Pectic Enzyme - How Long Does its Take?

[Boatboy24]

I've only used it once before, and I don't recall how quickly it worked. I started a Viognier juice bucket a little over a month ago and added some dried pineapple and mango to beef it up a bit. The wine is tasting and smelling fantastic, but I have a haze - likely from the fruit, I suspect. On Wednesday, I added 2 tsp of pectic enzyme to a sample, stirred it well, then added that into the carboy and stirred. How long before I should start seeing the haze clear?

 

[Masbustelo]

How big is your carboy? Why are you concerned about clearing after 1 month?

 

[bkisel]

I've only used it, to the best of my memory, in primary or with SuperKleer so I've no way of answering your question. I suspect in some wines like lets say apple it'd have a quick and noticeable effect but not so much in something like peach.

 

[Boatboy24]

How big is your carboy? Why are you concerned about clearing after 1 month?

5 gallons. Not concerned, other than it appears all the sediment has precipitated. Now I just have a haze.

 

[ceeaton]

5 gallons. Not concerned, other than it appears all the sediment has precipitated. Now I just have a haze.

I had the same issue with my Peach/Mango batch this Spring. I used a package of a two step clarifier and was left with a haze afterwards. Kept it out in the cold garage for a while, nothing changed. Added some pectic enzyme, nothing. Brought it inside to the kitchen area, it cleared in about two weeks. Might have be coincidence, might have been that it needed to warm up for the pectic enzyme to work. I have read that once alcohol is present, it takes more enzyme than if added before fermentation. Maybe one of our resident mad but friendly scientists can explain how that enzyme works and whether the temperature of the wine really matters.

 

[BernardSmith]

My understanding - and it may be totally wrongheaded - is that pectic enzyme does not work (or work effectively) in the presence of alcohol. The instructions that come with the enzyme I buy is to add it 1 hour before you pitch the yeast. You may need to add two or three times the amount of enzyme (or even more) if you are adding it to wine.

 

[bkisel]

Hum... I think on my next peach wine I'm going to double up on the amount I've been adding to primary.

 

[Masbustelo]

If it were me, I would add 1tsp per gallon.

 

[Boatboy24]

If it were me, I would add 1tsp per gallon.

Thank you!!

 

[opus345]

Research Dangerous Dave's DB recipe thread. There are a number of discussions about using PE to clear Peach/Mango variants. Someone even talked about using Lallzyme Cmax

 

[Rob_S]

I've only used it once before, and I don't recall how quickly it worked. I started a Viognier juice bucket a little over a month ago and added some dried pineapple and mango to beef it up a bit. The wine is tasting and smelling fantastic, but I have a haze - likely from the fruit, I suspect. On Wednesday, I added 2 tsp of pectic enzyme to a sample, stirred it well, then added that into the carboy and stirred. How long before I should start seeing the haze clear?

I just did a rosé wine and Chitosan and Kieselsol cleared up the haze very well after about a week and a half.

Rob

 

[Bodenski]

This is from Jack Keller's Website:

Pectin Haze: The most common cause of a haze in wine is the presence of pectin, which forms gelatinous solutions in the wine. The problem is aggravated if the must is initially boiled to extract flavor, color or both. To check if a haze is pectin in origin, add 3-4 fluid ounces of methylated spirit to a fluid ounce of wine. If jelly-like clots or strings form, then the problem is most likely pectin and should be treated.

To treat the wine, for each gallon of wine draw off one cup of wine and stir into it teaspoon of pectic enzyme. Set the treated sample in a warm place (70-80° F.) and stir hourly for four hours. Strain the sample through sterilized muslin cloth and add to the bulk of the wine. Leave the wine at 70° F. for 4-5 days. The haze should clear. If it does not, strain the wine through sterilized muslin cloth and then through a vacuum-pumped filter. If it still does not clarify, the problem was misdiagnosed.

Pectin hazes can be prevented by adding pectic enzymes to the must 12 hours before adding the wine yeast. One teaspoon of enzyme per gallon of must is usually enough, but some musts require 1-1/2 teaspoons.

I've never tried what he described to diagnosis it, but it seems like it makes sense to me. Here's the link to the full web page that describes lots of potential problems and some of their solutions: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/problems.asp

 

[Boatboy24]

It's been a little over two weeks, and the haze is clearing nicely.

 

[Johnd]

I've got this Satsuma wine thing going on right now, been in bulk aging for a bit and has dropped its sediment, but still is a bit hazy. I did use pectic enzyme prefermentation, but went ahead and treated it with 1/2 tsp / gallon a couple of days ago, hopefully that will clear it up. If not, it'll get run through the superjet filter, coarse pads first, then polishing before I sweeten it up and bottle it...........

 

[ceeaton]

I've got this Satsuma wine thing going on right now....

Is it curable? Sure sounds like something I don't want to catch. "Honey, someone at work has that dreaded Satsuma and I think I'm coming down with it, so you had better keep your distance. I also had some refried beans for lunch".

 

[Johnd]

Is it curable? Sure sounds like something I don't want to catch. "Honey, someone at work has that dreaded Satsuma and I think I'm coming down with it, so you had better keep your distance. I also had some refried beans for lunch".

A little levity goes a long way in these dark, discerning days.......

I don't know if it's curable or not, we'll have to let it play out. BTW, we had red beans and rice for dinner tonite, one of my faves.

 

[ceeaton]

A little levity goes a long way in these dark, discerning days.......

I don't know if it's curable or not, we'll have to let it play out. BTW, we had red beans and rice for dinner tonite, one of my faves.

Levity, that's my middle name. Just hope people don't take it wrong, I knew you wouldn't, you're used to my silliness!

I take the angle that I'd rather laugh than cry, I could cry most days if I took everything in life seriously.

 

[Johnd]

Levity, that's my middle name. Just hope people don't take it wrong, I knew you wouldn't, you're used to my silliness!

I take the angle that I'd rather laugh than cry, I could cry most days if I took everything in life seriously.

Life's too short to be sad or to drink bad wine.

 

[mbleill]

I had a 6 gallon carboy of white french hybrid wine that completed fermentation in early October. Was still cloudy in December after fining with bentonite. I made a test sample clear pint jar of the wine and put two tsp of pectin enzyme and stirred just to see if I did indeed have a pectin haze issue. Sure enough, the wine in the test jar cleared in two days. Pectin haze. I piured the test jar content back into the 6 gallon carboy and added two more tsp of pectin enzyme and stirred. It took a little over two weeks but the wine cleared completely. Hope this helps.