First whole-fruit wine. Pulp in secondary?

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ken914

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
137
Reaction score
1
Good morning, everyone... I'm making my first whole-fruit wine, about 9 gallons of pear. It bubbled away for about a week and was at about 1.5% PA so I decided to rack it.

Yesterday, I racked from the primaries to the secondaries (two glass carboys, 3 & 6 gallons). However, once everything settled, I had about 3/4 inch of sediment/pulp/etc in the new carboys.

My original plan (following the recipe) was to rerack this in about 2 months and let it sit for another six before bottling.

However, the sediment concerns me. Should I leave the wine to continue fermenting, or rerack it now to purge the junk on the bottom of the bottles?

Any wisdom would be appreciated.

thanks,
ken
 
Did you add the pears to a straining bag? D
Did you add Pectic enzyme?
Please give recipe and what you did so far.
 
Hi Tom... thanks for replying.

Yes, I used pectic enzyme. Don't have the recipe with me as I'm at work... just been rolling this around in my head from last night.

I did use nylon straining bags to mash my cleaned & cored pears. They were given to me as a gift from a well-meaning friend. I suspect the bags weren't the best quality, as a local store sells bags with much finer mesh.

Fault for the debris in the bottom of the carboys is clearly mine. Wondering if reracking the wine at this point will provide any benefit.

ken
 
Is it still fermenting?

IMO - i would let it finish - then rack.

But some of the more experienced wine makers may have a different approach :h. Let's see what they say.
 
OK
1st do not ust the PA scale rather the gravity scale. You seem to have racked around 1.012 and I hope you femoved the pulp. If not let it go dry .990 and rack off gross lees. Fresh fruit will give you alot of sediment and can be a bear to clear in the early stages.

Are you planning on making a f-pac or backsweetening?

If not once dry .990 add meta, sorbate and clearing agent.
Let it sit at least 3-4 weeks to clear. once you see a "solid" sediment rack leaving the solids behind. repeat once a month
 
f-pac & backsweetening are words I don't know. :(

The recipe provides the option to stabilize with camden & sweeten prior to bottling... which is something I'll likely try.

Since we're talking about multiple rackings... we lose a bit at every racking. I understand I want to avoid air exposure, what strategy can I use to fill that "gap"?

thanks,
ken
 
Yessir... I do have a whip-style degasser. I haven't used it yet.
 
If you feel you have good flavor then the simple syrup is the way to go but just so you know the fruit flavor can take awhile to come through especially with a light flavor like pear.
 
Don't forget Potassium SORBATE or your wine will start fermenting again!
:d
Fruit wines like pear and apple will drop tons of sediment. Just let it finish. It will clear with degassing and time and maybe some bentonite. :sn
 

Latest posts

Back
Top