I am in the process of racking my home made wine and have a question?

Question

The clarity, if I allow it to sit, is impressive, but I can't seem to filter out the sediment. I have used cheesecloth, and even coffee filters to try and get the sediment out of there and I was wondering if anyone might have some simple remedies for this I might find in my house?

Answer 1

you need proper finings . I found this by googling the words wine finings

Reasons why wine will not clear.


The wine could still be fermenting.
Check with the hydrometer.
Most country wines and some kit wines suffer from pectin hazes.
It is prudent to assume that pectin is likely to be present and add Super Enzyme (or a pectic enzyme) at the time of adding the yeast.
No finings have been added.
Even if a wine appears clear, dissolved protein can still precipitate later to form a haze or sediment and can interfere with the correct maturing of the wine. Use Vin Clear sachets or liquid finings and put in a cool place.
Finings have been added at the wrong temperature.
The wine must be cool during the fining process (18C, 64F or below) and the temperature must not be falling. Cool the wine overnight and when thoroughly cool, add the wine finings as instructed.
Fining gel too liquid.
Isinglass finings, the most widely used, changes from a gel to a runny liquid if stored too long in a warm place. The liquid has very little fining action, though if added to the wine, it can be removed completely by a further addition of fresh gel. Always store liquid finings in a cool place. However, Vin Clear sachet finings are a special product that does not suffer from any of the disadvantages of the liquid isinglass finings. This product can be stored almost indefinitely at any temperature and still remain 100% active because it’s origin is from freeze-dried isinglass.
The home winemaker can produce brilliant wines quickly and easily by following a few simple rules.

CLEARING WINES

Many winemakers will think when reading this title, why bother, allowing my wines to stand, followed by racking has always been good enough for me. Bouquet and taste are very important, but the appearance of a wine is normally its first attraction. Take a glass of water from the tap, hold it up to the light and observe the brilliance... we take this for granted if not for drinking! Wines should also be made to shine like this.



Firstly, it is necessary to understand the reasons why some wines remain obstinately cloudy long after fermentation has completed.

After fermentation and racking, wines often have a hazy appearance. Hazes are basically formed from all fruit and vegetables used in winemaking and are also present in concentrates used in kit wines. Country wines in particular, can produce the most complex hazes, which are more difficult to clear. Technology can prove that the finest wine haze can take up to 60 years to settle and few winemakers are not likely to wait that long, hence the need to speed up the operation.

There are normally millions of microscopic particles in the wine, of all shapes and sizes that are too light to settle and are constantly floating in the wine.

It is the vast number of particles present which cause the haze. These particles carry a minute positive electrical charge, which prevents them from joining to form larger ones. However, by adding a substance with an opposite charge (you will recall from science lessons that unlike charges attract) this enables the particles to grow, become heavier and then fall as a sediment.

This is the principle of fining and is a vital step in the effective clearing of wines.

Unfortunately, in some wines there are stubborn hazes that carry no minute electrical charge. These are pectin and starch hazes where a jelly like film surrounds the haze particles making it more troublesome to clear. This produces a type of frog-spawn effect in the wine, making it difficult for a fining reagent to reach and be attracted to the haze particles.

To obtain star-bright wines easily and quickly it is necessary to


consider the following basic steps: -

1. Treat for PECTIN (or starch).
2. Add FININGS.
3. FILTER for professional brilliance.

1. It is reasonable to assume that pectin will be present to some extent in all wines. To remove pectin treat with Super Enzyme (now available in sachets) preferably at the time of adding the yeast, or during fermentation. However, if added later you should then keep the wine in a warm place for at least 3-4 days.

2. Add VIN CLEAR wine finings (or similar) to the wine whenever it remains cloudy after fermentation and racking. Many types of wine finings are available, but for hundreds of years isinglass has been a most reliable treatment for clearing both beer and wine. Although isinglass is convenient to apply in the liquid form, there has always been concern over its shelf life. From the time of manufacture, it begins to deteriorate, a simple analogy being that of a charged battery that begins to discharge upon standing. Isinglass liquid finings also denature rapidly, with consequent loss of fining properties, when exposed to temperatures above 20 C, even for short periods of time.

