Cloudy pear wine...a tale of two batches

[oppyland]

So, I've been getting ready to bottle 2 - 3 gallon batches of pear wine I made last fall. Both were somewhat cloudy, so I tried various methods to get them to clear - added pectic enzyme and cold-shocked - and they both remained on the cloudy side.

Fast-forward to about a week ago, and I treated both batches with kieselsol and then chitosan, mixed well and let sit. Within a day, batch #2 looked great, while #1 actually looked worse.

I let both sit in my basement until yesterday. #2 still looked great, and I went ahead and bottled in the afternoon:

Not only does it look pleasant, it has a nice, fruity taste. It is quite dry, so some might have backsweetened, but I decided to leave it as-is. My plan is to sweeten batch 1 if I can get it to clear.

Batch #1 still looks cloudy:

Does anyone have advice on what I could do to clear it?

 

[Johnd]

Does anyone have advice on what I could do to clear it?

Dose it with pectic enzyme again and give it a week to see if it clears. If it doesn't, hit it again, it will eventually clear. Don't be afraid to dose it a few times, you really can't do any harm to your wine with pectic enzyme.

 

[oppyland]

Dose it with pectic enzyme again and give it a week to see if it clears. If it doesn't, hit it again, it will eventually clear. Don't be afraid to dose it a few times, you really can't do any harm to your wine with pectic enzyme.

Thanks for the fast response! I'll give pectic enzyme another try. Do you have any advice on dosage?

 

[Johnd]

Thanks for the fast response! I'll give pectic enzyme another try. Do you have any advice on dosage?

Try 1 tsp per gallon for starters. It'll help if your wine is on the warmer side, mid 70's.

 

[mainshipfred]

My only fruit wine was a peach that wasn't clearing. I used pectic enzyme which didn't work, at least fast enough, then I used both pectic and sparkolloid and it cleared right away. So I don't know if it was the second dose of pectic or the sparkolloid.

 

[oppyland]

Added 1 tbsp to my 3 gallon carboy, will give it a week or so and report back. Might add the sparkolloid as well if this doesn't work. Thanks for the help!

 

[salcoco]

betonite might work also. I found that pare and peach wines are easier to clear if betonite is used in primary fermentation much like the wine kits. get rid of protein quickly and easily.

 

[oppyland]

betonite might work also. I found that pare and peach wines are easier to clear if betonite is used in primary fermentation much like the wine kits. get rid of protein quickly and easily.

Unfortunately, we're way past the primary stage. I'll give bentonite a try if the other options don't work. Thanks!

 

[Johnd]

Unfortunately, we're way past the primary stage. I'll give bentonite a try if the other options don't work. Thanks!

The bentonite dosage is much higher post fermentation than pre fermentation if you end up there. I’m still betting a dose or two of pectic kicks it in the butt.

 

[bstnh1]

I've used a second dose SuperKleer/DualFine more than once. It worked and didn't affect the taste.

 

[oppyland]

Well, a week plus later, and it's looking a little better, but still cloudy. I'll give it another week before I do anything else.

 

[oppyland]

After 2 weeks, it's a bit better, but still not clear. I gave it another dose of pectic enzyme and a good stir. We'll see if there's any improvement in the next few days.

 

[oppyland]

After a couple weeks, there wasn't much improvement, so I tried some sparkolloid this afternoon. After only about a half hour, there were some fluffy looking lees collecting on the bottom of the carboy, so I'm cautiously optimistic this is going to do the trick!

Assuming it does clear up, how soon can I bottle after treating with sparkolloid?

 

[Johnd]

After a couple weeks, there wasn't much improvement, so I tried some sparkolloid this afternoon. After only about a half hour, there were some fluffy looking lees collecting on the bottom of the carboy, so I'm cautiously optimistic this is going to do the trick!

Assuming it does clear up, how soon can I bottle after treating with sparkolloid?

Once you’re clear, you’re good to go. Best practice is to let it get crystal clear, then rack very carefully into a fresh vessel, and (if you didn’t suck up any lees) bottle from there.

 

[oppyland]

Sparkolloid definitely did the trick! Now to backsweeten and bottle. Thanks for the help, everyone!