Icewine Reisling

[Casa de Gates]

Hi everyone! I am new to the forum and new to the hobby. Got my 1st kit for Christmas ... a WE VRPinot Noir.Based on what I've read, mostly from this forum, it iscurrently aging in a carboy.


Anyway, my2nd batch is a WE Icewine Reisling. My question is this ... I am at the point where, according to the instructions, I should be stabilizing and clearing. However, there is still quite a bit of activity going on in the secondary. Should I wait until there is no activity or, doesadding the stabilizers, clarifieirs and F-Pack stop it? Thiswine is for the wife so ifI screw it up ...I'm in big trouble!

 

[vcasey]

Take an SG reading and when its the same 2 days in a row you will be fine to proceed. The particular wine holds a lot of gas and does not give it up easily so that could be what you see. Enjoy the wine, that kit is fantastic!
VPC

 

[Wade E]

Please go by the sg reading s required for these instructions and not # of days as that can vary. especially in the cold season. Please tell us the sg and we can help. Welcome to this forum and hope you stay with us.

 

[Casa de Gates]

Thanks for the quick feedback! We are both looking forward to drinking this wine.


(2.9.2009) S.G. was 1.162(Wrappedheat belt around bucket during primary, temp approx 74-76)
(2.17.2009) Racked to secondary @ 1.074(Removed belt; room temp 64-66)
(2.28.2009)Gravity =1.058(Still at room temp 64-66)


I will check gravity again tomorrow and if it is the same as today I will proceed with the kit instructions. I really want this wine to be good so if you have any "special" tricks that might help please share them with me. My wife thinks I'm wasting time (and money) on this so I'm really hoping to change her mind with this wine.

 

[vcasey]

You picked a great wine to start with. The only trick is time. When I first bottled mine it was sweet almost like honey. 3 months later the fruit was starting come around. A year later it was amazing and keeps getting better. My dad loves sweet wines and really loves both this and the Cab Franc Ice Wine. I have a standing order to make this at least once a year for him, just him because he does not share.
VPC

 

[Wade E]

It is possible that it is still fermenting as the sg's given and what you end up with can vary depending on how healthy the yeast got, In example if you did 2 of the same kits side by side you would probably end up with 1 kit ending at 1.060 and the other ending at 1.054, so like said above just wait till the sg is stable for 2-3 days in a row and dont go by airlock activity as that could just be C02 being given of by the wine.

 

[grannytsb]

I just bottled this wine on 2/7. I have been nursing a bottle for the last 2 days and it really is good after this short period but still needs to mellow and come into its own. Good luck !
granny

 

[Casa de Gates]

Hi Granny! I've been reading your posts for quite some time now and have been following your progress. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[Casa de Gates]

Well, I finally got a stable gravity at 1.054 and man ... you guys weren't kidding about the CO2. I've been stirring like crazy (thank God for the drill attachment) and I just can't stop the foam!

So ... I have added the k-meta and sorbate. I've read that some people stir for several days to get the gas out. Should I go ahead and add the isinglass and the F-pack or wait until I'm done stirring?

 

[Wade E]

I would degass again tomorrow as they Ice wines are a little thicker then regular wines and seem to hold much more C02.

 

[Bert]

Having the wine temp. up around 75* will help the wine give up the CO2 a little easier...GoodLuck

 

[grapeman]

Just don't overdo it with the degassing. When using a drill mounted stirrer it is possible to be creating foam, not beat gas out of suspension. You can stir on high for days and it will keep foaming, long after any C02 is gone. It is a fine line between degassing and stirring up a nice foam.

 

[Casa de Gates]

I went ahead and put all the clarifying ingredients in it and stirred one last time. It is clearing nicely so maybe I'm good. At worst, I'll just rack it in 2 weeks and let it age in the carboy for a month or so. In no hurry ... like I said, I just want it to be delish so the wife gets on board.
Thanks to all who have responded and given words of encouragement. I told geo that this forum, and ... quite frankly, his website ... were key to getting me on this path. I'm in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis (Andover for those of you that know the area) and my choices of shops is limited to a Brew & Grow ... which has most of the stuff you need but no one that really seems to know what they're selling. Northern Brewer looks like they might have there sh-! together but I don't really want to drive 60 miles to go find out. Besides ... I'm a Texas boy so I feel more connected to ya'll anyway!

 

[Bert]

George does a great job of taking care of his customers....

 

[Wade E]

Tilt the carboy to 1 side so that when you go to racck you can rack off the shallow end and get more wine & less sediment over to the next carboy. I also recommend racking into a clean carboy or buchet before bottling so as though you dont disturb the lees and if you do then you can just let it settle again. If you start bottling and disturb it then you have a problem as you wont have enough wine in the carboy to protect against oxidation anymore and still have to let it clear up again.

 

[grapeman]

Tilt the carboy to 1 side so that when you go to racck you can rack off the shallow end and get more wine & less sediment over to the next carboy. I also recommend racking into a clean carboy or buchet before bottling so as though you dont disturb the lees and if you do then you can just let it settle again. If you start bottling and disturb it then you have a problem as you wont have enough wine in the carboy to protect against oxidation anymore and still have to let it clear up again.

Wade we don't all make enough money to buy them thar fancy French "buchets" to use. Us poor folk need to just use plain ole buckets!

Thanks for the laugh of the day.

 

[Wade E]

Thats funny cause I seen that ans hit the spelling checker and thought I fixed that before I posted, I guess not! Im going to be spell checking all your posts from now on mister! Like white on rice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[grapeman]

Hey Wade, did you check that last post you made? I'm really not picking, that one was just funny! After getting out of bed early to drive to town and pick up a kid early - on only the second Saturday morning in a year my wife didn't have to work and then sliding on the ice in the driveway here and getting the truck stuck in the snow bank, I appreciated a good "buchet" of laughs.

 

[Wade E]

Its a combination of me not really knowing how to type, typing too fast, and this laptop keyboard that does all this. I actually type with far less errors on my desktop. I am a 2 finger typer!

 

[hannabarn]