WineXpert Sediment

[bmorosco]

Ok a sediment question.... I am currently at the process after the primary into the secondary but before we stir in the last three packets....ok Now the question .. What happens to all that sediment after you mix the last three packets and the wine clears??? Because i have seen some pictures after the ISGLISS stuff is put in and it sits a week then it is clear but I only see a little sediment or did they rack before taking the pictures..?

 

[masta]

All the sediment (lees) will settle to the bottom again after you degas and then stabilize and add fining agent. If there wasn't any sediment in the picture then it was racked first.


The lees don't go away and actually will increase some since you are collecting all the fines in suspension.

 

[peterCooper]

But... when you clear, the lees tend to compress after a while so they look less. It is important that you keep the lees in there and stir them back up when you stabilize and fine. The fining agent needs the lees to get started on.It's like sowing clouds to get rain, you need some particles to get started on.

 

[rexmor]

I've been meaning to ask this: I'm now at the stage of long term aging in carboyswith a number of kits, and it's apparent that there will still be residue in the bottom when this finishes. Is this normal, or am I picking up too much of the bottom stuff in my racking from the clearing stage? Even with the amount of stuff I'm picking up, I'm still having to add an average of two bottles of wine for topping up.
Is there anyway to avoid picking up the stuff on the bottom without leaving several bottles worth of wine in the carboy?

 

[peterCooper]

Rex,
Not really sure about the technique you're using to rack. I tip the carboy (usually with a book. I have a Tom Holt novel that is perfect) and leave it for a day or two for the lees to settle back down. Then I position the racking cane so that it is in the lower section of the carboy (actually I reposition the racking cane a number of times during racking)

This gets most of the wine without using the lees.

Sometimes I have to add a bottle, sometimes more. Last night I racked a fruit wine and had to add only 1/2 a bottle.