Stabilize and bottle

[Lauritsen]

At what point do I add sorbate and campden? right before fining agents or right after clearing when ready to bottle?

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Unless you are back sweetening, do not add the sorbate.
If you have a test kit, I'd test the wine and make your decision based on the actual levels.
If not, It really depends on when you last added potassium metabisulfite, if it was within the past 2 months, I wouldn't add anything, that said, I'd add it after the wine is clear.

 

[Lauritsen]

I want to back sweeten.
Do I degas, add sorbate and campden plus fining agents, wait till clear, bottle?
Or do I degas, add finings, wait till clear and sorbate and campden right before bottleling.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Lauritsen,
Let time degas the wine for you, within 6-12 months the wine will be properly degassed by mother nature, the only time that it is recommended to degass is when making kits that want to speed up the process to a few weeks, a big mistake in my opinion.

Once fermentation is complete (.990) I rack to a clean carboy or demijohn and stabilize with meta and let age.
I'm going to assume that this is a white or fruit wine, or possibly a cider since you want to fine and back sweeten.

I typically allow my white and fruit wines at least 6 months to age, but this depends on the wine, (my reds are aged between a year and a half to two years).

Once I feel that the wine is done aging and ready to fine and back sweeten I'll add the fining agent, I prefer Sparkolloid, and wait until the wine is clear, at this point I'll rack off the sediment\lees to a clean carboy or demijohn and I'll add the meta and sorbate (I usually filter all of my whites wines, ciders and fruit wines to get that real polished look).

I make a simple syrup with 2 parts sugar to 1 part water,

Add the syrup a little at a time, stir well and allow to sit for a few mins and taste, add enough syrup until you reach your preferred level of sweetness.

I hope that this helps.

 

[Lauritsen]

yes. Its Apple wine.

WHY do you age when its still not cleared (fined) and not vice versa? The yeast could give off flavour

My apple wine finished fermenting, I racked, forgot degassing, added fining agents. Waited 10 days and absolutely nothing happend. I then degassed it but it in a colder room and it started clearing.

Its almost cleared, but still somewhat cloudy. I tasted it, but it tastes hard, harsh and a bit sour, how can that be?

 

[Yooper]

yes. Its Apple wine.

WHY do you age when its still not cleared (fined) and not vice versa? The yeast could give off flavour

My apple wine finished fermenting, I racked, forgot degassing, added fining agents. Waited 10 days and absolutely nothing happend. I then degassed it but it in a colder room and it started clearing.

Its almost cleared, but still somewhat cloudy. I tasted it, but it tastes hard, harsh and a bit sour, how can that be?

I've needed to degas ONE wine in more than 25 years. While degassing if truly necessary may not hurt the wine, it risks oxidation as well as stirs up the sediment in the wine.

Aging is the best way to degas the wine- the excess c02 comes out through the airlock.

Racking the wine to get it off the lees every 60 days is important, sooner if there are gross (thick) lees.

Your apple wine may taste harsh because it is young, and a bit sour, because it is dry and the sugar fermented out. Apples have lots of malic acid, and once the sugar is fermented out, it can come across as tart especially in a young wine.

If the wine is less than 6 months old, rack when there are lees 1/4" thick or more, or ANY lees at all after 60 days in a new vessel. Top up. Repeat as needed. Once no more lees fall after at least 60 days, the wine should be ready for fining if it is not clear at that point.

It makes no sense to fine a wine that isn't ready to be bottled.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Once you rack after fermentation is finished the bulk of the sediment/lees will have dropped out of suspension, I let age degass and do the bulk of fining for me, it won't be siting on the gross less that can cause off flavors, once the wine has aged - this will vary with different wine and ciders, I fine, rack, stabilize(meta & sorbate) and back sweeten. Even after all this, you mat see some sediment in the bottles - this is why I filter whites, ciders and fruit wines before bottling.

I agree with Yooper, the harsh taste is just a real young wine.

I have 18 gallons of hard cider that has been aging since October, I'll taste it again in a month or two and see if it has mellowed with age, if not, back to aging it goes, if it is ready, I plan on making a sparkling cider using Bzacs sparkling wine in 2 weeks method.

I hope that this helps