Cloudy Chardonnay

[Donatelo]

I started a kit chardonnay on Oct 14th. followed the instruction , but added a 96 oz. can of peach base.
On Nov 5th per instructions I added the Kieselsol / chitosan packet .No clearing as of yet. Do you think it will ever clear and I have another packet. can I repeat the Kieselsol / Chitosan treatment or am I stuck?

 

[sour_grapes]

What is the SG now and/or what was it when on Nov. 5th?

If it is still fermenting at all, it likely won't clear.

 

[Donatelo]

Not fermenting. No evidence of gas in the airlock. The starting SG was 1.110 on Oct 15. On Nov12th the Sg was .997.
Will it do any good to retry the Kieselsol / Chitosan treatment? I can bulk store this all winter if need be, but if it isn't going to clear , what is the point?

I am tempted to back sweeten a little and bottle it. It's just my own table wine. Kinda sucks that it wont clear , but it will still be drinkable , right?

 

[Johnd]

Since you’ve already used the fining regimen once, give it some time to degas, wine doesn’t clear well when it has CO2 in it.

Since you added peach base, you’ve introduced a “more difficult than most to clear” fruit, due to pectin haze. Other than not enough time, this could also be problematic, but manageable with pectic enzyme. The enzyme will break down the pectin you added (peach) and allow it to drop out of the wine, clearing the haze.

 

[Stressbaby]

I agree with John, I would try pectic enzyme next, make sure it is fully degassed, then if needed you could retry the fining agents.

 

[Donatelo]

This is the same advice that I received from another board. Great to have confirmation.
What I can do is : Rack it into my seven gallon bucket. Degas vigorously with the whip or a spoon. then add the pectic enzyme according to instructions.(1/2 tsp. per gallon) and let it sit in 74 degree temp til it clears.
Does that sound right?

 

[Stressbaby]

If it were me I'd probably do it like this:
Add pectic - no harm if you overshoot on the pectic enzyme - give it a week at least.
Degas - I'm not a fan of whipping the wine to do this but if in a hurry go ahead, make sure the SO2 levels are up. Otherwise you could vacuum, vacuum rack, etc.
Then retry the fining agents if needed.

 

[Donatelo]

I woke up this morning and headed out to the storm cellar with pectic enzyme in hand. Another forum told me to add the enzyme two tsp to a gallon. I added four tsp yesterday, and they said I needed a total of 12 tsp.. glad I only added twice the directions on the bottle. This morning it was crystal clear! I will wait a few days and degas, back sweeten and add one campden tablet per gallon. Then I can bottle and wait until March or April.

 

[Johnd]

I woke up this morning and headed out to the storm cellar with pectic enzyme in hand. Another forum told me to add the enzyme two tsp to a gallon. I added four tsp yesterday, and they said I needed a total of 12 tsp.. glad I only added twice the directions on the bottle. This morning it was crystal clear! I will wait a few days and degas, back sweeten and add one campden tablet per gallon. Then I can bottle and wait until March or April.

Glad it’s working. Many fruits have pectin in them, a little pectic enzyme usually does the trick when you get that haze. Some folks add it into their fermentation of fruit wines.