Ghost in the dragon….

[yakhunter]

Hi Everyone,

I bottled my first batch of DB about a week ago. I started it months ago, and racked it 2-3 times subsequently. I also racked into a bucket before bottling.

I just checked on it yesterday, and now it has a cloudy sediment at the bottom of the bottles. Actually, it is now on the side of the bottles as I discovered this issue while laying them over for aging.

What gives? Where did this come from? No way it was racked sediment or not done fermenting as I also moved it to my 50 degree ish basement. Did the temp drop cause something to precipitate out? It is a wispy cloudy sort of sediment. It looks like smoke.

If it helps, I kept about a half gallon in a jug in my kitchen to drink during the week. It was delicious and stayed perfectly clear.

Thanks!

 

[Elmer]

Did you use sparkalloid.
I know in many of my batches sparkalloid can end up in bottles and carboys.

It looks like fluffy evil clouds!

 

[ShawnDTurner]

your wine was not clear! Try filtering the next time

 

[dangerdave]

I agree with Shawn. Try running your next batch thru a filter. Even a relatively cheap one (like the Vinbrite) can make a very big difference.

 

[yakhunter]

I don't have a filter and I will probably not be getting one all that soon.

WHy would whatever this is wait until bottling to precipitate out? It was crystal clear before bottling for months.

Is there a way to prevent this without filtering?

 

[LoveTheWine]

fine with superKleer

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Super Kleer works wonders. I bulk age all of my wines at least 15 to 18 months. You have to make sure you degass properly for the fining agents to work as intended. Cheers!

 

[Boatboy24]

Was there any kind of sediment in the carboy at all? Did you rack before bottling?

 

[LoveTheWine]

Even though wine may look really clear there may be small particals in there that will still settle out.
pour a bit of wine in a glass and shine a bright LED flashlight through it and you will see them light up.
After de-gassing really well, add superKleer and there will be a lot of white sediment fall out within 24 hrs.
It would be advisable to still filter even after fining.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Interesting that you mention sparkolloid and sediment in bottles Elmer, to think of it, I've used Sparkolloid to clear all of my fruit wine (the only wines that I don't clear naturally) and put them all through a filter and even after that, several months down the road there is a fine layer of sediment at the bottom or side of the bottle.
Very interesting.

 

[yakhunter]

@boatboy: I don't remember if there was any sediment in the carboy. I think a tiny bit. I did rack to a bucket before bottling.

Can I "save" this by pouring it back into a carboy and re-fining? How long will that take? I wanted to give some out at Christmas.

 

[Boatboy24]

Aside from being a little unsightly, there's nothing wrong with the wine. I guess it couldn't hurt to put it back in a carboy for a few weeks and rack again. Put the carboy in a position where you will not have to move it at all before racking and make sure you use the "tip" on the bottom of your racking cane. You'll leave a little wine in the carboy, but when you're finished, you can pour it off and have that as a reward for finishing the bottling. If you can, run it through a filter.

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

YakHunter - I just noticed the same thing in my DB a couple days ago. Aged in carboy for a few months before bottling and its been bottled for a month+. I did use Sparkalloid to help clear, did not backsweeten. I had the bottles laying on their sides and when I tipped them up, little white spirals floated up into the wine. I shook the bottles and they disappeared. The next day they looked crystal clear again. Flavor was fine. I think if I give these out for Christmas, I'll just tell people its sugar and to shake before popping the cork. I've made about 6 batches of wine so far and that is the only one I have seen this problem with, and its the only one I used Sparkalloid.

 

[yakhunter]

Also, I did use sparkalloid.

 

[jamesngalveston]

danger will robertson....sparkalloid
one of my first batches,and very clear, i used sparkalloid...last week i wanted to try a bottle, low and behold...small amount of sediment in every bottle... there was only 5..so i stuck in the fridge and will drink.
kind of dark smokey color and kind of wispy,,,

 

[chasemandingo]

sparkolloid is notorious for producing very fluffy, cloud like lees. Makes racking off of the lees very difficult. I will definately be investing in a filter soon.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I switched to super kleer just becuase of that...I still use egg whites in my blackberry...but super kleer in every thing else.

 

[vernsgal]

I don't have a filter and I will probably not be getting one all that soon.

WHy would whatever this is wait until bottling to precipitate out? It was crystal clear before bottling for months.

Is there a way to prevent this without filtering?

I use 2-part wine fining which is Chitosan and Kiesol in liquid form. I just checked my DB which I bottled Jan.2013 and it's still crystal clear. Sparkalloid is probably the culprit.
If poring back into carboy be careful with allowing air in. It should clear in 2 weeks again and then rebottle for gifts
As Jim mentioned careful not to disturb the sediment when rebottling.

 

[chasemandingo]

So does super kleer really create nice dense compact lees?

 

[dangerdave]

Yes it does. I have moved in that direction for my wines. The Sparkolloid is great because it is very cheap, has zero affect on the wine, and it clears quickly. You just have to be careful with the fluffies. Filter if you can. Anyway, a little sediment is perfectly acceptable in home made wines!

I think the next comparison I'll be doing will be a DB study on clearing. Two identical batches except for the clearing agent: Sparkolloid vs Super Klear! Coming soon to a wine forum near you!