Can bottom wine be filtered and saved ?

[Fruit]

That couple liters (if not more) on the bottom...is it possible to save this wine ?
Say I transfer (with pump as in my other discussion) huge majority of wine first and then I put this bottom wine with sediment into some other carboy or something...can it be filtered somehow, maybe even filtered couple times to save the wine ? Or is the "bottom wine" chemically/biologically contaminated and HAS TO be discarded ?
Somebody told me "use it to make some high voltage" (firewater)...what do you think about all that ?

 

[Ohio Bob]

It’s a sign that your wine, in general, is not clear enough. Unless the sediment is extremely light just rack it into the new vessel trying to limit sediment pickup as much as possible. If it dropped once it will drop out again.

When using bentonite I get a very light, fluffy sediment. I pour the last bit in the carboy into a funnel, lined with a coffee filter. Whatever gets through is for drinking, quality control after all is an important aspect.

 

[vinny]

If you put it in the fridge (cold crashing) the yeast will drop and you can separate as much clear wine as possible

 

[vinny]

This is the yeast saved off of a gallon batch. It was a cloudy suspension when saved. Same results with larger amounts.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Many of us will put the sediment in a two liter jar cover and let more settle out. In my case I have collected some 100 mm straight side containers that were intended to hold spaghetti. I think it settles better in a tall column. If the yeast are active I will do this in a fridge. BUT oxygen is more soluble cold so I try to minimize this.
Filtering? on occasion I will filter a fruit pulp with something like a washable nylon coffee filter or a fine mesh nylon nut milk bag. High solids liquids will quickly blind the filter at which the fluid flow changes to a slow drip. Our risk filtering wine then turns into “oxygen is the enemy of alcohol” creating oxidation/ off flavor. Minimizing oxygen exposure is the logic behind racking slowly. Now in your case I would look at methods which reduce the flow in the last 5 cm such that this fraction is more quiescent. A second trick is to have wedges that you can put under the carboy to create a deep area while pulling the high edge down to 0 cm.

 

[ChuckD]

One of the benefits of longer bulk aging is compaction of the lees. After clearing I will typically rack to save all of the wine I can, even if it means transferring some of the lees. I find if I bulk age a year the lees will be very compact and if I tip the carboy, like @Rice_Guy describes, I can get all but a few cups of clear wine out of the carboy.

 

[Fruit]

I was under impression that racking should be done every 4-6 weeks, couple times (no more than 3-4 times )...?
I thought wine should not sit on dead yeast for longer than couple or several weeks as it can develop bad taste/smell...?

 

[vinny]

I was under impression that racking should be done every 4-6 weeks, couple times (no more than 3-4 times )...?
I thought wine should not sit on dead yeast for longer than couple or several weeks as it can develop bad taste/smell...?

I have 4 heavy red kits that are getting close to 5 months. I racked them off of gross lees (fruit solids) out of primary, 6-9 days after pitching. I have not done anything other than adding k-meta.

I felt I should be doing something, so I posted. The consensus..? leave it alone.

The more you rack, the more you lose to sediment. If there is no sediment, Why rack?

Lees can add flavor. with sur lie and battonage the goal is to stir up the lees and impart a nutty, fuller flavor mostly notable in whites. Leaving a heavy red on the lees might impart flavor, but the nuances are not so notable that you would actually notice the difference in process.

6 month on fine lees is not unusual.

.

 

[winemaker81]

I was under impression that racking should be done every 4-6 weeks, couple times (no more than 3-4 times )...?
I thought wine should not sit on dead yeast for longer than couple or several weeks as it can develop bad taste/smell...?

I was originally taught to rack every 3 months. Later I learned about sur lie (aging on the fine lees) and battonage (stirring the fine lees). My current process for reds is to press when the SG is below 1.000, settle for 2 to 3 weeks, rack off the gross lees (fruit solids), and move into barrels. I stir the wine at monthly topup for 9 months, then let it settle for 3 months before bottling. My process is to bottle the barrels when new wine is ready to go in, so it's a 12 month cycle.

Gross lees supposedly drops within 24-72 hours of the end of fermentation, so give it a couple extra days, then rack. After that you don't need to rack again until bottling time.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I was under impression that racking should be done every 4-6 weeks, couple times (no more than 3-4 times )...?
I thought wine should not sit on dead yeast for longer than couple or several weeks as it can develop bad taste/smell...?

* if you are doing a kit and finish in 90 days your math 3 to 4 times racking works out. ,,, But you are not doing a kit which follows the 90 day instruction. ,,, Wine is flexible, Ex if you were in jail and wanted to finish it in two weeks you could, the alcohol would be there and the gross lees would largely be settled out. Likewise you wouldn’t need air locks and carboys since the oxidation of ethyl alcohol > acetaldehyde wouldn’t be significant.
* your guideline should be don’t let the wine sit on gross lees (fruit pulp/ big particles) for over a month because of reactions grouped together as putrification. The fine lees are mainly yeast cells. Fine lees act as antioxidants which is useful. If you go that direction you should stir periodically to suspend the yeast and let break down products incorporate into the wine.
* for most of us oxidation is the big enemy, ,,, ie unless you are in the jail house time line

 

[BigDaveK]

I was under impression that racking should be done every 4-6 weeks, couple times (no more than 3-4 times )...?
I thought wine should not sit on dead yeast for longer than couple or several weeks as it can develop bad taste/smell...?

My two cents, look into sur lie and batonnage as mentioned. You'll be surprised and pleased with he result. I was.