How Often To Rack?

[jswordy]

Is there any negative affect to using a clearing agent? I'm guessing not, but just curious if there is any benefit (real or preceived) to allowing the wine to clear on its own.

Thanks for all your input so far.

Depends on which agent. If you use chitisan (Super Kleer) it is made from shellfish. There's a chance someone with a shellfish allergy could react.

The benefit to allowing wine to naturally age and clear is just that - it's natural. No chemicals, no dirt (bentonite is nothing but a specific clay, also used to seal up farm ponds) - nothing has been added to your wine to clear it.

There are folks on here who make wine 100% all-natural, adding perhaps only yeast (and not always even that).

 

[TheWineBrewer]

Hey, I got 2 great video’s showing why and when to rack your wine here:
Simple: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRyTdLsciIw[/ame]
Advanced: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=macyyznX_Nk[/ame]

 

[Karina Kiss]

My question is basicly how often do I need to rack my blackberry wine? I'll post the recipe I followed (before finding this site). Other recipes I've found on the net talk about racking every 2-3 months +/-. Most of the recipes , on the same fruit, I've read on here don't talk about racking that often. I'm not looking to have this recipe picked apart as I already see differences in this recipe and the way I've read how most do it here, just mainly wondering how ofter to rack. Thanks.



Recipe I started with:

Blackberry Wine Recipe ( 1 gallon):


4 pounds of Blackberries ( you can use either fresh or frozen)

7 pints of Water

2 1/4 pounds of Sugar

1/2 tsp Acid Blend

1/2 tsp of Pectic Enzyme

1 tsp Nutrient

1 Crushed Campden Tablet

1 pkg Wine yeast


Starting Specific Gravity (S.G.) - 1.090 - 1.095



Wash and drain your berries. If you have picked your berries or are using fresh blackberries make sure that you have picked out the stems, leaves and anything else that isn't your berries. Make sure that you are using fully ripe berries that do not have any mold on them.

Place your blackberries into a nylon straining bag and mash your berries. Or use your fruit press if you have one. Strain your juice into your Primary Fermenter. Make sure that all of the pulp stays inside of your nylon straining bag. Tie the top and place it inside the fermenter.

Add all of the other ingredients except for the Wine Yeast. Stir it all together and put the lid on your Primary Fermenter.

After 24 hours add your yeast and stir. Put the cover back on the Primary Fermenter.

Stir your wine daily and squeeze the bag of blackberries to push the juice out.

Check the hydrometer reading daily until your S.G. reaches 1.030. This will take about 5 days or so.

Take your bag of blackberry pulp out of your fermenter and squeeze it until all of the juice is out... or at least as much as you can get.

Siphon your wine off of the sediment (the goop that has settled to the bottom of your fermenter) into your Secondary Fermenter which is going to be your glass carboy. this is called "racking your wine".

Attach your airlock.

Your fermenting is done when your S.G. reaches 1.000. This will take about 3 weeks. Rack your wine again (siphon your wine off of the sediment from your glass carboy into another glass carboy).

Reattach your airlock.

In about 2 months rack your wine again. You will do this 3 or 4 times... until your wine is clear. The professional wine makers will usually rack their wine 3 or 4 times... so I don't question their ways... I just follow...

Do you add a camdem table every time you rack or just theb1st, 3rd and 5th ? Then would you again when bottling? Any help welcomed

 

[winemaker81]

Do you add a camdem table every time you rack or just theb1st, 3rd and 5th ? Then would you again when bottling? Any help welcomed

You're responding to a 9 yo post, written by someone who hasn't been on the forum in 5 years.

I suggest you add K-meta, in the form of Campden tablets or powder, at every racking, every 3 months or so during bulk aging, and at bottling time. K-meta works by binding to contaminants, rendering them harmless, and this uses up the free SO2, so you have to replenish it.

That post talks about racking every 2 or 3 months, which is what I was originally taught. However, there's no need to rack during bulk aging -- the thin later of sediment is fine lees (yeast hulls) is not harmful. I bulk age wines 12+ months without racking.

If you have more questions, I suggest you start a new thread -- folks are more likely to reply to a new one than an ancient one, so you'll get better attention.

 

[Jovimaple]

Welcome to WMT, @Karina Kiss !