Results of my first Welch's experiment
I'm working on winemaking basics by making small batches of white wine.
I am using that Welch's white grape concentrate that has been
discussed on here before. I prepare a gallon, which gets me four
bottles easy, with a little leftover that can be discarded as gunk.
This first batch tastes all right, but it's very cloudy. I'm hoping for
some clarifying tips, and I've also become concerned with oxidation.
I read some things in the FAQ about clarifying, and I outright adding
clarifying agents to the first wine I ever made--it was a kit and had
betonite included. That wine still has some clarity problems, which I
presume will subside with age. While that wine was a red, I made a
white this time, and want to drink it right away. So I'm a little
impatient.
For the secondary fermentation, I had dabbled with chilling the must in
the refridgerator. This seemed to help to some extent, just looking at
all the crap that had settled to the bottom. I had let it sit for a
little over a week. That was a good idea, but what likely wasn't a good
idea was trying to rack through a coffee filter going between primary
and secondary. I thought it'd take out some of the yeast flavor, but
some of the hobo wine people I've been talking to about this probably
just do it out of superstition.
That racking step had me concerned about oxidation. It took a lot of
time to filter that gallon, and everything was exposed to air during
this time (30 minutes or so). Once in the secondary, the container was
filled almost to the top and appropriately sealed. Was I invited
trouble during that racking?
I have some bentonite on supply, but I wanted to see how chilling would
help. It looks like it's a good idea to use bentonite with chilling,
and that's likely what I'll use next time. However, I was curious how
effective different clarifying techniques ultimately are. Say, would I
have had a clearer wine if I had just used bentonite without refridgeration?
I should also add this wine smells of yeast too, even if it doesn't
taste of it. Perhaps priority one should be to get rid of that; I
figure unclear is related.
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