Cloudy honeydew wine

[wildhair]

This years is my first attempt at making wine, I have yet to put a cork in the first bottle, but I have several batches in various stages. Most have cleared in the secondary, but I started a batch of honeydew wine that is still cloudy. I think I may have messed up & not sure how to correct it.
I started a 1 gallon batch, and as it was fermenting - I added another gallon of honeydew juice (sweetened so it was 1.090) - but didn't think to add nutrient or pectic enzyme or acid. It SEEMED like fermented out, hydrometer read .95, so I racked it into the secondary about 3 weeks ago. Most of the other wines (some younger) have cleared or mostly cleared, but the Honeydew is still very cloudy.
Hoping for suggestions form those more experienced in this on what to do, things to check or ingredients to add. Should I just wait it out? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[heatherd]

@wildhair There are several things you can try:
-Waiting
-Adding finings like Superkleer KC
-Stirring to make sure it isn't gas, as gas can sometimes make the wine cloudy

 

[salcoco]

I would start with the pectic enzume than the SuperKleer.

 

[wildhair]

Thanks. I'll rack it tomorrow & stir the hell out of it. I'll double check the SG, too. How much pectic enzyme for 2 gallons? I got the initial recipe from Jack Keller's website and it did not call for any pectic enzyme. I made another 2 gal. batch of mixed melon wine and racked it last weekend that one has cleared already. I'd have to check my notes to see if I added the enzyme to that one.
Appreciate the input.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request230.asp

 

[salcoco]

the bottle pf pectic enzyme should state the dosage, 1/2 tsp per gallon come to mind but my mind is not that good. check the bottle.

 

[wildhair]

I siphoned it off, added 1 teaspoon of pectic enzyme for 1.75 gal. Checked the SG - it's .992. And I stirred the hell out of it before putting the airlock back in and setting it on the shelf. Now to wait, I guess.

 

[drainsurgeon]

I siphoned it off, added 1 teaspoon of pectic enzyme for 1.75 gal. Checked the SG - it's .992. And I stirred the hell out of it before putting the airlock back in and setting it on the shelf. Now to wait, I guess.

I had the same problem with my Mad Mango this summer. It was a combination of Mango, Peaches and Pineapple. Even after the SuperKleer it was still cloudy weeks later. Finally added some additional Pectic Enzyme (I had added 3 tsp for a 6 gallon batch preferment) and a week later it finally started to clear from the top down. Two weeks later it was crystal clear! Good luck!

 

[wildhair]

Still cloudy

Well, it's been 3 months and my 1.25 gallons of Honeydew Wine is still cloudy. I've added pectic enzyme twice, racked it a couple times, tried Sparkolloid last week.................nada, zilch, no improvement - still cloudy.
Can (or should I ) add MORE pectic enzyme? The SG is .994 - should I just stabilize it and see if it EVER clears up? Or just chalk it up to experience, put a cork in it and drink it with my eyes closed?

I have yet to try Super Kleer KC or cold filtering. It is WI in winter - I should have no trouble keeping it cold for another month or 2.

I'm open to the wisdom of experience here.

 

[wineforfun]

I would try SuperKleer and see if that helps. Sparklloid should have done it but I have always had good luck with SuperKleer.
If that doesn't do it then I would a) stabilize(sorbate, kmeta), backsweeten and bottle it or b) continue to wait it out.

 

[wildhair]

That's kinda how I was leaning. It tastes fine - just not clear. Might just be a wine for personal consumption. And a lesson learned.

 

[BernardSmith]

A couple of quick thoughts. Alcohol denatures pectic enzyme so you may need to double or treble the recommended quantity - and even then it may not work because of the alcohol. The other point is that it is not always obvious whether the electrical charge of the particles keeping them in solution (assuming the issue is not that there is a great deal of CO2) is negative or positive, and I don't know whether the two finings suggested by wineforfun provide differently charged chemicals but you might also want to try adding bentonite clay or even egg white or, I believe, glycerine. Bentonite (I think) is negatively charged so it attracts positively charged particles and the weight of the particles bound up with the bentonite then forces those particles to drop out of suspension. The egg white and glycerine form a blanket and the weight of the blanket forces the particles to fall out of suspension..Both of these should fall to the bottom (and not remain suspended and they should not affect the taste of your wine...

 

[wildhair]

AHHH - so I may have added the pectic enzyme too late? I'd say I was up to triple the pectic enzyme now - which is why I hesitate to add more. I don't think it's CO2 - I shook the hell out of it and only got a little gas out of it. I had read that egg white (or crushed egg shell method) only worked for a protein haze, so I hadn't tried those. (and I worried the egg would go bad and ruin the wine) I also hadn't heard of adding glycerine to the egg white - all the info I found said to add salt to the egg whites. The Super Kleer does have 2 differently charged chemicals - 50ml Chitosan and 15ml Kieselsol.

I'm all for something traditional - how much glycerine per egg white would you recommend? I found this mix someplace -

Beat one egg white with 1/2 pint of red or white wine and a pinch of salt. Add this to the wine to clear up to 10 gallons.

I think I'll pick up some Bentonite and Super Kleer next stop at the wine shop.

Thanks to all for the input.

 

[BernardSmith]

I think a pectin and a protein haze are the same thing

 

[wildhair]

And you likely know more than I. There is a haze caused by starch and a different one caused by pectin. I thought protein haze was a 3rd type.

I did a little digging and came across this on the E.C. Kraus site -

Whenever a homemade wine will not clear you always want to look towards protein particles such as yeast cells, tannin, etc to be the cause. These are things that can be easily dropped out with fining agents and wine clarifiers. But whenever you get into a situation where that last little bit will not clear out of the wine, no matter what you try, then it's time to start suspecting a pectin haze to the reason your wine will not clear. -

 

[cmason1957]

Super kleer is a two part clearing system. One positive, one negative. You can add pectic enzyme as many times as needed. Any the only wine chemical you can do that with. I once had a pear I added some pre ferment then triple dose twice post. Turned out to be one of the best part wines I ever made.

 

[drainsurgeon]

I agree with wineforfun and give the Superkleer a try. I've never tried the Sparkloid but several here have stated the same that Superkleer is a better product. I've always had good luck with it in both kits and fruit wines. I hope it works for you.

 

[wildhair]

Dual Fine did the job

I added the Duel Fine (same as Super Kleer) and it seemed to do the job pretty darn well. It took about 3 days for it to settle out. It's not "gin clear" but it's not embarrassingly cloudy either. The SG was .992, so racked it of the lees & stabilized it last weekend. It needs some sweetening up in another week or so.
Thanks to all for your input and suggestions.