WineXpert Boy, do I have lees!!

[GrapeApe]

Here's a couple quick pix of the SE Pinot Gris after adding packages 2, 3, and 4 then emptying a couple battery packs on the cordless drill to drive off CO2.

5 minutes later and it's already starting to clear...

Now we're just waiting for gravity to do its thing and pack down those lees for the next 8 days. Note Pinot Gris' distant cousin, Pinot Noir standing tall adding moral support.


I think I had a flashback when I was watching them settle.

GrapeApe.

 

[Wade E]

Holy smoke!!!! Ive never seen that amount of lees in a 6 gallon batch.
I think you are going to have to use a 5 gallon carboy to rack into and
use something to top that up. Did you add anything in that wine besides
the kit like banana or anything?

 

[PolishWineP]

I bet that will compact nicely over the next few weeks. No worries!

 

[GrapeApe]

Nope, no additives on this one, but the picture was taken right after I finished stirring it up. I just checked it and it is already 1/2 of what it was in the 2nd picture, so I'm hoping it will compact down to an inch or so after the 8th day. I also noticed the neck of the carboy already has perfectly clear wine. I was really tempted to stick a straw in there for a little nip.


I'll post another picture in a day or two. That will give me enough time to get a 5 gal carboy if you think I'll need it.
Thanks.


GrapeApe.

 

[Wade E]

Its already 1/2 of what it was, I think youll be allright then. I never
watched it that close after adding clarifiers and typically use
RJS kits which use a different clarifier ( SuperKleer to be exact) and
think it compacts more on impact as Ive never seen what you had in
either picture as that looks awesome. Lets see that picture in a few
dayys though before you buy an uneededpc of equipment. Id hate for you to buy something that you will not need!

 

[Grant]

Grape


I had the same situation. By the time 10 days were up it had compacted to less than a inch. sure looks pretty cool though.


Grant

 

[Waldo]

Your wine will be fine grapeape. It will coninue compacting. As for the 5 gallon carboy, My "Modus Operandi" on all of the kits I have done is at the point my wine has been stabilized and has cleared I will rack off the top 5 gallon into a 5 gallon carboy, ensuring that my auto siphon never gets close to the lees then I will carefully rack the reast into a one gallon carboy which always gets a smidgen of sediment which I will let settle out again. It gives you 5 gallon of for sure sediment free wine you can go aheqad and bottle or bulkage in the carboy.

 

[peterCooper]

Yup, you'll be fine.
In a year when it's drinkable and you're on the back porch swing, sipping away, you won't even remember that momentary panic.

 

[PeterZ]

GrapeApe, that first picture is a thing of beauty. Looks to me like you hit the sweet spot. Coagulation and flocculation (the technical aspects of clarification) depend on: the right chemical, the right quantity of chemical, the right amount of agitation, and the right degree of agitation. Judging by the size of the floc (particles that have come together) you did it just right.

By the time you read this, I'll bet the lees are 1" deep and the rest of the wine is almost perfectly clear.

Edited by: PeterZ

 

[bmorosco]

Looks Great your wine will be fine everything looks normal....awsome job...

 

[GrapeApe]

As you all predicted, everything looks to be turning out just fine. The attack of the killer lees seems to have ended. Now the worst part...the wait. tick tock.

GrapeApe.

 

[grapeman]

AH, all settled down and clear as a bell. That one ought to be a good one.

 

[Wade E]

Looking good Grape!

 

[OldWino1]

yes time time in a bottle wait there was a song with
that in it maybe he made wine also. Look fabulous
enjoy.

 

[bmorosco]

Thats what makes thi so awsome..I know it kills you to wait but the wait is what makes it exciting!

 

[Jack on Rainy]

GrapeApe, that first picture is a thing of beauty. Looks to me
like you hit the sweet spot. Coagulation and flocculation (the
technical aspects of clarification) depend on: the right
chemical, the right quantity of chemical, the right amount of
agitation, and the right degree of agitation. Judging by the size
of the floc (particles that have come together) you did it just
right.

By the time you read this, I'll bet the lees are 1" deep and the rest of the wine is almost perfectly clear.

Peter,

I particularly like to read your posts. This one sounds like a man with
experience in waste water treatment! Keep the comments rolling we are
learning from you.

BTW I'm trying the WE 16L Amarone kit and after primary including
sugar addition had a surprisingly compact level of lees, less
than 1/2". That is less than any of the other WE kits I've tried.

Jack

 

[PeterZ]

Jack, I have a lot of experience in the waste water biz, selling polymers and doing jar tests. I know all the jokes: "It's a sh!77y business, but somebody's got to do it" "Business has gone down the toilet" etc.

 

[Waldo]

Great looking wine Grape

 

[rrs18]

I have made the Selections Pinot Gris twice and the lees were "significant". Even scary. I think i lost more than a few bottles of wine due to the lees. Oh well.