Way too much sediment

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DukeLuke

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I started a concord grape wine about a month ago. It is coming along well and already has a good taste especially considering how young it is. My only concern is the amount of sediment at the bottom. If you look at the picture you can see what I mean. Other wines I've made have had an inch or two at the most of sediment from the deceased yeast. I don't understand what all this extra sediment is from. Is it from the grapes or just a lot of dead yeast? It would be a shame if I had to just siphon off only the wine above that sediment because as you can see, the sediment fills about a third of the whole carboy, which would mean a huge loss in volume of finished wine. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Did you make it from the grapes? If so - then it is probably from the grape skins/pulp. I am not sure if there is anything you can do - it doesn't appear to be to compact - maybe let it go a while - see if it settles/compacts down some more.

Is it done fermenting?
Has it been degassed yet?

It also looks like you might need to top it off if fermentation is complete.
 
Yeah I made it from fresh grapes. I sort of figured that it was just from the skins since I haven't had this problem with other wines in the past. This is my first grape wine. And I am pretty sure it is done fermenting. I never see the airlock bubble anymore. And no it hasn't been degassed. Is that important? Also, is it important to top it off? I have about half a gallon leftover from the same batch but this doesn't have the same taste as what's in the carboy above. But when I say "half a gallon," I mean that including the sediment. It is mostly just this sediment in my half gallon leftover.
 
if it is done fermenting - you no longer have the CO2 protective layer on top. And with that much void in the carboy - it leaves room for air pressure to +/- which can lead to oxidation.

Degassing will help with clearing.
 
Thats even more sediment than my mango had! Unfortunately you will not have as much wine as you expected but it happens. I would rack off all that sediment fairly quickly as long as fermentation subsides.
 
Hoo Boy. That IS a lot of sediment..

Questions..

1) Did you ferment with the skins? Are the grape skins actually in the carboy or did you press (or strain) the juice before you filled the carboy?

2) Did you check the PH or acid level? The wine looks very brown and also clear in some spots. It may be that your acid level is too high and the sediment includes the spent tanins and pigments of the juice. I hope not.

Note: you seem to have a very large void in the carboy. You should fill that sucka up!
 
Some times the sediment gathers around the sides and looks more than it is - give the carboy a sharp twist to see if that dislodges any of this and settles it some more. If not, yeah, that's a lot of sediment.
 
Well I started with two straining bags full of grapes (skins and all) but I didn't really tie them very well and they kinda fell open so some grape stuff fell in but I scooped most of it back in the bags. But after about 6 days I removed the bags and pressed the juice from them.
And I don't have anything to test the ph. Will I be able to fix the ph if it is off?
Also, I'm concerned about after I rack off the sediment. After that, I'll have even less wine and certainly not enough to fill a three gallon carboy. Should I just fill up a one gallon jug and leave the rest in the three gallon? I'm sort of running out of glassware here..
 
That looks like a lot of sediment and you need to get your wine off of it as it can spoil. If thats a 3 gallon carboy then you are going to need 2 gallon jugsor maybe a 1 gallon and a magnum with airlocks.
 
Does it make any sense to rack it, then try to get the remaining juice out by like straining it with a coffee filter in a funnel?
 
Does it make any sense to rack it, then try to get the remaining juice out by like straining it with a coffee filter in a funnel?

this is a finished fermentation..if you had a go at straining it like this, you'd expose it to too much oxygen.

Allie
 
I would rack as much clear stuff as you could into one bottle and then rack as much of the murky stuff(not the sediment itself) into another vessel to let it clear better so that you could try and get some more wine out of it.
 
Thanks for all the advice. It's a little disappointing because I thought I was going to get more finished wine out of all this but I guess I won't get as much as I expected. I'll just rack off the clear part then.
 
How does the wine smell and taste?

Also, do yourself a favor and purchase an acid titration kit. they cost about $6 or $7 and can give you an idea of you ph level. My fear is that the wine looks a little brown (an indication of an oxidized wine). If it is, then the likely causes were either the acid level not being where it should or due to the void you left int the carboy. You should be able to tell if the wine has oxidized with a quick sniff and taste. I'll keep my fingures crossed!!!!!!!
 
I tasted it the other day and it seemed fine. Will I be able to salvage it once I transfer some two a one-gallon jug and make that's filled all the way?
 
I tasted it the other day and it seemed fine. Will I be able to salvage it once I transfer some two a one-gallon jug and make that's filled all the way?

If it TASTES fine, then chances are that it is fine. I still recomend that you test the acid levels.

By all means, transter to smaller vessels and get them as filled up as soon as possible. Give the wine a little time and see.

johnT.
 
I am currently making a 3 gallon batch of noble muscadine. Once fermentation completed and it began to settle, I had as much sediment as you. It did not seem to compact much at all. I fermented on the skins and then pressed. Next time I think I'll strain what comes out of the press to reduce the amount of sediment. I ended up racking the clear wine off the top, then stirred up the remaining wine with the sediment and poured it through a fine strainer. It has now settled again to about half of what you show in the pic. I did this over the weekend. I think I'll rack again this coming weekend into a couple of 1 gallon carboys, this time without disturbing the sediment. I read in another post that I could take the remaining juice with the sediment in it an put it in the fridge for a while to see if I can get the sediment to compact. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some more of the wine.
 
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Some times the sediment gathers around the sides and looks more than it is - give the carboy a sharp twist to see if that dislodges any of this and settles it some more. If not, yeah, that's a lot of sediment.

EXACTLY what I was gonna say ;)
 
I read in another post that I could take the remaining juice with the sediment in it an put it in the fridge for a while to see if I can get the sediment to compact. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some more of the wine.

Just keep the container of sediment and wine sealed and with as little air space as possible. Some people do but I wouldn't leave it to settle more than 4 or 5 days; it can start getting a little bitter on top of all that sediment.
 

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