VIN CLEAR sachets are now available in freeze-dried powder form. This new product can be stored almost indefinitely at any temperature and still remain 100% active. VINCLEAR is a highly effective fining reagent, containing a mixture of both freeze-dried isinglass and silica hydrogel. The latter is normally only available to the commercial


breweries.

3. To achieve professional brilliance, it is worthwhile considering a wine filter, which is extremely useful and simple to use. A filter will remove minute particles much smaller than the human eye could ever possibly see.

The principle of wine filtration is straightforward.... a barrier is simply placed across the path of the wine. The barrier (better known as a filter pad ) comprises a material having countless thousands of pores that are small enough to trap the greatest possible number of haze particles, whilst still allowing the wine to pass through. Filter pads are highly sensitive products, having small pores that perform much better when used for polishing a reasonably clear wine, typically after following the earlier steps 1 & 2. After polishing through a filter kit, this will produce a wine with true colour and professional brilliance.

Answer 2

The purpose of racking is to siphon off as much liquid with out disturbing the sediment, the goal is to leave the sediment behind.It takes a bit of practice but if you have a automatic siphon type racking cane the job will be allot easier & far less frustrating I have had the best results by using a piece of wood to tilt the carboy as far as possible, let it rest so anything solid falls to the bottom start the siphon and gently place the tip in the low corner you created by tilting the carboy. It is kind of hard to explain but by doing so you can siphon out allot more of the liquid. Unless you are willing to invest in a filtration system really good clarity can be achieved by racking you wine a few times and once you get good at it & if everything goes right you should be able to leave 95% of the sediment behind, but some will always get through the first time you rack the second time will go allot smoother because there will be so little sediment

Answer 3

Bentonite is an effective clarifier which has minimal effect on the flavor. Mix up some bentonite per the instructions and after it's settled, rack again off of the sediment. What people most dislike about bentonite as a fining agent is that it is VERY easily stirred up after it settles, so do be careful.

Both cheesecloth and coffee filters are too coarse to get the last little bits of sediment, but the bentonite should get the last little bits that the coffee filter doesn't catch.

You could try gelatine, too.

Here is a great dissertation on the variety of fining agents available, how they work, how well they work, and any possible effects on the wine as they're used:
http://www.makewine.com/makewine/fining.html

Answer 4

According to Jeff Cox the author of "From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes & Making Your Own Wine" an egg wihite can be used. Cox states that the process is very simple:

1) Carefully seperate one fresh age white, there musn't be any traces of yellow.

2) Beat the white gently (one egg white is enough for about 10 gallons of wine)

3) Pour half the beaten white into a 5-gallon carboy and stir it in gently and thoroughly with a CLEAN stick or rod. Do not allow too much are into the wine.

4) Replace cork and airlock.

Within ten days the wine MAY be clear.

Let me know how it turns out.

Answer 5

I assume you are racking with the use of a siphon tube. If so, just rack the clear wine - you are going to try to leave as much of the sediment at the bottom and not suck it up in your hose. You are going to lose a little liquid, but that is inevitible. If your wine is hazy, you can add a campden tab (or 2) and it should clear, but you indicate it is clear until you rack it and stir it up. I have to move mine before racking, so I always let it set to resettle. The secret is to disturb the substances that have settled as little as possible. Good luck!

Answer 6

#1 Yeast #2 Eldaberrys or grapes(they must be natural not preserved) #3 1 1/2 cups sugar #4 a balloon #5 put in a dark area for a month #6 when ballon is full let air out,and do the same again. #the baloon must be on the jug securely,and the more it fills month after month the stronger it'll be.Just let the air out then restore the balloon on the jug,you can use grapes any fruits.It's alot easier thogh with a press,i used to make apple cider,WOW, that would f__kin reck you,probably about 90%alcohol level is what i produced,till i thought this is crazy it's esier to go to the store lol,you know what i'm saying.Cause it's a pain in the a_s to do this.For the recipe above use a 1 gallon jug happy winning:)

Answer 7

There are some useful tips here.