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Pumpkin Wine

Back in November I made a batch of pumpkin wine. I have one three gallon and a one gallon. I have not at all racked the 3 gallon since racking to the secondary sometime in February. The one gallon I raked just the other week. The 3 gallon is still very yellow/orange and doesn't appear that much has sunk to the bottom. The one gallon a day or so after racking it was crystal clear. After seeing this I racked another batch that was not clearing well and it cleared very fast as well. So here is my question, I actually have two.

  1. Why is it that a wine will clear that much faster if you rack it?
  2. Since I haven't racked the pumpkin since November, could I get some off flavors?

David

Reply to
David J.
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Was that November 03 or Nov 04, when you started the wine? Darlene Wisconsin

Reply to
Dar V

November 04

David

Reply to
djones

Okay, I was confused by your reference to racking in February. I've made pumpkin wine before, and I don't think your 3 gallons of wine was hurt by letting it sit longer on the gunk, than the 1 gallon. As long as your wine was in a glass carboy with a bung and airlock, it should be fine. I'm not sure of the scientific explanation of what happens during racking, but I can tell you that it is very important in helping your wine clear. Initially, your young wine has lots of yeast and debris suspended in it during fermentation. When you rack to your secondary, you're already separating the cloudy wine from the dead yeast cells on the bottom. Each time you rack & top-up, more stuff falls out of the wine and settles at the bottom, hence your wine should get clearer as time goes by. I usually rack 3-4 times in a

7 month period, before I bottle my wine. But it all depends on the wine. I've had wine clear after 2 rackings and one wine I had took 6 rackings before it cleared. Hope this helps Darlene Wisconsin
Reply to
Dar V

sorry, when I said February I actually meant November. I don't know how I messed that up.

I racked the 3 gallon from primary to secondary on November 04. So it has been sitting on gunk for 2 months now. I will most likely rack it this weekend.

Thanks,

David

Reply to
David J.

Racking may excite charged particle or stir up particles that then settle again carrying what ever is causing the wine to be cloudy with it. Sometimes you can just stir the carboy or even shake it to help it clear. Berry suggests that if you use some of last years clear wine to top up it will trigger clearing. In short, it is a curious phenomenon. I have noted it too but have no real idea why it happens. Wine making is an art, practice and learn.

Ray

Reply to
Ray Calvert

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