Wine and Clearing

[aqua]

Ok dumb question number 976 from me

with my fruit juice, I can shine a light through and in the case of the ribena I can tell its almost clear (nothing swimnming around anyway) and in the case of the cranberry and blackcurrant that its no where near being clear yet

however the merlot, I can't see bugger all its so dark

is shining a light the best way of making sure something is clear? I know its a kit and therefore it will clear but I was thinking about the future and wondering if this is the best way fo telling something has cleared or not

thanks

[genie]

You're supposed to drink it, not project it!

[Hippie]

...this little light of mine...

The flashlight (torch to all you UK guys) trick works very well. You should be looking at the beam of light from a 90 degree angle to it. If you see alot of suspended particles, even tiny, it is not clear enough to bottle. It is never ready to bottle if sediment lies on the bottom of the vessel. You will get some sediment in the bottles no matter what. It actually is only a bad thang if you think so. It is your wine. Bottle it cloudy if you want, just be sure it is stable.

[aqua]

You're supposed to drink it, not project it!

oh ha ha smart QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!

the ribena is looking fab tbh, maybe nearing re-racking stage cos theres hardly anything floating around in it (if anything)

[P cuthbert]

Aqua;

You may still have an excess of CO2 in the wine that does not show clear to the light. Give the carboy a shake and see what happens. If you get foaming, you will need to degas again.

Pat

[Hal Maulden]

One note on clearing, that I have learned the hardway. As Hippie mentioned most wines will end up with a sediment, especially if they are bottled quickly. I had two peach wines, one I bottled after about two months, only 1 week after stabilizing with sorbate, because I needed a carboy. The other sat for almost 8 months before bottling. The first has a sediment in all the bottles. The second one is clear as a bell. What I have found, through research, is that with the addition of sorbate, the wine can throw out sediment for several weeks, maybe months. Mostly due to dieing yeast cells. Even though they are microscope in size, enough of them will cause a sediment.

Hal

[jojo]

I used Sparkelloid in my Lemon wine. It is degassed and quite clear, but has a see through blanket of cloudy stringy stuff on the bottom about an inch thick. Looks like clouds. I racked off some of it off a few weeks ago but it came back just the same but less.

[Prairie Wine]

How long did you wait after adding the Sparkloid before you racked it?

[jak]

It could possibly be the sediment settling back down, find out the gravity and have a taste and let us know.

[Hippie]

clearing

jojo, your wine just needs to be racked at least once more, kept topped up, and take your time.

[jojo]

thanks. yeah its been only a few weeks.