# apple wine racking ?



## Doober (Jan 6, 2008)

I am making an apple wine and the recipe says to wait 30 days before the first racking? I took an S.G. reading on day 20 and it was .996. Do I have to wait that long? What is the general rule when making wines from juice and fresh grapes? Should I degass like i do with the kits?


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## grapeman (Jan 6, 2008)

It probably isn't finished fermenting yet with that SG, so you probably should leave it for the other 10 days. It wouldn't be a bad idea to degas this one as well. They all produce C02.


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## Wade E (Jan 6, 2008)

Are you talking about racking from a primary bucket? If so I would rack now. We usually rack at about 1.020.


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## Doober (Jan 6, 2008)

no, it is in a carboy. what sg should it be at when i rack it again?


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## Jwhelan939 (Jan 12, 2008)

I have a batch of apple spiced wine bulk aging right now. I followed Jack's recipe, and I also waited 30 days. I did the initial rack from primary to glass after a week or so. but if im reading right it sounds like your already in glass so you already racked from plastic to glass. The apple takes a long time to clear, so if you rack now you'll just end up repeating. If i am reading right, and you have already racked from plastic to glass, I would wait the 30 days!!!


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## Wade E (Jan 12, 2008)

Doober, somehow I missed this post, sorry. I would leave it in there until it is done fermenting, at that point I would rack off lees and stabilize with k-meta and potassium sorbate and degas. At that point I would either bulk age and wait for it to clear by itself or use SuperKleer as a fining agent and give that 14 days before racking into clean carboy.


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## Doober (Jan 14, 2008)

at what point do i add the superkleer, and how long do i wait to bottle it?


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## Wade E (Jan 14, 2008)

By now you probably have a stable SG, did you rack off the lees and degas well? If so you are ready to add the SuperKleer, you will be amazed at how fast this stuff works.


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## joeswine (Jan 15, 2008)

YA,I agree wait the 30th days- rack it off and finish the process,hit it with supperkleer and wait a week and see what happens,degass as always,taste see what you haveto work with ,and figure what you need to adjust for the finish product,if ther's still haze after the final dateline then you might need pectin emzime that will reduce suppended particals in the juice,just a thought


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## Doober (Jan 15, 2008)

thanks guys, i will be racking it any day now. I'll let you know how it comes out.


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## Wade E (Jan 15, 2008)

If it still has a haze after all that then you might have a protein haze and that can be cleared with bentonite.


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2008)

Doober...


To answer your question, there's no set point on the specific gravity level for racking.
What determins the rackingsg. would be the finished product you're shooting for. Or the recipe.
If the recipe says 30 days, there's a reason for that. 
REMEMBER: If you reinvent the wheel by changing the recipe, don't be surprised if you get something different as a result (been there, done that).


What's important to note here is a couple things.


Racking moreoften than necessary
1)will introduce moreoxygen to your must than you might want or need to,
2) expose your must to a greater degree of bacterium,
3) not allow enough time for your wine to clear completly,naturally.


If you follow the directions and still have a problem with clearing, then try adding additional goodies.


How'd it turn out?


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## Doober (Jan 28, 2008)

I racked, degassed, added the superkleer, 50 ppm of meta, and Ascorbic acid, and i noticed it clearing that night. I'm gonna wait the 14 days to rack again. When do u think the wine will be drinkable and at it's peak? Is there anything else I should of added? and why? Should I add more meta at the next racking?


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## Wade E (Jan 28, 2008)

Are yo planning on sweetening this wine? If so, you will want to add sorbate if you have not already. Sweetening the wine will make it more drinkable now as it will hide some of the harshness of a newly fermented wine but I would give it at least a few months. Without knowing the abv of this wine it makes it hard to tell when this wine will be at its peak but I would say 1 1/2 years it would peak at unless the abv is very low then I would say 8 months, by low abv I mean under 10%.


