Clearing wine

[smoothlager]

Hi, Im a new winemaker and I have a few qustions if anyone can help.
1. When your must has stopped fermenting and you put it in a new clean demijohn to clear do you store it with an airlock in it or.... how do you leave it?
2. I believe it needs to be left in a cooler place.....how cool? and would it be too cold in the shed?
Very grateful for any advice..

 

[Moley]

Welcome to the forum, and to a great hobby once you've got the basics sussed :drunk:

Typically, fermentation might take anything from 1-4 weeks, then you give it another week or so for the sediment to start to settle, then you rack to another DJ. You should use a crushed Campden tablet when racking, and may wish to stabilise with potassium sorbate if you are likely to want to sweeten that wine.

Leave it under airlock until you are absolutely certain it has completely finished.

After clearing, you may wish to rack again and let your wine mature for a while before bottling, then you might want to fit a safety bung or a solid cork (not rammed in too tightly), but personally I would never use an undrilled rubber bung in a glass DJ.

Somewhere slightly cooler may help clearing or maturation, but temperature shouldn't fluctuate too widely, so use a corner of a room which never really catches the sun, or the cupboard under the stairs, etc. Shed temperature may be too hot in summer and too cold in winter, or swing quite a bit between day and night. I'm lucky, I've got a cellar which never really gets above 14°C in summer but rarely drops below 10°C in winter - that's just about perfect.

 

[smoothlager]

Thanks for your help, I am enjoying it so far but obviously with being new I have come accross a few scary moments when I think 'What am I supposed to do now?'

With regard to my problem: I waited until it stopped fermenting and then I added a Campden tablet and Potassium sorbate. So it would be best now if I put it in a place in the house a little cooler. When you say keep the drilled bung in it do you leave the bubbler in it as well. This may appear a stupid question but im a little worried that if I take the bubbler out the wine may get contaminated (I dont know?). So my thoughts on leaving the airlock fitted are simply for protection purposes. I have read quite a bit on the internet about this but I cant seem to find any info that makes this clear to me.

 

[HLA91]

Did you rack it before you added campden & pot sorbate? Yes bung & airlock

 

[Moley]

What I meant was that you can buy drilled bungs or solid bungs, I simply do not possess any undrilled rubber bungs as it is something I would never use.

With a drilled bung you must have a bubbler fitted, although for maturation you could stuff the hole with cotton wool if you were short of a trap for another brew.

 

[smoothlager]

Thanks to both of you: yes i added campden and pot sorb after i racked it and it now has a bung and bubbler in it so I feel reassurred that that is correct.

I have done this with a plum and a blackberry wine.

I have read lots of conflicting info on how long it will take to clear depending on pectin etc and fruits used; whats your take on this.

Also once its bottled how long does it need to mature? Again I know this may vary but a benchmark would be good.

Thanks again: no doubt I will be back soon with some more 'Oh what do I do now' moments.

 

[Moley]

Well if those are your first couple of wines, you certainly haven't started out with anything quick, I would suggest you maybe take a look at some of the fruit juice wines so you can get something fermented, cleared and ready to drink while this couple are still busy doing nothing.

I would be looking to rack these again after about another 2 months (by which time they should have cleared), and then perhaps bottle them after a further 3-6 months, so somewhere between Christmas and next Easter.

 

[oldbloke]

Also once its bottled how long does it need to mature? Again I know this may vary but a benchmark would be good.

I was trying to Google something about the oak used for wine barrels the other night and came across a bit where Jancis Robinson (noted wine expert) reckons most wine doesn't need much aging. A bit to get over "bottling shock" and it may go through a stage where the flavours disappear for a while before coming back (slightly differently). She was suggesting most wine ought to be drunk before it's 5 years old, I think. Mind you that's "real" wine from grapes.

I've heard umpteen "it wasn't all that nice so we stuck it in a cupboard and forgot about it and 3 years later it was nectar" stories. I generally have a bottle of anything I make the same week I bottle it, just to see what it's like. Haven't had to spit any out yet. I'm trying to save at least 2 bottles of everything to taste at a year old, but it's not easy... The plum I did is only really getting nice now though, at coming up to a year, though we've drunk it anyway - it was never nasty. Everything else has been pleasant or better right away, if a little lacking in complexity in some cases.

I'd say, steal a taste when you syphon to bottles, and if it's good enough, start drinking it right away. If it's not, give it a month or two then try a bottle.

 

[smoothlager]

Thanks for that advice, I will try that; think i would struggle to leave it for a while. I have 4 all done within a month of each other and I had planned to try a bottle of each after about a month or so and then leave the rest; this should leave me some time to let the others go at least 3 months. i will try and leave some for about 6-12 months though, experiment to see if any better.