Accidentally messed up finings.

[Grape Expectations]

I have a wine kit that says:

1. Add stabilizer and one (of 2) "Finings A" sachet. Wait 1 hour.
2. Add "Finings B" sachet. Wait 1 hour.
3. Add the other "Finings A" sachet and add-back flavouring.

This is about the 4th or 5th time making this same kit and it clears the wine in 24h.

This time I accidentally added all of "Finings A" with the stabilizer at the start. I saw a few people online say it doesn't matter about the order... but it does, at least for this kit. This wine 24h later has not cleared one iota. There isn't even a trace amount of sediment at the bottom of the bottles.

I guess the "A" stuff sets it up for the "B" stuff then the (albeit identical) addition of more "A" stuff does something to react with the other A+B parts. I don't know, I just know clearing this has gone totally wrong this time.

Another thing that's messed up this batch - I cleaned out a glass jar that had garlic paste in it. The jar was spotless and I put my add-back flavouring in it, because I planned to only stabilize/clear/flavour a 5L bottle at a time, to allow the others to carry on fermenting longer. Now the whole batch stinks and tastes of garlic, from a totally clean glass jar! Guess what... the jar itself now smells nice and fresh - yeah because all that garlic seeped out of the glass and into the flavouring. I thought this was why we used glass (not plastic) in the first place.

I then went online trying to find if anyone had put garlic in wine so I could convince myself it's drinkable haha

 

[Ohio Bob]

Two-part finings work because they attract different charged particles. I also agree the order CAN make a difference. I’ve also read that fining agents can degrade with time. All are possible issues with your wine. If you haven’t added packet B, I would do so.

I would wait another few weeks to see if anything drops out. If the wine is still cloudy, assuming it’s a grape based kit, then hit with another 2-part fining such as K&C, sparkeloid, etc. You could also just let the wine sit for 3 months before deciding. If it’s a fruit based kit maybe it’s a pectin issue. Not sure if fruit kits are prone to this though.

 

[winemaker81]

What is the SG? I assume fermentation is complete, but let's be sure.

Most of the time, K&C work in hours. I've had a few instances where it took days. It could be the age of the materials, as Bob suggested.

Give it time. If it's not clear in 2 weeks, then try something else, as Bob suggested.

You have reinforced the commonly noted advice to NEVER use containers that held strongly flavor items such as pickles or garlic for winemaking. Regardless of what happens, the wine is not ruined, but it may be best for cooking.

 

[ChuckD]

You have reinforced the commonly noted advice to NEVER use containers that held strongly flavor items such as pickles or garlic for winemaking.

I once made 5 gallons of sauerkraut in a well washed A&W root beer syrup bucket…. I never would have guessed root beer flavor could overpower sauerkraut, but it did

 

[Ohio Bob]

I once made 5 gallons of sauerkraut in a well washed A&W root beer syrup bucket…. I never would have guessed root beer flavor could overpower sauerkraut, but it did

That’s good to hear. I’m starting a root beer batch in a few days and I probably need to flag my bucket as “root beer only”.

 

[winemaker81]

I once made 5 gallons of sauerkraut in a well washed A&W root beer syrup bucket…. I never would have guessed root beer flavor could overpower sauerkraut, but it did

I'm an experimental sort of dude ... but that's a flavor I'm not sure should be endured by normal mortals.

But being a jerk, I'm willing to watch others try it.

 

[ChuckD]

I'm an experimental sort of dude ... but that's a flavor I'm not sure should be endured by normal mortals.

But being a jerk, I'm willing to watch others try it.

5 gallons on the compost pile. It was truly vile!

 

[Grape Expectations]

Cheers folks.

The funny part is the garlic jar now smells of absolutely nothing. The flavouring (that smells like nail varnish or some sort of solvent) must have leeched all the garlic from the glass. So there you go, that's how to clean the garlic smell out of a glass jar - coat the inside with wine "add-back" flavouring, who knew!

Of course I'm joking but, even bicarb doesn't get rid of it. I think using a jam jar in future is the best bet, because that can leech in and not affect it.

The SG did end up too high but it has before on other batches and the finings (when used in the proper order) gets it clear in around 6 hours usually, after 24h it's fully clear.

The bottles are clearing a little now, at least there's some sediment there 48h on and there wasn't before, so maybe the finings is doing something after all, it's just going to take a lot longer.

EDIT: Now 72 hours after clearing started the bottles are a lot clearer, like 80% clear, so the finings did work, it's just going to take longer. Also, tasting the wine now, I'd say the garlic smell and taste has reduced a huge amount, to maybe only a third, which is odd because just clearing the wine, I'd have thought those garlic particles would be microscopic and not be able to be pulled out by the finings, but it's a lot more palatable now. Still ruined, but drinkable. I'm becoming quite a wine snob!