help clearing

[trudy]

My white Chardonnay just won't clear finished fermenting, no co2 used finnings still won't clear. ..what can I do

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Can you give us a little more detail ?
when you started
hydrometer readings and time or days in between ?

What did you use to clear with ?
was all the CO2 removed prior ?

 

[Julie]

Steve is right without telling what you have done, the readings and steps, it is like trying to predict the future.

 

[cpfan]

Trudy:

Is this a kit (if so which kit), juice pail (brand?), or fresh grapes?

Steve

 

[trudy]

I used a kit from Wilkinsons did not realise I had to take a reading at the start.
I started 3rd October added finnings 13th October at the end of October I was Advised to add a Camden tablet. No co2.
Last week I did a reading and one of them was 1.020.
Also added 2 weeks ago clear it. But still cloudy. No bad smells and I had a little taste and it was nice.

 

[wood1954]

If it was a kit you should add 1 campden tablet per gallon I believe. But it seems like it never finished fermenting. I would just let it sit for another month under an airlock and check for signs of fermenting. If it's a stuck fermentaion you should have a pretty sweet low alcohol wine and if you bottle it it might restart at any time

 

[wineon4]

10 days is way to soon to begin finishing the wine. That reading is high for a Chardonnay to be done. Should finish out 1.0 or lower, then rack and degas, then add finings. I would rack it again and degas with a vacuum then add SuperClear. Did the kit have bentonite with it? Appears that it did not ferment totally before you stabilized. If you added the campden then it probably won't finish fermenting.

 

[trudy]

I followed the instructions when to add stabaliser and finnings as never done this before. It did not have any signs of bubbles in it When I added stabaliser.
I'm a bit confused weekday is racking?

 

[wineon4]

The instructions with a kit are just vague recommendations. A hydrometer is the only way to truly know where the wine is at in the fermentation process. Did your kit come with bentonite, you may still clear it with a dose of bentonite.

 

[trudy]

I don't remember bentonite unless it's already added

 

[jamesngalveston]

how do you know there was no co2....after only 10 days, there will be lots unless u degassed with a vacuum pump...
if its full of co2 it will hardly clear..

 

[trudy]

Because it had stopped bubbling and non visible I thought there wasn't any

 

[wineforfun]

james is right, there is plenty of co2 after 10 days. If you can, post up a day by day of what readings you did take, what chemicals and steps you performed and if you performed them on your own or according to kit instructions.
This will help tremendously in trying to help you troubleshoot.

Right now it sounds like(only from what I have read) that you are probably just getting finished fermenting, and that the fining chemicals went in to soon. Way too early for it to be clear.

 

[jamesngalveston]

trudy....forget bubbles....dont watch them, dont count them...
use your hydrometer always.....you can have tons of co2, and never see a bubble in your air lock...sometimes they will get trapped under the lees, you have to degass every batch unless you bulk age for a year are more.

 

[wineon4]

Trudy,take a large plastic spoon, Briskly stir the wine and see how much it foams.That will tell you if you have CO2If you don't have a Vac pump then you will need to briskly stir and stir and stir. After it is degased it should begin to clear, but as said it probably did not completely ferment and since you stabilized I doubt it will. Restarting a fermentation after adding stabilizers can be tough and cause some off flavors if you added Pot-sorbate, if you only added campden you may be able to restart it with some yeast starter after a few days.

Yeast Starter = 1 cup of the wine, 1 cup warm water and a good strong yeast such as Red Star Premier Cuvee or Lavin KL V1116 after 24 hours add some yeast energizer then after another 24 hours if it is vigorous add to the wine. I have used this to start some wine that stuck.

 

[trudy]

I'm going to try yeast stsrter and hopeful this will do it.
How much yeast should I use?
I have 4 5 litre plastic bottles of wine.
And how long should I leave it fermenting?
Sorry probably sound silly questions.

 

[jamesngalveston]

1 pkg of yeast, and if your going to backsweeten let it go dry, to .990.
then rack it every time u see 1/2 of sediment,degss with a drill, i would do this several times, then hit with super kleer, after it clears add sorbate /sugar/campden and let it clear again...after it clears , bottle.