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2008)

Doober: <?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

#1 Taste, taste, taste your progress.
#2 Ditto Wade...

I've not done an apple yetbut all my research indicates that fruit wines, unlike grape wines which improve with extremeage, do not fare as well with excessive age.
Everything I've read on this particular fruit says 7 months cellaring minimum and consumed within seven months to 1.5 years.
Course, that's probebly on the safe side but 7 months should provide you a nice flavor.

As far as drinkable...
That's a matter of taste.
I like my wines right as they go into the bottle, 2 months later, and even 4 months later than that.
You're the best judge of "drinkable".
If it's bitter now, it will mellow with age.
If it's pleasing now, it may not make it to age.





Did you taste it recently???
What was your starting spec grav???
Are you planning to back sweeten??? (That will remove some tartness if it's there).

Keep us up on your progress.


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## joeswine (Jan 28, 2008)

stay on course and taste your product ,don't rush it,I handle my wines only 4 times in its life spand to bottle, first time gets bentonite stirredand yeast,second time getsracked and degassed,followed up with K/met,the third ,racking gets degassing, ,forth time ,it gets K/MET,findingAGENT,AND SORBATE,Ii ALLOW IT TO SETTLE OUT AND BOTTLE ,I don't use days as a measure,of time ,when I'am in the process ,I take each stage and measure it as to its owncompletetion,if it takes longer then so be it,buy the time the wine is ready to bottle it should be a completed work,then, you can adjust and bottle//at least thats the way i do it//jp



note IF YOUR MAKING A FRUIT WINE PECTIN EMZ. IN THE BEGINING,ADES IN BREAKDOWN OF FRUIT,AND AT THE END OR FORTH STEP NOT A BAD IDEA TO DROP SOME IN TO HELP REDUCE HAZE,REMEMBER I SAID THAT A LITTLE WHILE BACK/*Edited by: joeswine *


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## Doober (Jan 28, 2008)

my starting SG was 1.080. I do plan on backsweetening. do i use 1cup water to 2 cups sugar? i don't have any sorbate. Do i need it?The wine was made from juice, not the fruit. you guys are alot of help and i appreciate the posts.


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## Wade E (Jan 28, 2008)

You definitely have to use sorbate or it will start fermenting all over again and you should use k-meta hand in hand with the sorbate. A sugar syrup is made by adding 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of boiling water and then let it cool down to room temp.


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## swillologist (Jan 28, 2008)

I racked my apple wine last Thursday. It was still cloudy. I put in some super kleer Saturday and now it looks like this.. 








Now I have to back sweeten it. The SG right now is .998. I think I will try for an SG of 1.010. I will probably just take it up a little at time and taste it to see what I think. *Edited by: swillologist *


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## Wade E (Jan 28, 2008)

Taste it frequently as you can not take the sweetness back out. I love that Superkleer!


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## Waldo (Jan 29, 2008)

Beautiful color swill...great job on this one


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## Guest (Jan 29, 2008)

Doober...
If your starting SG was 1.080 then
your Brix = 20 (at start)and
your abv = 11.5%
Your Brix now = 0.0 but will of course, increase when you back sweeten.


Regarding Backsweetening.
Wade is 100% right!!!
Go slow on your sugar additions, maybe 1 cup at a time and each time you add the cup, stop and taste it (after mixing well) and measure it.
By measuring, you get an idea of what degree of sweetness you want to shoot for in your end product next time.
If you're unsure now, take a thief of your favorite store bought wine in your hydrometer flask, measure that sg. and pour the contents back into your wine glass. Then, while you sit noting the results, enjoy that glass of wine.


When you add the sugar be aware that your must's volume will risein equal proportion to the amount of sugar (and water)you add so be sure youhave roomfor it.
I like to do my back sweetening after I rack because of the natural lessening of volume that occures due to siphoning.


