How clear is clear?

[mikez104]

So as I sit and wait for my wine to clear I am wondering what my expectations should be? Should it eventually be as clear as store bought? If I shine a flashlight through the back of the carboy, should I still see floaters? These are my first batches so I have nothing to compare to.

 

[Wade E]

Yes it can be as clear as store bought wine but you have to give it time even if using a fining agent. You can also make it brilliant of you pollish filter it.

 

[jtstar]

Can you tell us more about what you have are they kits or fruit wines it sounds like you might have two going at the same time how long have they been fermenting have you racked them yet yes they should clear like a store bought are they five gallon or one gallon let us know more so we can better help you

 

[KSmith3011]

It will get very clear, however, I still get wisps in my whites. I think the only way to get it perfect is with a filter. I like the wisp, makes it taste like a REAL wine.

 

[mikez104]

Can you tell us more about what you have are they kits or fruit wines it sounds like you might have two going at the same time how long have they been fermenting have you racked them yet yes they should clear like a store bought are they five gallon or one gallon let us know more so we can better help you

I've got 5 gallons of Pinot Noir from fresh juice. That was started October 20th. That has cleared a little but still very cloudy. I also have 5 Gallons of Chardonnay from a Vino Italiano 4 Week Wine Kit from Amazon. That was started November 5 so I don't expect to see that clear up for quite a while.

Also have 1 gallon of Welch's grape that was started on the 11-6. Thats actually clearer that the Pinot.

 

[KSmith3011]

I did the Amazon Chard too. That's the one that has the hint of wisps. it is clear as water but it does have the little bit of wisp in the bottom.

 

[mikez104]

I did the Amazon Chard too. That's the one that has the hint of wisps. it is clear as water but it does have the little bit of wisp in the bottom.

Did you do anything special or extra to it or did you just follow the instructions? How did it turn out? How long did it take to clear?

 

[grapeman]

I would expect neither of your wines to be clear yet since the oldest has only been a month. If you bottled now even with filtering, you would likely still get a dusting on the bottom. Whenyou buy wine commercially, just about all of it is filtered, but it is also probably a minimum of 6-12 months old before bottling. Give it some extra time if you don't want sediment.

 

[KSmith3011]

I can tell you my biggest problem with this Chard was removing the gas. It took about 60 hours until I felt most gas was removed. When i added the clearing agent, I saw it working the next day. Within a week it was almost crystal clear. However, after bottling, I do now see the little wisps.

 

[Savana123]

I did the Amazon Chard too. That's the one that has the hint of wisps. it is clear as water but it does have the little bit of wisp in the bottom.

Yes same as I too have seen on amazon and it is actually a wisp wine. I ordered some wisp wines from there!!!

 

[mikez104]

I can tell you my biggest problem with this Chard was removing the gas. It took about 60 hours until I felt most gas was removed. When i added the clearing agent, I saw it working the next day. Within a week it was almost crystal clear. However, after bottling, I do now see the little wisps.

When you say 60 hours to remove the gas, what was your process? My Pinot still is throwing up a bubble every once in a while and i have degassed multiple times. I thought I was done and put it in the basement and just peeked in last night and see bubbles rising up the side of the carboy every now and then. looks kind of gross as it moves through the milky sediment on the side. I don't think I should mix it all back up to degass again. Should I? It's allready been racked 3 times if you count from the primary.

 

[xoltri]

60 hours? Wow! Takes me 15 minutes! I bought this setup after I bottled my first wine which I thought was degassed but turned out to be anything but. Cost me about $60 on Ebay.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJ5rYeBR3w[/ame]

 

[Luc]

The purpose of filtering is to polish your wine, NOT to remove particles.

You can only filter a complete clear wine.
if you dont you will clog up your filters.

I never filter any wine.
I just let it sit till its completely clear and that can take a month or up to a year.
Remember patience is they key in winemaking.

You can see one of my clear wines here:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2009/06/uit-je-oren-in-de-wijn-parsley-wine.html

Luc

 

[closetwine]

Luc's wines always make me alittle jealous. Crystal clear, nice job, Luc!

 

[mikez104]

Luc's wines always make me alittle jealous. Crystal clear, nice job, Luc!

I just checked out his site and it's as clear as water. I guess thats a good example what can be achieved. Thanks Luc.

 

[mikez104]

60 hours? Wow! Takes me 15 minutes! I bought this setup after I bottled my first wine which I thought was degassed but turned out to be anything but. Cost me about $60 on Ebay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJ5rYeBR3w

Xoltri, do you have any more info on that pump? That's pretty cool.

 

[xoltri]

Its a medical vacuum asporator, I think the brand name is in the description on my youtube video. Its extremely useful, you can degass with it, rack with it (no more lifting full carboys off the ground) and I bought a whole house cartridge style filter housing and I filter by pulling the wine through with the vacuum pump.