Wayne1
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- May 28, 2008
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Hello all - thought I would see what opinions/suggestions I might get regarding a haze in an apricot wine I'm working on - this was the second fruit wine I've ever made
I started the fermentation on 5/18/08 so it has been coming up on three months that it has not cleared - I followed the recipe in the "Winemaker's recipe handbook" - in retrospect, I think I mashed the fruit too much. I really gave it a work over with a potatoe masherand then squeezed the life out of it when I took the fruit bag out of the primary fermenter - I thought it would give it extra flavor!
I have racked it on 5/23, 5/27, 7/4, and 8/3 and it has never cleared. At the 8/3 racking I added two teaspoons of pectic enzyme in case it was pectin haze. Now I'm wondering if it is starch haze that I've read about? I saw in one of the resources that amylase is the solution in that case although it seems George does not seem to sell that.
My house is set at 78 degrees - this Texas heat is killing my electricity bill! - so maybe it is too warm.
When I last racked it, it didn't taste half bad so I think it may have potential.
I'm wondering if I should try to find some amylase to add or if I should try to cool it (not quite sure how I would do that - I'd have to take over the refrigerator!) or if I should just give the pectic enzyme more time????
Thanks for any suggestions. I'm going toadd a couple of pictures. In the group photo, the apricot is on the far right - that is watermelon wine to it's left as a comparison of a wine that did clear. (strawberry in the back)
I started the fermentation on 5/18/08 so it has been coming up on three months that it has not cleared - I followed the recipe in the "Winemaker's recipe handbook" - in retrospect, I think I mashed the fruit too much. I really gave it a work over with a potatoe masherand then squeezed the life out of it when I took the fruit bag out of the primary fermenter - I thought it would give it extra flavor!
I have racked it on 5/23, 5/27, 7/4, and 8/3 and it has never cleared. At the 8/3 racking I added two teaspoons of pectic enzyme in case it was pectin haze. Now I'm wondering if it is starch haze that I've read about? I saw in one of the resources that amylase is the solution in that case although it seems George does not seem to sell that.
My house is set at 78 degrees - this Texas heat is killing my electricity bill! - so maybe it is too warm.
When I last racked it, it didn't taste half bad so I think it may have potential.
I'm wondering if I should try to find some amylase to add or if I should try to cool it (not quite sure how I would do that - I'd have to take over the refrigerator!) or if I should just give the pectic enzyme more time????
Thanks for any suggestions. I'm going toadd a couple of pictures. In the group photo, the apricot is on the far right - that is watermelon wine to it's left as a comparison of a wine that did clear. (strawberry in the back)