A Sticky Wicket

Aug 01, 2006 4 Replies

I'm making Pinot Grigio from a kit. I'm at the clarification process, and something odd is happening. Rather than the sediment dropping directly to the bottom of the carboy, I'm getting some that is sticking to the sides of the carboy. I don't know whether or not I should try stirring it up and then hope it all settles properly or just let it collect there and hope it drops to the bottom at the next racking. Other than that, it's clearing beautifully.



Any thoughts?



Bob -

That does happen sometimes - not sure why. I usually just give the carboy a sharp twist (rotating the whole thing about the vertical axis) for a few inches, every couple of days. This tends to dislodge the stuff sticking to the side of the carboy, without stirring up the stuff on the bottom. Eventually just about all of the sediment will end up on the bottom.

Doug

Bingo! That was almost too easy. I owe you a glass of Pinot Grigio, Doug.

My Pinot Gris kit did the same thing, taping and twisting as mentioned below allowed it to free off the sides and settle to the bottom. My error was, I tried to bottle without an additional rack, and that sediment is REALLY light and moves FAST if any movement. So now I have about 10 bottles that I can see settlement in, guess I'll have to decanter prior to enjoying. So ensure you rack carefully.

This is a Heron Bay kit and has 10 days of clearing, racking, another 1-4 weeks of clearing, and finally bottling. They even recommend filtering. Is this much clearing, racking, and filtering unique to Pinot Grigio?

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