sediment in final bottle

[matty]

i made a 6 bottle kit recently. i know you only tend to get 5 1/2 bottle out of them unless you top up but i was struggling to get even 5, so when i siphoned into the final 5th bottle i let a bit of the sediment get pulled in too, to ensure that i had a fullish bottle. so now that bottle, although the wine is clear, has a few bits floating around the bottom.

should i drink the bottle now in case the sediment makes it go off in time? or will it be ok aging a bit longer?

[goldseal]

You should be OK to leave it a bit longer. Bear in mind that, when you tip the bottle upright you'll disturbe the sediment again, so you'll need to give it a few days to settle at the bottom.

I would make it the first bottle of the 5 that you drink.

Which kit was it? The vast majority of kits should yield 6 bottles.

[Rich]

The sediment will be fine.. You may have to just grit your teeth for the last mouthful. Some of my wines throw a sediment, even after a year or so ageing, then filtering with a minijet. (not many mind)

How are you measuring for you 6 bottle kit? making it to exactly to 4.5 litres? Most DJ's hold a bit more than that. I've marked my 10 litre bucket at DJ size, and make the 6 bottle kit up to that mark, with a bit of racking along the way, topping up with finning agents, and a little bit of similar wine along the way ensuring that after the final racking & top up you have a dj full of clear wine. Although it may seem like wasting a bottle of wine to top up (it doesn't use a bottle full) you can drink the rest and it's not like you're pouring it away is it.

When bottling you should get 6 to 6.5 bottles from it. Having range of small bottle sizes helps to bottle the last little bit (maybe for topping up the next one?) 187ml, 250ml, and 375ml are all good to get hold of!

Maybe this post hasn't really helped at all.. So, it'll age fine with a bit of sediment, it shouldn't go off.

[matty]

hi

goldseal - it was a california connoiseur kit.

Rich - yeah i followed the instuctions to the letter - fill to 4.5 litres. so some gets left behind with the lees during racking back and forth and bottling.

i read somewhere that it was better to have 5 1/2 bottles then to top up to 6. it wasnt on here i should add!

thanks for the replies. they have been helpful

cheers

[goldseal]

I think those kits advise you to rack into another DJ when the SG drops to 1.010 ish. When you do this, don't worry if you get a little sediment in the new DJ. It is important to get all the liquid and if you are too careful about the sediment you'll lose some of it.

When I rack at this point, I always top the DJ up with water, regardless of what the instructions say. That's not advice to ignore the instructions - it's just what I do.

I agree with Rich - topup with a similar wine at the end. It should only be 100 - 200ml at the most, and won't make much of a difference to the finished product. Commercial wine is fine for this.

[matty]

Nice one, cheers

[fatbloke]

How about this, sort out the first 5 bottles as normal.

Then syphon as much as you dare of the last amount without sediment, into something like a PET 1 litre bottle (a temporary thing), which can be squeezed to exclude as much air as possible, then the last of the liquid you can get off the lees goes into a tall slim container (preferably lidded but often a bit of clingfilm will do. That goes into the fridge over night and usually settles out any sediment enough for you to do accurate removal of the clear wine to add to the bit in the PET bottle, which is then transferred to a proper bottle and marked as the first drinker.......

It's taken longer to type that lot than it takes to do (except the overnight bit) and you've got as much liquid as you're likely to get (plus I'm a tightwad.......)

regards

Jtfb

[Original Mac]

five and a half bottles

When you are racking do you leave the demijohn flat on the racking bench? If so that would explain why you are losing so much wine. A tip I found somewhere in here is to bottle your first five as normal then very carefully tip the demijohn so you can get a bung underneath. Even more carefully place your racking wand/j tube in the bottom of the valley you have just created. If your demijohn was originally full to a half inch below the bung you should easily get your sixth bottle and a bonus glass to gargle (the worker being worthy of his hire and it never harms to check the taste ) If like me you bottle several demi's in one go I tend to put the spare glasses into another bottle and have enjoyed some interesting blends. If you use the method above you will minimise wastage so it will not really matter what you top up with as you will be using such a small amount. Boiled water allowed to go cold is as good as anything but I always have some wine #1 on the go and tend to use this.

Mental note to self, must remember to make racking support to hold demi's at the appropriate angle more securely

[matty]

Mac - i just tip the DJ at an angle. I dont lie it right down. i think its just a case of not putting enough water in initially

[Darren]

What i do is put a folded tea towel under one side of the dj when bottling the final couple of bottles it supports the dj very nicely if there is quite a bit of sediment then you should rack it into another dj then leave again to settle until there is hardly any sediment at all. Don't try bottling with a lot of sediment it won't work and it will just frustrate you if you don't have one then you should buy a filter it will just keep out the bits of sediment on the last bottle i also always drink the last bottle first.And rather than top up too much when i start a ferment i always start a 1 gall ferment in a 5 gallon fermenting bin i try to just go over the 1 gallon mark initially so when i rack it into a 1 gall dj when the initial ferment has died down there is no need for topping up.