WOW - First wine, some questions

[jonewer]

OK, just set up my first WOW but I have never made a wine before so...

1. Can you use screw-top wine bottles to store it?
2. How does wine clear? Do you have to use finings or do you just wait a while like for beer and cider?

Thanks! :thumb:

 

[jonewer]

Oh, and also what is all this about racking and degassing? :wha:

 

[Aleman]

what is all this about racking

Syphoning the clear (ing) wine of the shitty sediment below into a new container

and degassing? :wha:

Shaking the **** out of the wine in the new container to remove excess CO2 from the wine . . . This aids further clearing and allows any finings (if you use them) to work effectively . . . some LHBS sell a special stick that you insert in the wine and whizz round using a drill (Brewgas Whizz Stick comes to mind) that also does the job, by whipping the wine into a froth.

 

[Moley]

1. Can you use screw-top wine bottles to store it?
2. How does wine clear? Do you have to use finings or do you just wait a while like for beer and cider?

1. Yes, you can use screw tops as long as your wine has been stabilised.

2. The wine will clear of its own accord, given long enough, like a month or so. Finings will do the job in a couple of days.

Racking and degassing summed up quite succinctly by Aleman :rofl:

 

[jonewer]

OK, and should I be careful to not aerate the fermented wine as I would with beer?

 

[Moley]

Yes, the same principle applies :thumb:

 

[jonewer]

Good! Its fermenting away right now.

Looks like the contents of a chavs stomach on a friday night.

 

[jonewer]

OK, so moved into secondary then read instructions on finings saying "add finings, then move to secondary" Doh!

Anyway, there were lots of little dark particles at the bottom of the DJ. Are these just yeast?

How long after I have fined can I drink?

Thanks. :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Rack first, then add finings.

I get little black specks too, did you use a yeast compound? I think it might be something to do with the bentonite.

You can bottle it a week (or sometimes less) after finings, but a bit of patience is well worth it.

 

[jonewer]

Thanks Moley! Yes, its yeast compound.

The esters when I poured the gunk down the sink were amazing!

 

[jonewer]

The esters actually killed a bee that was sniffing around the empty DJ :lol:

Anyway, its cleared now. At what stage should I add campden/sorbate to stabilise?

 

[Cussword]

You should have done that as soon as the wine had stopped fermenting, before the finings. It probably will be ok, but I would add the Sorbate to make sure there is no problem in the bottles :thumb:

 

[jonewer]

Blech! :sick:

Very strong synthetic orange smell and a rather harsg bitter taste.

What to do? :wha:

 

[Moley]

Blech! :sick:

Very strong synthetic orange smell and a rather harsg bitter taste.

What to do? :wha:

Sounds like you forgot one of the most important ingredients.












































TIME!