How do you tell when wine is clear?

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Aqualung

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I have done batches of Plum, Blackcurrant, Bramble Carrot and Green Bean wine this year. I have bottled all except the plum, so far. I let them all stand to clear for between two and three weeks.
When I took samples from them, before bottling, they appeared so clear they brought a smile to my face, literally:grin:
But a week after bottling I looked at two of them and there is a faint layer of sediment in the bottle:doh: I could not bear to check any more.
Where did it come from and will it spoil the wine?
The worry kept me awake until 2am this morning.
 
Ha! I've been there. It won't spoil the wine but you might want to decant the whole bottle in one movement to leave the sediment behind.
 
Thanks for the quick response. Google has been inundated with my questions about the sediment. I can now catch up on some sleep.
TVM
 
my last years BlackBerry wine ended up with sediment in the bottle, as above I decant and jobs a good un.

Tastes amazing
 
Am alternative is giver it a shake and sometimes it adds a good bit of flavour, find this with blueberry I made this year, looked clear yet still sediment in bottle. Carefully poured didn't taste that great, got to the bottlom of the bottle tasted great so had to shake the other bottles before drinking :)

Just use finings in future if you don't want sediment.
 
Don't get too precious about sediment. It's proof that it's not a mass produced manufactured overly processed wine. It's artisan, made lovingly by you. It's simply the remaining tiny amounts of yeast doing their thing and won't affect the taste of your wine.
 
I have done batches of Plum, Blackcurrant, Bramble Carrot and Green Bean wine this year. I have bottled all except the plum, so far. I let them all stand to clear for between two and three weeks.
When I took samples from them, before bottling, they appeared so clear they brought a smile to my face, literally:grin:
But a week after bottling I looked at two of them and there is a faint layer of sediment in the bottle:doh: I could not bear to check any more.
Where did it come from and will it spoil the wine?
The worry kept me awake until 2am this morning.



When you say "this year" do you mean 2017 and you only let them clear for 3 weeks? I don't bottle my wines for at least 6 months save for WOW which as a juice wine is quite lacking in sediment. Fruit wines can produce sediment for quite a while. If your bottling this quickly then even if it looks clear I would use finings to hopefully stop this from happening again, or just leave them 6-9 months and let nature run its course.


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When you say "this year" do you mean 2017 and you only let them clear for 3 weeks? I don't bottle my wines for at least 6 months save for WOW which as a juice wine is quite lacking in sediment. Fruit wines can produce sediment for quite a while. If your bottling this quickly then even if it looks clear I would use finings to hopefully stop this from happening again, or just leave them 6-9 months and let nature run its course.


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And yet in my limited experience it is the wows that seem to clear but always leave a line of sediment in the bottle once laid down for a few weeks even. i do. Not get this with fruit wines or kits.
 
And yet in my limited experience it is the wows that seem to clear but always leave a line of sediment in the bottle once laid down for a few weeks even.

I can honestly say i have never found this in all the years i have been making juice wines, i have a bucket clip and an extra long racking cane which is a lot easier to use than the original wilko racking cane which probably helps.

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I can honestly say i have never found this in all the years i have been making juice wines, i have a bucket clip and an extra long racking cane which is a lot easier to use than the original wilko racking cane which probably helps.

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I use the same Chippy. Strange one. Not an issue as I just decant off it in one go. ......... and on reflection I think it is mainly the tropical ones that have done it. Therein may lie a clue!!
 
Those tropical ones make a right mess the only time i ever saw sediment at the top and bottom of a DJ when fermentation was finished was when i used them.

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Just checked the 'stash' . Some pure white wows in there bottled last March also have the tell tale line of sediment. Not massive but enough to make it a tad cloudy on pouring if not careful. Not that it really matters.
 
Some pure white wows in there bottled last March also have the tell tale line of sediment.

I am lucky if the oldest ones i have in stock are a month old so no chance of there ever being a line in the bottle. :lol:

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I am lucky if the oldest ones i have in stock are a month old so no chance of there ever being a line in the bottle. :lol:

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I know the feeling. Just that we do not touch white much so they have 'survived'. My kit red store however gets severly punished.. Whenever I do a 30 bottle kit ( well 26ish ) I try and pit 6 aside for saving whilst we glug the rest. Still end up robbing the stash before the next brew is ready!
 
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