clarity question

[dralarms]

As you can see by the attached my wine looks clear, but when iplace a flashlight off the side it looks cloudy? Or am I worrying over nothing?

 

[BernardSmith]

I don't think you need to worry but I do think the way the wine is dispersing the light does suggest that there is a significant amount of particles floating around that are likely to drop out of suspension over time... and that could mean that you will have more sediment in your bottles than the apparent clarity of the wine in the top photo suggests. I wonder if the problem is that there is still a significant amount of CO2 in the carboy keeping the particulates in suspension...

 

[dralarms]

No co2 left. I may try super kleer on 1 jug just to see if anything falls out.

 

[richmke]

how long has the wine been aging?

 

[dralarms]

6 months or so.

 

[garymc]

I've had exactly the same thing. And, yes, eventually it settled out in my bottles. I don't mind some sediment in the bottles because I know what it is. But I wonder sometimes if bottles that I have given away get dumped out because people look at the sediment and think it's too gross to drink.

This increases my interest in cold stabilization.

 

[dralarms]

I had one guy tell me if he gets a wine without "some" in it he won't drink it.

 

[richmke]

If it has been 6 months, it will take a while longer to clear on its own. If you want to bottle soon, then something like Super Klear is the way to go.

 

[PhilDarby]

Well from my perspective they look clear to me, I tend to decide on clarity by how wide the wine is (mostly based on a glass) because your pictures, are quite wide, based on the container width, I would say they are clear by my standards, the reason I say this is because the light from the back of the bottle is showing through ie reflections, which are showing in the picture, although they may be slightly distorted and stuff, the fact they are present means that your wine is very clear.

That's my 2 cents worth.

pp bernardsmith it could also mean a fairly sweet back sweetened wine causing light distortion.

personally, I wouldn't class that as cloudy either it looks nice, can I have a glass, please ill tell u if its ok after ive had a bottle or two ;-)

those containers im guessing are 12 to 16 inches wide, as a rough guide, if u bottled that wine into a bottle of average width of 3.5 inches, or so without doubt when that was decanted into a wine glass you would not notice any faults with clarity is my opinion, basically. Hence my stance.

If its clear through 4 inches of glass when bottled its clear for me ;-)

 

[dralarms]

Thanks phildarby, it is a sweet wine. Didn't know sugar would reflect like that.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I would give it some more time or if you are in a hurry use super kleer. Make sure temps are not too cool. I have noticed that super kleer and clearing in general do better when the ambient temps are warmer (warmer temps help release CO2).

Cold Stablization can also help.

I don't see a beam of light in the carboys when I stick a flashlight on there. This is prior to bottling, and I usually go at least a year and I also filter my wine - but filtering should be done on a clear wine, not a cloudy wine.

 

[PhilDarby]

yer sugar defracts light ;-) which basically means it distorts the light going through it, so, it doesn't give a clear image just reflections, that's very likely why it looks hazy when u shine the torch, its just the sugars altering the light, going through it, is all.

I reckon its clear.

 

[dralarms]

Thanks. From now on I'll check it before backsweetening next time.

 

[heatherd]

No co2 left. I may try super kleer on 1 jug just to see if anything falls out.

How do you know there's no co2 left? That is often the culprit when a wine ought to be clear and isn't. It would be good to be sure before using superkleer, because superkleer can't get rid of gas. Good luck!
Heather

 

[dralarms]

How do you know there's no co2 left? That is often the culprit when a wine ought to be clear and isn't. It would be good to be sure before using superkleer, because superkleer can't get rid of gas. Good luck!
Heather

I would say the biggest reason I know there is no co2 is all 3 carboys have solid bungs and none have loosened up or shotout of the jugs. Trust me I know co2. It's death is the allinonewinepump.

 

[JohnT]

You will do no harm by aging it more and it does look like there is some particulate. I would give cold stabilization a try.