Think I messed up a EF champagne...

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DrD

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Afternoon all,

Quick outline of my mishap:

EF champagne fermented for 1 month in primary. Then all in one day, I racked to secondary, added Kwik Clear finings, added priming sugar and bottled in PET. I didn't use any CT or Potassium sorbate.

In my impatience, the idea was that the yeast would settle out and be somewhat unaffected by the finings, carbonate my wine then it would be easy to pour off the sediment come drinking day. As beer can be fined using gelatin, isinglass etc then cask conditioned I thought it should work out ok.

But... the finings have worked exceptionally well, only to leave me with very clear, flat sweet wine.


Can't really think of a biological reason why kwik clear finings (gelatin and keiselsol) would kill the yeast left in suspension but they certainly aren't priming my wine.

Anybody done similar?

Tempted to rack off the sediment and re-innoculate with some must from a WOW i just started.
 
Afternoon all,

Quick outline of my mishap:

EF champagne fermented for 1 month in primary. Then all in one day, I racked to secondary, added Kwik Clear finings, added priming sugar and bottled in PET. I didn't use any CT or Potassium sorbate.

In my impatience, the idea was that the yeast would settle out and be somewhat unaffected by the finings, carbonate my wine then it would be easy to pour off the sediment come drinking day. As beer can be fined using gelatin, isinglass etc then cask conditioned I thought it should work out ok.

But... the finings have worked exceptionally well, only to leave me with very clear, flat sweet wine.


Can't really think of a biological reason why kwik clear finings (gelatin and keiselsol) would kill the yeast left in suspension but they certainly aren't priming my wine.

Anybody done similar?

Tempted to rack off the sediment and re-innoculate with some must from a WOW i just started.

Interesting, I've had a similar problem trying to sparkle up a kit wine.

In the summer I sparkled a 6 bottle Solomon Grundy - basically followed instructions (other than stabilisers obviously) used the finings and filtered then added some priming sugar, nutrient and yeast - sparkled up great!

I decided to do a bigger batch for Christmas with a slightly better wine, so got a vinters reserve chablis kit, checked my plan with the LHBS - and he thought it would be ok.

But within about 24hrs it was pretty clear with sediment at the bottom. Did lots of shaking to stir it up each day - but 3 weeks in the warm and no carbonation whatsoever. Thought it might be a duff pack of yeast (Youngs Champagne Yeast) so got some Lavlin, tried that - a week on and still no action.

Wonder if some finings have some kind of stabiliser in them?
 
It does have Fermentation Stopper as part of the ingredients.

Kwik Clear finings This is one of the best two part fining products on the market. Also available in 100g size. Clears between 135 and 270 litres of beer or wine. Contains 60ml Kieselsol solution, 60ml Gelatine solution, citric acid (E330) preservative (E202)

500g Potassium Sorbate E202 Fermentation Stopper Wine Stabiliser in Home & Garden, Food & Beverages, Beer & Wine Making

...............
 
It does have Fermentation Stopper as part of the ingredients.





...............

Ahh that could explain a lot. Can't find any ingredients for the kit finings but if Qwik Klear has them then it would explain why the yeast are just sinking to the bottom! Looks like I need to force carb this batch...
 
I'm not convinced about that, I think the K sorbate is just there to preserve the finings. Evidently I've had issues with it, but Kwik clear "can" be used in beer prior to secondary fermentation. If it was supposed to knock out the yeast that wouldn't work.

Meh, I'm out of ideas. Will try restarting it.

On Kwik clear:

A fast acting two part clearing agent for use in wines, beers and ciders. This pack clears between 70 - 135 litres in approximately 1-3 days. Just add 1 tsp per gallon prior to secondary fermentation of beers and ciders and at the end of fermentation for wine.
 
As an update to this.

I left it, it worked out fine. Fizzy and perfectly clear, just took some time to prime.
 
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