I'm bottling a batch of wine today and I am going through the process of getting out as much of the fruit particles and yeast. I tried to do a siphon and my tubing wasn't working out so well so I dumped it into a 1 gallon water jug and am working on getting it through some coffee filters which is taking for-freaking-ever. There must be a better way to do this.
Removing sedimate from wine.
- Thread starter BenVanned
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Well, if you have that much sediment, you should keep racking the wine until it's clear and not even consider bottling. You should only bottle a fruit wine once it's completely clear and no longer throwing ANY lees after at least 60 days.
By pouring and staining through a filter, you'll aerate the heck out of it, and oxidize it. Make sure you drink it within a month, as oxidation will get worse with time and it'll taste like sherry in a couple of months, and be undrinkable shortly after that.
By pouring and staining through a filter, you'll aerate the heck out of it, and oxidize it. Make sure you drink it within a month, as oxidation will get worse with time and it'll taste like sherry in a couple of months, and be undrinkable shortly after that.
OP
OP
BenVanned
Well-Known Member
The issue is that I was only able to rack by pouring since my tubing had a crack. This stirred the crap at the bottom back up. Also I only made 1 gallon so it will be drank quickly.
OP
OP
BenVanned
Well-Known Member
The issue is that I was only able to rack by pouring since my tubing had a crack. This stirred the crap at the bottom back up. Also I only made 1 gallon so it will be drank quickly.
KemP130
Well-Known Member
Try sticking it in the fridge to cold crash and drop the yeast out of the wine, go to Wally World and get a small tube to siphon the wine off of the lees.
As for the fruit particles, I'm not really sure how to deal with them other than pectase.
As for the fruit particles, I'm not really sure how to deal with them other than pectase.
"Racking" means the process of siphoning. If you rack a wine, you siphon it to a new container.
I like the idea of chilling it first before transferring, as that will definitely help it clear and minimize any sediment picked up in racking. I would never even consider bottling a wine that still had fruit particles in it- the wine should have been racked several times and there shouldn't be anything in it except perhaps for a dusting of lees on the bottom of the vessel. I'm assuming this wine is very young.
I like the idea of chilling it first before transferring, as that will definitely help it clear and minimize any sediment picked up in racking. I would never even consider bottling a wine that still had fruit particles in it- the wine should have been racked several times and there shouldn't be anything in it except perhaps for a dusting of lees on the bottom of the vessel. I'm assuming this wine is very young.
Dicky
Well-Known Member
It really should be left for the sediment to settle again. In the mean time, go and buy a syphoning tube. 
Dicky
Dicky
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BenVanned
Well-Known Member
I've already killed it with campden tablets. There is another thread about what I am doing exactly. Its an experimental batch basically to see how quickly I can produce a batch of wine with free/extremely cheap/supplies I had on hand. It appears as though the coffee filters are working because I am on the 3rd run and I have no yeast/fruit in the filter. I am going to be giving it away in 16oz bottles for quick consumption.
But campden doesn't kill wine yeast. Just thought I'd mention that in case your gift recipients hate bottle bombs.
Nope. It's an antioxidant, and you can use it at every other racking to keep the level at 50 ppm or so, plus at bottling. It works as a preservative also. Winemakers routinely use sulfites in this way, as wine yeast is not very susceptible to sulfites.
In order to inhibit fermentation from beginning again, potassium sorbate is what is used. It doesn't kill yeast either, but it works to inhibit yeast reproduction. It works best in the presence of sulfite, so it's usually added in conjunction with the campden.
It doesn't stop fermentation, but in a finished wine it is used to "stabilize" the wine. Once the wine is clear, and it's racked off of the lees (to reduce the amount of yeast), the stabilizers are added. It's best to wait a day or two, and then the wine can be sweetened to taste. Since the yeast still in the wine can't reproduce, this usually works to stop fermentation from recurring.
But adding campden and sorbate to an active fermentation to halt it is like putting a brick on a train track to stop a train. It simply doesn't work that way. If you added enough campden to actually kill/stop the yeast, you'd render the wine undrinkable as it would take a huge dose.
