Watermelon Wine NOOB ?

[BrewTech117]

So I started my first and Second Batch of Watermelon Wine a Few days ago 08/23/15 and 08/30/15 And have a Few questions. I Ordered all the stuff needed from Northern Brewer in a Vineyard Kit and began brewing this recipe:

http://www.eckraus.com/winerecipes/watermelonwine.pdf (Hope the link works)

I followed everything to the "T" except for When I Racked to a secondary I did not add water to make it equal 5 gallons again...

AND Keeping good notes, which I usualy do.

My Gravity seems high - Maybe I am reading my Hydro wrong? But yet if i do my math right my wine will be about a 15 % ABV which does seem right.
On Step 4 of my first batch I let it sit and did not touch it while in my 8 Gallon Plastic bucket - On my 2nd Batch Brewed a week later I am pushing the pulp and mashing it while the yeast is on top .

Now down to my questions
1) What happens if I bottle this wine (After the tablets kill the yeast) This weekend while its still PINK color, I honestly dont want a clear wine, Id prefer to have color.
2) Does not adding water to it make Stronger, Should I add water NOW? IS it too late?
3) Do i need to wait the 4-6 weeks to let it finish and get clear or is it good to go as is?

 

[ncredneck]

Leting it clear does not mean the color it will still be pink. It means letting the yeast drop out. At this time it is cloudy when it clears it will be pink and translusent.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

If you only put it together a week or two ago, you definitely want to let it go a lot longer.

I actually just bottled a watermelon wine earlier this week that I started in mid August...of 2014

Most of the fermentation action is probably done by now, but it definitely still needs time to condition and clear. Mine didn't look like watermelon when it was bottled, but it does have a very slight pinkish hue.

If you're looking for advice, I'd say rack them to carboys in a week or two and top them off with water (or some other white wine) until you have as little headspace as possible. At that point, just forget about them. Check on them every few weeks/months and rack when there's about an inch of sediment on the bottom. The important thing here is that wine, like beer, will be ready when it's ready and doesn't really care what the instructions say.

Give it time, forget about it, and have a few homebrews in the mean time

 

[Yooper]

1. There are no "tablets to kill yeast". Campden tablets are an antioxidant and preservative and are used routinely in wine making- they don't kill yeast. Sorbate inhibits yeast when added to a completely clear and finished wine that is no longer dropping any lees at all, as it doesn't allow yeast reproduction. If you add it to a wine that is still full of yeast, the yeast doesn't need to reproduce and it will do nothing, except perhaps cause a bad flavor from stressing the yeast. Yeast in wine does not taste good- it tastes yeasty, and sometimes a bit sour. You want to wait, even if you don't really want to wait.

2. Yes. If you did not top up as per the instructions you will have a higher ABV wine, as well as too much headspace in the carboy. If there is a ton of space in the carboy, rack to a smaller carboy or top up with a commercial white wine. Headspace in the carboy will ruin the wine relatively quickly.

3. At least 60 days in a new carboy, without any new sediment dropping, before the wine will be good to bottle. So that means let it sit this time for 60 days or so, or until you have lees 1/4" thick or more. Then rack to a new vessel, top up, and start the clock again. Once it is clear, no longer dropping any lees at all in a carboy after 60 days, it can be stabilized with sorbate and campden (sorbate works better in the presence of campden), and then sweetened to taste if desired. A few days after that, if it remains clear and no fermentation restarts, it can be bottled.