White particles floating right below the surface, Winexpert Sangria Kit

[fermentingnewb]

Good evening,

Brand new here and am still learning. I started a sangria kit and after the fermentation stage, racked it, degassed it, and added juice and the chitosan. 6 days later, I see some off white particles floating right below the surface of the wine, nothing on top. The particles appear like undissolved aquarium fish flake food. Should I rack it again and add some bentonite?

 

[Ohio Bob]

Good evening,

Brand new here and am still learning. I started a sangria kit and after the fermentation stage, racked it, degassed it, and added juice and the chitosan. 6 days later, I see some off white particles floating right below the surface of the wine, nothing on top. The particles appear like undissolved aquarium fish flake food. Should I rack it again and add some bentonite?

Added juice? Was that part of the instructions?

Secondly, chitosan is a fining agent usually used in conjunction with kieselsol. Did you add this? Both components, really anything you add to wine, needs to be mixed well when added.

Since the wine is still really young I suspect you still have dissolved CO2 and that is causing some lees to be more buoyant and not drop out. I’d watch it for another week, maybe 2, before deciding on a next step. Also, potassium metabisulfite, aka Kmeta, is usually added in this time frame, powdered Kmeta can be prone to not dissolving if it’s in large particles.

Nothing you said is reason to be alarmed, your wine is probably 99% fine.

 

[fermentingnewb]

I did ad

Added juice? Was that part of the instructions?

Secondly, chitosan is a fining agent usually used in conjunction with kieselsol. Did you add this? Both components, really anything you add to wine, needs to be mixed well when added.

Since the wine is still really young I suspect you still have dissolved CO2 and that is causing some lees to be more buoyant and not drop out. I’d watch it for another week, maybe 2, before deciding on a next step. Also, potassium metabisulfite, aka Kmeta, is usually added in this time frame, powdered Kmeta can be prone to not dissolving if it’s in large particles.

Nothing you said is reason to be alarmed, your wine is probably 99% fine.

I did add kiesosol as well. The juice was part of the instructions (flavor pack). I will give it a week to see if they drop out. Thank you for the reply!

 

[fermentingnewb]

I did ad

I did add kiesosol as well. The juice was part of the instructions (flavor pack). I will give it a week to see if they drop out. Thank you for the reply!

 

[Ohio Bob]

You should be fine.

But, how long has it been since fermentation was done, SG at 1.000-ish? It looks like you have a lot of head space above the wine, that will not be good for storage if there is no CO2 being generated by the wine. I would get the next size down, not necessary to be a Fermonster, glass carboys have smaller necks. The goal is to reduce the head space, aka the ullage.

 

[fermentingnewb]

You should be fine.

But, how long has it been since fermentation was done, SG at 1.000-ish? It looks like you have a lot of head space above the wine, that will not be good for storage if there is no CO2 being generated by the wine. I would get the next size down, not necessary to be a Fermonster, glass carboys have smaller necks. The goal is to reduce the head space, aka the ullage.

Day 14 SG was .996. Got the reading utilizing a refractometer and utilizing the online calculator to convert it post fermentation. I have a 5 gallon carboy, just afraid ill have left over wine as this is 6 gallon batch.

 

[QuiQuog]

You may want to rethink leaving it in that container. Carboys are designed to reduce the headspace as much as possible to limit the amount of oxygen touching the wine after fermentation ceases to produce co2, which protects the wine from oxygen. You have a cubic foot or more of headspace there with a lot of surface area. Ideally, you want it to be just a couple of cubic inches. Something like this.

 

[QuiQuog]

If you use a 5 gallon carboy, you'll likely lose a couple bottles. If you use a 6 gallon carboy, you'll likely need to top up with a couple bottles of a similar wine to get it to fill to the neck like pictured. But you won't risk your wine getting oxygenated from that massive surface area, and headspace.

 

[fermentingnewb]

I transferred it to a carboy. Looks like after leaving the sediment behind after the fermentation and the initial rack, I am down to this much liquid. I just checked the wine equipment kit I bought and it is a 6 gallon carboy. Looks like I need to hit up marketplace and find me some 5 gallon carboys.

 

[cmason1957]

I transferred it to a carboy. Looks like after leaving the sediment behind after the fermentation and the initial rack, I am down to this much liquid. I just checked the wine equipment kit I bought and it is a 6 gallon carboy. Looks like I need to hit up marketplace and find me some 5 gallon carboys.
View attachment 110385

If you plan on following the time-table indicated by the instructions (4-8 weeks) then topping up / racking down is probably not required. However, if you plan to bulk age for longer than that time frame. Then topping up and / or racking down to a smaller carboy is a good idea.

 

[sour_grapes]

I transferred it to a carboy. Looks like after leaving the sediment behind after the fermentation and the initial rack, I am down to this much liquid. I just checked the wine equipment kit I bought and it is a 6 gallon carboy. Looks like I need to hit up marketplace and find me some 5 gallon carboys.
View attachment 110385

Here, if it were mine, I would "hit up the marketplace" for a few bottles of inexpensive Tempranillo and just top up the present carboy. It is not like that wine will go to waste: you will just delay drinking it for a while:

 

[Ohio Bob]

If you can’t find Tempranillo, suitable blending partners include Grenache, Merlot, and Cab.

 

[fermentingnewb]

I will do that since I have quite a bit of a wait until everything settles. Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Jovimaple]

@fermentingnewb Welcome to WMT!