Wine clearing

[Mal7]

Hi. Advice please. Nearing the end of fermentation of my first ever wine. I’ve used an immersion heater during fermentation to help stabilise the temperature as where I have to site the fv can get below 15 degrees at night in the current weather. For the clearing stage the kit instructions say to leave in a warm place (same as for fermentation) away from direct heat and light. My question is; can I still use the immersion heater? Would this be direct heat? Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

When clearing the usual kit suggestion is to leave it in a cool place, if its finished fermenting there is no longer any ned to heat it.

 

[johncrobinson]

Second that.
Never seen anybody advise keeping wine warm during clearing.
Quite the opposite in fact.

I suspect a misprint
I think it should read to leave in a cool place away from direct heat and light.
That would make sense.!!!

 

[Mal7]

I thought it strange but the instructions are quite specific. After degassing add chitosan and leave to clear in a warm place (20 to 25C)! It’s a winexpert kit

 

[johncrobinson]

It is strange esp if they are quoting actual temperatures.

One problem with using an immersion heater is you will get convection currents in the wine which is not what you want when you need things to settle out.

Wine will clear at warm ambient temperatures (think wines from hot countries.) but an immersion or heat pad tends to stir things up which is not what you need right now.

In the spirit of following the instructions have you nowhere reasonably warm you can place the wine,?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I would ignore the instructions I have never heard of any kit saying keep warm to clear, it still will but it'll take longer so why they instruct you to do it is beyond me.

 

[Mal7]

Thanks everyone. I guess John nailed the bit regarding the heater. I’ll try and hide it behind the sofa and hope the missus doesn’t notice

 

[AXW123]

I’ve just made an on the house kit which said the same. I disagreed but followed the instructions and it cleared very quickly- who knew!

 

[johncrobinson]

Some years ago i read about cold crashing,So i tried it and wow did the wine clear.
My Father did not know of this technique his wines used to take weeks to clear at room temperature.

Chippy has made far,more kits than me,I find it strange he has not heard of this either.

Puzzled

 

[LED_ZEP]

I've always found colder the better for clearing. The only advantage I can think of in a warmer temp would be to reduce the amount of CO2 the liquid can hold in solution.