how to know when done
- Thread starter klutz
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No, don't bottle cloudy wine.
We need more info, probably. There are a few different options for clarifying the wine that may be appropriate at this stage.
Can you tell us what kind of wine it is? Do you have a specific gravity reading?
We need more info, probably. There are a few different options for clarifying the wine that may be appropriate at this stage.
Can you tell us what kind of wine it is? Do you have a specific gravity reading?
I would never bottle my wine so soon. If you let it sit it should clear by itself. I rack my wine every three months or so. That is just to keep it off the lees. (Lees is the sediment that collect on the bottom which is the cloudiness you see in the wine now) I always let my fruit wines age for a minimum of one year. Some grape wines can be bottled sooner. Let the forum know what kind of wine you are making and some one will give you specific instructions on what to do. Many folks use clarifying agents but in my three years of making wine I have not had to do that yet.
Fermenting is fun!
Fermenting is fun!
You have a choice of letting time clear it or using a clearing agent. Either way, do not bottle wine that is at all cloudy.
Good luck!
Heather
Good luck!
Heather
The specific gravity is now 1.010, which seems very low. It was 1.080 a month ago. I don't use a special kit, so I don't know what I am doing. I don't even know what the name of the grapevine is, except that it is definitely a wine grape. Maybe I am doing something wrong? It smells and tastes like fermenting wine though.
There are many people here with more experience than me but I have made a lot of batches of wine with a lot of help from this forum and my own research. I think you are stressing way to much. Relax and wait. This is going to take several more months and I suspect all is going to be fine. You made some errors but I doubt you ruined your wine. When it clears some and there is sediment on the bottom just rack it into another sanitized carboy and wait some more. It will most likely clear nicely. I suspect the SG will lower and all will be fine. You are learning as we all did in our beginnings. Let us know how things progress.
Fermenting is fun!
Fermenting is fun!
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1.010 certainly is not low after a month. It will still be cloudy because it is not done fermenting and the gasses in it keep the solids suspended. The temperature may have gotten too low for it to actively ferment. Try and move it to a warmer room- 68 to 70 would be best. Adding a small amount (1/2 dose) of yeast nutrient or energizer could help it finish up also. Give it a stir to get more yeast cells suspended. Also the type yeast used could influence it. A good wine yeast will ferment the wine dry at that SG, but if you used bread yeast or a wild yeast, it may not go lower. If that is the case add a good winemaking yeast that is strong such as EC-1118. Once it get dry ( around 0.092) it should begin to clear on it's own.
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I would age it at least 6 months before bottling.
I believe Grapeman meant the final SG should be 0.992 or so.
Thank you for this info. Yes, I did use bread yeast. I read on-line somewhere you can use it, but someone else told me it was wrong, but to keep on going if it tasted fine. If it is fine to add yeast at this stage, I think I will add some wine making yeast now.
I guess I really don't understand this thing about the specific gravity and the
percent of alcohol it is supposed to give. According to the chart that came with the meter, I should have 10.5 at the beginning. Now it's much lower(or higher, whatever). Why does it change like that?
I will for sure. Thanks for your encouragement.
At least all isn't lost yet. That "all" is very little, as I took it from one, almost 20 year old, grapevine I had tried to kill.
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And Btw, storage was too cold as well. I have moved it now.
Hi klutz
When you look at your hydrometer reading at the beginning and it says 10.5 that means potential alcohol. Another way to say that is if you ferment this fluid down to 0.0 it will then contain 10.5 MORE alch than it does now. At the beginning there is 0 alch, so if you go to 0.0, it will be 10.5% alch. A couple days later if you check reading and it says 6% alch, that means the fluid in there if you take it to 0.0 will have an additional 6% more alch than it does now. All that means is that 4.5% of the sugar you started with has already been converted to alch by the yeast. I hope this explains why the numbers change, that is natural and means everything is fine.
Pam in cinti
When you look at your hydrometer reading at the beginning and it says 10.5 that means potential alcohol. Another way to say that is if you ferment this fluid down to 0.0 it will then contain 10.5 MORE alch than it does now. At the beginning there is 0 alch, so if you go to 0.0, it will be 10.5% alch. A couple days later if you check reading and it says 6% alch, that means the fluid in there if you take it to 0.0 will have an additional 6% more alch than it does now. All that means is that 4.5% of the sugar you started with has already been converted to alch by the yeast. I hope this explains why the numbers change, that is natural and means everything is fine.
Pam in cinti
