Supermarket Juice Wine How To guide and Recipes.

[Chippy_Tea]

Im about to rack my WOW wine. I started it 16 days ago. It has stopped bubbling in the airlock for nearly a week now.
I now have to syphon into clean DJ over a crushed camden tablet - is that right?

Yes.

Do I add anything else at this stage?

yes, once its racked add the wine stabiliser and degas, when you are happy you have removed enough CO2 its time to add the finings, put the air lock back in and move it to a cool room, give it a couple of days and it should be clear and ready to bottle/drink.

 

[pookiehair]

Yes.

yes, once its racked add the wine stabiliser and degas, when you are happy you have removed enough CO2 its time to add the finings, put the air lock back in and move it to a cool room, give it a couple of days and it should be clear and ready to bottle/drink.

Thank you Chippy. Have I got this right?
Wine stabiliser = potasium sorbate - Wine is still being de-gassed - shall I add this now?
Finings = Bentonite. Should I mix up a slurry before adding this?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Wine stabiliser like youngs fermentation stopper is Potassium Sorbate.

I have never used Bentonite so haven't a clue, i have used KwiK Clear for months and am now trying youngs clear it which is the same 2 part fining as kwik clear.

 

[Hitman]

Hi. I am also confused about finings. It seems like they dont keep for very long. Are they a must? They are also tricky to get hold of and if you are only making a couple of demijohns are going to bump up the price.

 

[Roadrunner]

Hi. I am also confused about finings. It seems like they dont keep for very long. Are they a must? They are also tricky to get hold of and if you are only making a couple of demijohns are going to bump up the price.

Only 8p a bottle more if you only do 2 gallons (Wilko is selling finings in-store @ £1 a pop (sufficient to clear 23l so it would be even less money per bottle if you made more than 2dj's) Gotta be worth the money since you don't need to wait for a very long time for the wine to clear on its own.

 

[Hitman]

Thanks you have convinced me. Glad I asked :)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I don't think Kwak clear has a time you have to use it by once opened, clear it does and it's a month, you can get dry finings and as said above if you are not in a rush it'll clear on its own.

 

[pookiehair]

I got my finings from local brew shop in Hastings. About to try them for the first time today.
They are called Ritchies Bentonite 100grams. Cost £1.35.
Only need 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon. It can be added dry. That will do 67 gallons = 402 bottles. Thats 1/3 penny per bottle.
Its a dry powder so looks like it will last at least a year.
Anyone else use Bentonite? I'd be interested to know what you think of it.

 

[Joeyriles]

I've used Vin Clear and thus far I'm not impressed. I mixed with a cup of the wine and covered the cup, I then re-added it to the DJ. 3 days later and still murky.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I've used Vin Clear and thus far I'm not impressed. I mixed with a cup of the wine and covered the cup, I then re-added it to the DJ. 3 days later and still murky.

Vin clear was one of the least effective i have tried, it also seems to get less effective by h week.

 

[Featherhat]

I'd be interested to hear how well the bentonite works. As a vegetarian I normally avoid finings altogether and just wait. Youngs wine yeast compound, which I generally use, has bentonite as an ingredient. Presumably this aids clearing but it still takes a while to settle out fully.

 

[Joeyriles]

In response to your post, Chip: poo.

Looks clear enough in the glass, but I want the fecker to be star bright.

 

[Roadrunner]

I got my finings from local brew shop in Hastings. About to try them for the first time today.
They are called Ritchies Bentonite 100grams. Cost £1.35.
Only need 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon. It can be added dry. That will do 67 gallons = 402 bottles. Thats 1/3 penny per bottle.
Its a dry powder so looks like it will last at least a year.
Anyone else use Bentonite? I'd be interested to know what you think of it.

I am yet to use my first finings. (wilko's a&b finings (silicasol & chitosan)
but found couple of pages about various finings and their properties as well as dosage that may interest you:
Page with a dosage and info about finings:
http://www.wineskills.co.uk/winemaking/winemaking-knowledge-base/fining-agents

And another excellent page about finings and how/when to use them:
https://winemakermag.com/26-a-clearer-understanding-of-fining-agents
Probably the second article better explains the Bentonite usage

Both excellent read and are already printed out and attached to my logbook so I can find them easily in the future.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

In response to your post, Chip: poo.

Looks clear enough in the glass, but I want the fecker to be star bright.

I have just used youngs "clear it" for the first time in my bucket and its been in 2 days and has only cleared the top 50 cm or so, i will try it in my DJ's later in the week and if it doesn't clear them in a couple of days (KwiK Clear does) i am back to KwiK Clear, the down side is i have to pay postage if i cannot find it on ebay with free post or they heaven t marked it up to cover the free postage.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I am to use my first finings yet. (wilko's a&b finings (silicasol & chitosan)
Found couple of pages about various finings and their properties as well as dosage that may interest you:
Page with a dosage and info about finings:
http://www.wineskills.co.uk/winemaking/winemaking-knowledge-base/fining-agents

And another excellent page about finings and how/when to use them:
https://winemakermag.com/26-a-clearer-understanding-of-fining-agents
Probably the second article better explains the Bentonite usage

Both excellent read and are already printed out and attached to my logbook so I can find them easy next time round.

Nice find RR :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Talking of nice finds -

 

[pookiehair]

Have added Bentonite to one of my DJs of juice wine today. I made a slurry first and left in fridge for 24 hrs..... although on the tub it said to add it straight in :-?
Will keep checking on it over next few days and let you know how it goes. Looks pretty murky right now.
If its no good I'll have to bite the bullet and buy the Kwik Clear. Its a lot more money though :-(
Interesting links Roadrunner :smile: Ive saved the info for future reference.
Nice price for a good red grape juice Chippy. Im still on the look out for some WGJ if you spot any. Seems as rare as hens teeth!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

KwiK Clear comes in two sizes the small one will clear 70 - 135 litres, the bigger one will clear 135 to 270 litres.

This is the bigger one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kwik-Clea...pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item3f309cb60c

 

[Taunton30]

Iv already seen it thanks and planning on making WOW my first go at brewing cheers

 

[Drayman]

Good luck with your WOW wine and welcome on board