Gravitational Clarification

That's what I do for most of my wines.

Yep. And no matter how clear I think it is, in a year or so I always see a little more sediment drop out in the bottles anyway.

Isn't it amazing!? All my bottles have fine line of sediment after a few years...

That's my method!! Only I do not use sulphur since I do not brake the CO2 seal until the wine is clear. I only use some sulphur on white wines at bottling. Never had any problems with "yeast taste" of the wine after some 2-3 months storage/clarifications on leaves. But it may be because I keep the wines on bottles for more than 2 years before consumption.

Yes, I always let wine made from grapes clear naturally. Time is never a problem since I let the wine sit for at least 4 years before drinking/bottling. The odd time I've made kit wines, I follow their instructions and add whatever clarifying agent to it.

"At least" four years before bottling ? My hat is off to you, but I wonder whether that isn't taking patience a bit far. :-) I shudder to think how many carboys I'd need, to store everything that long . . .

Doug

Yes, I would say most of the folks who've made wine for many years let them sit to clarify.

I have an exception in that I made a batch of Muscadine (I moved to GA from NY so I need to convince the locals I've tried their own) that has been sitting since Sep 2002 and it's murky as the day I racked to glass. I intend to 1) clear by a fining agent (our local GA clay might stead for bentonite!) or 2) dump it as it tastes like nothing I'd drink.

oops, I meant 4 months! Not even I could wait that long :-)

Al

HEE-HEE!!!! I =just= bottled my Blueberry 2000!!! My Mom and my wife both died of cancer a couple years back and it just killed any interest I had in doing anything. Bob

In 25+ years of making wine this last year is the first I have ever used fining agents. 5 wines I made had not cleared in a year and showed no signs they were going to. So I force cleared them. They turned out fine but I would not do it without giving them a chance.

Ray

Bob,

With the exception of a few white grape wines, I've never had to use a fining agent to clear a wine. I do get a small amount of sediment in all of my wines and meads after several months in the bottle, but I consider this to be acceptable given that I do not filter. There are a few meads I've made, notably a golden raisen melomel, which continued to throw lees even when appearing to be clear (after a typical 9-12 months bulk aging period) and would have probably benefitted from a fining regimen. This mead I bottled after about two years of bulk aging and it still threw sediment in the bottle, though it appeared to be crystal clear in the carboy.

Bob, I typically don't use clarifying agents either, unless a wine really doesn't clear. Usually my wines clear by racking when there is sediment, and letting them sit. I've had wines take a year to clear, and yet the zucchini/banana wine I started in late April cleared in less than a month. As soon as my wine cellar gets big enough, I'm going to start to bulk age longer before bottling. Just started my Oregano Wine a few days ago - should be interesting. Darlene G'town, Wisconsin USA

WHAT!!?? LOL!!!! NOW I have seen it all! When I was a teen I was totally ignorant of how to make wine, and tried to make some by leaving marijuana to soak in a jar for two months. My girlfriend, every time I'd act like I actually knew anything, would always remind me "Hey, you're the moron who tried to make wine out of marijuana!" Bob LOL!!!

I started in late April cleared in less than a month.

HAH!!! I'll have to call her up and tell her so! She's a college professor now so I owe her a good ZING! LOL!!

It's not different from any other plant. It breaks down. You just need to add a sugar source for the yeast. The added benefit is THC is alcohol soluble, so as the alcohol content grows, it will pull the THC out of the cannibis and into the wine.

If I recall one of the things I read, the other benefit is that the stems and such, that no one uses, are a good stock for it and usable. Seeds apaprently are too oily and should not be included.

You have to treat it like any other plant you would try to make wine out of. Add a sugar source for the yeast, add boiling water, put in a primary fermenter. Rack into a secondary, etc.

Haven't even seen the stuff since 1984!

Haha, not saying you have. Was a purely scientific discussion. Also so you don't feel as bad about actually attempting it. ;)

You don't mention adding any acid.

But I suppose that you'd want to be careful combining pot and acid.

clyde Steelville, Missouri, USofA

I understand your point Bob, and have actually produced commercial wine recently that was neither fined nor filtered. It was a red that had been aged for two years in oak barrels and was as clear as any wine. Just had to see for myself.

But I feel compelled to mention that fining has other purposes beyond clarification. Namely, the organoleptic qualities of the wine can be greatly improved sometimes with proper, judicious finings. I've done fining trials before on my reds, but have never seen any improvements from the treatment.

Also, along these lines, it's a common misconception that filtration's main function is clarification. When I filter, it's mainly to remove microbial beasts: brilliant clarification is just a nice side effect.

If you've never tried these techniques of winemaking, then you could not possibly know whether they have positive effects on your wine. But if you're content with your current procedures, that's all that really matters.

clyde Steelville, Missouri, USofA