Maturing wine

[brumbrew]

Hey!

It's not that bad after the second glass :-)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I found that with my recent invention - Milton wine. :lol:

 

[Andygee]

The wine has been fermenting for about 5 days and it's starting to slow down, is that right?

The wine looks very cloudy even though I used a teaspoon of pectolase in the initial stage. Will the wine clear by itself or will I need to do something with it?

 

[cheapbrew]

Patience Andy, it is usual to have vigorous fermentation for the first few days and then it will calm down and gently bubble away, my quickest was 2 weeks but usually more like 3, possibly 4 weeks, and I had one that took 2 months.
It will clear slightly as it gets nearer to finishing but will need fining to clear before bottling.

 

[CraftyZA]

My last wine tasted like nail polish smells. It was made with catawba grapes. I may have applied a little to much heat while steeping the grapes. Also i used champagne yeat at south african room temp. That is 26-28 degrees Celsius. May have been a hot fermentation. It is just a little experiment, so only made 3L. Gonna leave it till next year jan then try it. Will be trimming the catawba vines this year with professional viticulture help, and hope for a better harvest next year.

 

[Andygee]

Patience Andy, it is usual to have vigorous fermentation for the first few days and then it will calm down and gently bubble away, my quickest was 2 weeks but usually more like 3, possibly 4 weeks, and I had one that took 2 months.
It will clear slightly as it gets nearer to finishing but will need fining to clear before bottling.

Quite happy to wait, got the blackberry wine bottled ready for next Xmas. I just don't want to spoil the juice wine, it smells amazing already!

 

[tonyhibbett]

Ethyl acetate is the cause of the nail polish smell, I think. This suggests acetification (acetobacter infection). In bad cases you get fish and chips smell.

 

[Andygee]

Just had a quick taste of and its not bad at all, still a bits sparkly so I'm guessing it hasn't fermented to dry yet.

Once it does is it the usual practice of adding finings to clear, Camden tab and sorbate?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Do you have a hydrometer?

If you don't have one you are never going to know if your wine has finished fermenting or the alcohol content.

Hydrometer �£3:50 + Trial Jar �£2:50 - http://www.wilko.com/search?q=trial+jar

As for finishing the wine, rack into a sterilised DJ onto 1 crushed campden tablet, degas then add fermentation stopper (wine stabiliser) and finings (i use KwiK Clear), if you don't mind waiting for a few months it to clear naturally.

 

[Andygee]

Do you have a hydrometer?

If you don't have one you are never going to know if your wine has finished fermenting or the alcohol content.

Hydrometer �£3:50 + Trial Jar �£2:50 - http://www.wilko.com/search?q=trial+jar

As for finishing the wine, rack into a sterilised DJ onto 1 crushed campden tablet, degas then add fermentation stopper (wine stabiliser) and finings (i use KwiK Clear), if you don't mind waiting for a few months it to clear naturally.

Got the hydrometer, just wondered what was normal practice with juice wine as opposed to fruit wine.