine in racks, one the shelves, in boxes and anywhere you have a little extra space) of completion where allowing them to sit for a year is no problem. If you allow it sit long enough it will clear.

 

[Kretzy]

Thanks! I am looking forward to growing my collection of homemade wines!!
Right now the nut wines are in the secondary fermenter waiting for completion, do you think it is ok if I just go ahead and bottle them after they are done and set them to clear for as long as it takes or leave them in the secondary to clear?
At what stage do I ad the bentonite?
I do not think pectin is the issue for these guys as the primary ingredients are nuts and dried grapes...

Thanks for all the helpful advice!!!

 

[Kretzy]

If you continue in this hobby you'll eventually have enough wine in various stages (including bottled wine in racks, one the shelves, in boxes and anywhere you have a little extra space) of completion where allowing them to sit for a year is no problem. If you allow it sit long enough it will clear.

Thanks! I am looking forward to this!!

I am also looking forward to giving a go at your port you posted not to long ago! I love port and would love to try to make it!

 

[Yooper]

Thanks! I am looking forward to growing my collection of homemade wines!!
Right now the nut wines are in the secondary fermenter waiting for completion, do you think it is ok if I just go ahead and bottle them after they are done and set them to clear for as long as it takes or leave them in the secondary to clear?
At what stage do I ad the bentonite?
I do not think pectin is the issue for these guys as the primary ingredients are nuts and dried grapes...

Thanks for all the helpful advice!!!

Well, you can bottle them when they are finished if you'd like. However, you'll get all of the sediment and stuff in the bottle. Better is to let it sit in the carboy, topped up near the bung, and rack whenever there are lees over 1/4" thick over 45-60 days. You may have a pectin haze, a yeast haze, etc. Without knowing the cause of the haze, it's harder to treat.

I'd keep it in the carboy for at least 4-6 months before bottling and/or treating for a haze.

 

[Kretzy]

Any opinions on glass vs plastic carboys?
I am going to age like you suggested Yopper, but I do not have many five gallon jugs laying around. I read someone suggested to go buy water jugs and reuse those, any thoughts? Is it better to just invest in glass?
They will probably be aging for a minimum on 6 months I do not want much leeching going on!

 

[brazedowl]

I do all mine in 5gallon blue water-cooler jugs without any ill effects. But then again I've never done a batch in paralell in a glass jug to do a quality comparison. Hmm... time to apply the scientific method.

 

[Cjacquette81]

I do all mine in 5gallon blue water-cooler jugs without any ill effects. But then again I've never done a batch in paralell in a glass jug to do a quality comparison. Hmm... time to apply the scientific method.

Are you referring to the water cooler containers?

 

[brazedowl]

Are you referring to the water cooler containers?

Maybe? Here's what I'm talkin' about.

http://bottled-waterbrands.blogspot.com/2010/03/review-of-primo-five-5-gallon-bulk.html

 

[Kretzy]

So my almond and hazelnut wines are clearing up beautifully! However my pistachio is still really hazy is there a way that I can test to find out if it is fixable? Or should I just lock it away somewhere and forget about it? Until it clears on its own?