When is clearing finished?

[Ceegar]

How can you tell when your wine has finished clearing to the extent where it can be racked, degassed, backsweetened, then bottled?

I have a 3 gal batch of Loganberry that finished on the 10th. During fermentation the wine was a pinkish color throughout the process but after it finished and I racked it I watched it slowly start to turn a purple color (which it should be) starting at the top, with the pinkish color below it and that line slowly sunk to the bottom eventually turning the whole thing purplish color. The recipe on the can says it will take 2 or 3 months to clear.

I also noticed the wine level in the carboy looks like it dropped a half inch. At first I thought maybe one of my kids got at it to taste it but I don't think so. Just curious how and why that happened?

 

[Madriver Wines]

I have a Loganbery that is about a month or less from bottling. It has lightened in color some but has held a purple color all along. It sounds like what you saw was settling as it will clear from the top down but for the loss of a half inch some one else will have to jump in. I suspect thievery. Steve

 

[Ceegar]

I have a Loganbery that is about a month or less from bottling. It has lightened in color some but has held a purple color all along. It sounds like what you saw was settling as it will clear from the top down but for the loss of a half inch some one else will have to jump in. I suspect thievery. Steve

You could be right!! Hey, I noticed we have an awful lot of Steve's on this forum. I'm Steve too, and I think CP is too.

I thought I remember seeing a post from Wade about wine expanding and contracting - I wonder if this is what happened. I hope it's not any of my kids. They don't know the importance of sanitation with wine and also letting air in.

 

[cpfan]

Steve is a proven good name for wine makers!!!

Steve

 

[Tom]

OK now I"M NOT A STEVE ! LOL
BAck to the question "Steve"It's always better to age the wine. Aging helps do a few things.
Clear
Combine (mingle) all the flavors
Takes the "bite" down a few notches (smoother tasting)
Kit wines are made to bottle soon. All other wines need to age more than the kit wines. I make the max allowed 200 gallons (wink, wink). 30% are fruit wines. I rarely bottle any fruit wine before 6 months.
Reason; I backsweeten, I do f-pacs. This all takes extra time. Once you get a good supply in your wine cellar ( I have close to 100 cases + whats on my 5 wine racks) you can be in a better position to age ( wait) longer.
Hope this helps..
REMEMBER the 3 "P's"
Patience
Patience
Patience

 

[Ceegar]

Steve is a proven good name for wine makers!!!

Steve

I'll try not to let the rest of you Steve's down then

 

[Ceegar]

Once you get a good supply in your wine cellar ( I have close to 100 cases + whats on my 5 wine racks) you can be in a better position to age ( wait) longer.

I was told by one of the wineries that anything that has more than .2% or .3% residual sugar should be consumed within a year. You have no problems drinking sweetened wine well past that?

F-Packs - you make your own?

 

[Wade E]

Ports are way past that and will last a very long time, the info given is wrong. The amount of abv makes a big difference though, If you make a sweet wine with very low abv then that would be true, also tannis make a bige difference also, a wine with more tannins will last much longer them 1 without. That is why a red wine will mostly outlast a white wine.

 

[Ceegar]

Ports are way past that and will last a very long time, the info given is wrong. The amount of abv makes a big difference though, If you make a sweet wine with very low abv then that would be true, also tannis make a bige difference also, a wine with more tannins will last much longer them 1 without. That is why a red wine will mostly outlast a white wine.

Thanks Wade - that may have been the case when she was telling us that - it may have been a wine with a low abv. We probably had been to 6 or 7 wineries and had done quite a bit of tasting I think by then

 

[Tom]

Back in '72 my dad bought a MAY wine from Brotherhood Winery in NY. I found it 2 years ago when mom was selling the house. I called the winery and they said its long spoiled and was made to drink in a few years. I did donate it to their museum thou and it now sits as one of the oldest there with this special packaging.
Yes the wine in my cellar turns over freguently as we go thru about 3 bottles a day here.

 

[Ceegar]

I have a follow up question on clearing. If you have a full bodied raspberry wine, or any dark colored wine for that matter, how can you tell if the wine has cleared properly?

I have a raspberry batch that has been finished for a couple of weeks now which I made full bodied - even added an f-pac at the end. I'm not trying to rush things, I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect, to get an idea of what I should be looking for to truly know this has finished clearing, or if I have a clearing issue going on. Should this eventually clear so I can actually see clearly through the carboy? I can't see through it but it looks sparkly when looking at it with a light behind it. It doesn't appear cloudy. Just not sure if I need to do anything more for it. My cab fran ice wine kit was basically the same way, so I'm thinking if the wine is red or dark you won't get that crystal clear, see through the other side of the carboy affect.