Filtering Kit Wines

[Barfly99]

Been doing the kit wines for a while now and filtered every one of them prior to bottling. Only reason I've been filtering them is to avoid sediment and guarantee the clarity. Is there any chance that doing this on a kit wine is stripping out some of the flavor or even the smell of the wine? Anyone tried filtering and not filtering and noticed a difference?

 

[RobWalker]

i remember the barfly! good days. the best kind of **** hole. :lol:

certainly it'd diminish the smell a bit, but only for positive reasons. degassing is more likely to remove bad smells, and you're only removing rough flavours if anything.

it sounds more like you're after something more tasty. if you want more body, try adding wine enhancer to your kits, or try some juice wines and use 2.5L juice with 2.5L water.

it's an expensive way to avoid sediment when racking is free - just do it a few times until your wine is really sediment free. it does help the clarity though, past what more natural methods can achieve. i don't think it's neccessary for cheaper wines - cheap kits, juice wines - but definitely a step for a high quality wine - beaverdale etc, or something you really cherish.

 

[Barfly99]

Cheers Rob. Doing the California Connoisseur kits for a while now and while they're pretty good they just lack that extra bit of flavor and nose that would make them really good. If I'm not removing anything through filtering I'll have to look into what I can add to improve them. Most of the additives I've seen are sweeteners etc that seem to be more focused on people making wines from scratch rather than from a kit. I've read that vanilla extract can add the vanillin that is given off by oak aging and am considering tinkering with it. Just a bit of fine tuning required.

 

[taxidiver]

I've never filtered any of my wines, just stick them somewhere cool and they all clear eventually.
Doesn't cost anything either.

Geoff

 

[RobWalker]

oak ageing you can easily simulate with oak chips - they're about 2 quid a bag. you can soak them in bourbon too if you want! maybe some sailor jerry or something if you want vanilla..

good luck :thumb:

 

[bobsbeer]

I have tried filtering and then gave up. It's now gathering dust. I usually rack after fermentation, stabilise, degas and then add finings. Once it has cleared I rack again into another DJ for long term storage. Wine always ends up nice and clear and no sediment in the bottle when I eventually bottle it. Give it time is my answer.