Another thing to consider here is, if you add water you'll be diluting the fullness of your wines bodyto a certain degree. In some cases that may be beneficial, like if it's currently too bitter or tart. 
What I usually do, is after racking I remove a cup or twoof must and add my cup of sugar to that, mix well and return it to the carboy. This keeps my wine'sbody moreconsistant,I'm not fighting the negetive sg.effects of the water additions and the volume doesn't rise any more than the volume of the sugar.


Your wine looks great!
Bear in mind also, that time and patiencewill clear a wine in most cases as well as your additions of clearing agents will.


What's next on your project list?


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## joeswine (Jan 29, 2008)

THATS sure one excellent color and clear, good job


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 29, 2008)

swillologist said:


> I racked my apple wine last Thursday. It was still cloudy. I put in some super kleer Saturday and now it looks like this..
> 
> 
> 
> ...





That's brilliantly clear....


Hail to Super-Kleer K-C....


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## swillologist (Jan 29, 2008)

Thanks everyone. I have to rack off of the super kleer before I back sweeten. Can I use frozen apple concentrate to back sweeten or with that cloud it up again.


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## Guest (Jan 29, 2008)

[chuckles]
Uh, yea.
If you addfrozen apple concentratethat's not clearto your clear wine you'll get a super rich appletasting wine that needs to be racked and cleared again.


Have you tasted the wine yet?
If it doesn't have enough apple taste to meet with your approval, adding the concentrate will of course, boost the flavor and add an additional bit of sugar on it's own.
Just expect to have to rack and possiblyclear again.
No big deal.


On the other hand, if it has enough apple taste to meet withyour approval, just add enough sugar (one cup sugar to one cup wineat a time) to meet your sweetness desire.


Remember...
There really are only a couple hard fast rules about homewine making. All the restare a matter of personal taste.
Taste, taste and taste again till it meets with your approval.


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## joeswine (Jan 29, 2008)

HANDYMAM'I DO BELIEVE YOU'VE GOT IT,YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN******


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## Wade E (Jan 29, 2008)

I ould get some sweet apple juice and reduce it on the stove so that you are not diluting the wine much but concentrating the sugar. I do this with all my fruit wines and its proven. Just ont use any juice that is cloudy like a concentrate or that contains a sediment on the bottom.

*Edited by: wade *


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## Doober (Jan 29, 2008)

can i add the sorbate whenever? what does it do ?*Edited by: Doober *


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## joeswine (Jan 30, 2008)

IF you think that this is the last time you'll handle this product before bottling then by all means,sorbate//it extents the products shelf life for freshness


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## Guest (Jan 30, 2008)

*Sorbic acid*, sometimes sold in powder form as potassium sorbate, ...is fungistatic (inhibitory to yeast) and even fungicidal (kills yeast) in higher concentrations. 

Sorbic acid is not very soluble in water, has a slightly acidic taste and does not have any effect on bacteria, as mentioned above. Roughly, 1/4 teaspoon of potassium sorbate translates to 2 grams, of which 75% is 
pure sorbic acid in solution.
Wine Wizard


_Inhibits yeast reproduction and fermentation in sweet wines at bottling. Also called wine stabilizer. Not meant to stop active fermentation. Use 1 1/4 teaspoons per 5 gallons of wine._

Sulphite and sorbate - the stabilizers in the kit - work to inhibit yeast activity. If, by mistake, you add them too early your wine may not finish fermenting. If you add the sorbate on day one, the yeast will never become active, and the kit will not ferment.


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## Wade E (Jan 30, 2008)

Doober, add the k-meta and potassium sorbate after the wine is stable and just before fining. After adding the meta and sorbate you may back sweeten and then give a few days to make sure it doesnt start fermenting again.


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## joeswine (Jan 30, 2008)

I see what you mean by wine wizard,handyman


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## Doober (Feb 15, 2008)

I added the sorbate and then backsweetened. the syrup left like a oil type of film on top of the wine. What should i do?


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