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Sediment problem in Apple Wine

We made some wine years ago when it was all the craze, quit and then started again a year ago (plenty of time to forget everything!), and made some apple wine that we started in Oct. 2002. We bottled it in late Feb. of this year and all looked good, sediment wise. The problem is, it is still is throwing off sediment (we didn't fine or filter). A couple of months ago we did a half-baked filter job on two bottles so we could rebottle it to look decent as a gift for the people who gave us the apples. Those bottles have gotten a filmy sediment that seems to coalesce over time into little 'clumps' or 'flakes' of brownish unsavory in appearance, very light weight sediment.

One thing I will mention: (remember, we're 'restarting' any winemaking knowlege here!) we had trouble getting the fermentation started in the primary. So we added another packet of yeast (this is a 5 gallon batch) and that didn't work either. It turned out that we needed to raise the temp to get the fermentation started but by the time we figured that out, we may have added a third packet of yeast.

So, did adding the extra yeast cause this long sediment production or is it because of the nature of apples, or is there another cause? We made a batch of apple years ago and do not remember this kind of problem with sediment. Plus, we have a 5 gal. batch of apple and a 6 gal. batch of pear, apple combo going and could use some advice on getting this sedimentation problem under control for these batches. I know we bottled a bit (maybe a LOT?) early. What advice can you more experienced folks give us? By the way, the apple wine is quite good (we think) and we're solving the sediment problem for these bottles by doing a crude coffee filter filtering when we open the bottle for drinking.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Chuck

Reply to
kksbridge
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I've had that problem and was just about to post and ask! The sediment is like little lumps of hard gritty stuff, not like the fine lees sediment you sometimes get in prematurely bottled wine. The wine isn't still fermenting as there is no fizz on opening the bottle.

Reply to
Pickle

Not sure what is causing the sediment, but doubt it has anything to do with adding a couple of extra yeast packets during fermentation. Yeast multiply up to a saturation level pretty quickly, then switch from reproduction to fermentation. Adding more yeast in the beginning just means they reach saturation a bit faster. When fermentation is done, they are generally pretty good about settling to the bottom of the container.

Apples often have quite a bit of pectin, which tends to hold things in suspension, so you usually see advice to use some pectic enzyme (pectinase) to break the pectin down, during fermentation or later. If you haven't used any pectinase on your existing batches, I'd recommend adding some now.

Four or five months (October to February) is often enough time for wines to settle and clarify nicely on their own, but there is no specific rule - it may have been too early to bottle that particular batch. You need to make sure that (a) any fermentation has completed, and (b) the wine is crystal-clear. Even then, wines sometimes do throw sediments.

If the wine seems stable (no bubbling) but just won't clear on its own, you can use various fining agents to help any residual particles of stuff settle out. Most are pretty cheap, readily available at winemaking supply stores, and come with directions for use.

See Jack Keller's website for a very good overview of clarifying wine, discussion of when to use different fining agents, etc. Sometimes the first thing you use doesn't work; if so, the second (or occasionally third) pretty likely will.

The relevant page on Jack's site is:

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Doug

Reply to
Doug

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