bulk aging and fpacs

[mfick]

I have had a strawberry wine bulk aging for over two months with a couple of rackings in there, and I just added my fpac and sugar. My question is thus: should I have bulk aged it longer before the fpac, or can I put it away for 6 months, now, and still get the same benefits?

Thanks

 

[Arne]

You should be fine with what you are doing. Hope you stabalized it before you added the sugar and f-pac so it does not referment. If it clouded back up with the f-pac it will have to sit til it clears again. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[user 31015]

I have sprinkled in a little more pectinaise when I add an f-pac, seemed like a good idea what with all the new fruit mush in there. My pear is very clear a week later so I am guessing it has helped.

 

[Turock]

You should never add f-packs, or sugar, until the wine has been bulk aged and clear. The reason for this is because you have to add sorbate with an f-pack and you can't use sorbate and expect it to work when the wine is still full of yeast cells. You MUST have the bulk of the yeast cells off the wine before using sorbate. Add sugar just before bottling--not this soon.

 

[mfick]

I had three racks post fermentation, got a lot out of it. It seems the sorbate worked, but I wondered if there was a chemical advantage to bulk aging without the sugar. Guess we will see how it turns put. Ill be racking and adding a clearing agent in the next week.

 

[user 31015]

As always, thanks Turock. Got a little carried away, I suspect. As it stands the pear looks great, the plum too, and both appear to be stable and clear right now. I will bulk age some more and then finish off and bottle at the recipe-suggested time.