I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean

Sean:

Sounds to me like the fermenting is finished and the bubbles are CO2
escaping from the wine.

Are you planning to sweeten the 'plonk' before bottling? If not, then
don't bother to sorbate.

However, if it is CO2, you may be advised to rack off sediment and
stir to rid the wine of CO2. If there really is no sediment after
racking, just poor the littgle bit in the current jug into the new jug
(or drink it as a 'sample').

Steve


On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:36:53 -0700, snpm wrote:

I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean

How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean

I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle.
..993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:
How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean

Hi Dave,
It might be dry enough, but I guess I'm concerned about the amount of
sediment left in the wine if it hasn't been racked enough. I follow Jack's
advice; rack, sorbate, and let sit for at least 10 days before bottling, but
this is usually after the Welchs has sat for 7 months and been racked 2-3
times already.
Darlene

"Dave Allison" wrote in message
...
I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle.
.993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:
How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean

On Jun 7, 5:31 pm, "Dar V" wrote:
Hi Dave,
It might be dry enough, but I guess I'm concerned about the amount of
sediment left in the wine if it hasn't been racked enough. I follow Jack's
advice; rack, sorbate, and let sit for at least 10 days before bottling, but
this is usually after the Welchs has sat for 7 months and been racked 2-3
times already.
Darlene

"Dave Allison" wrote in message

...



I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle.
.993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:
How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
groups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I dont anticipate huge sediment in the wine at this point, that would
be a first. I will take a glass off and check it out, and if all is
halfway decent, proceed to rack and sorabte and wait and bottle. Its
maybe three months old. In there somewhere. I craft artisan wine this
will not be, you understand.

Thanks guys

It's your wine and your tastebuds, part of what's cool about making your own
wine is to make it so you and yours like it. Good-luck.
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 7, 5:31 pm, "Dar V" wrote:
Hi Dave,
It might be dry enough, but I guess I'm concerned about the amount of
sediment left in the wine if it hasn't been racked enough. I follow
Jack's
advice; rack, sorbate, and let sit for at least 10 days before bottling,
but
this is usually after the Welchs has sat for 7 months and been racked 2-3
times already.
Darlene

"Dave Allison" wrote in message

...



I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle.
.993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:
How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
groups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles
on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to
use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I dont anticipate huge sediment in the wine at this point, that would
be a first. I will take a glass off and check it out, and if all is
halfway decent, proceed to rack and sorabte and wait and bottle. Its
maybe three months old. In there somewhere. I craft artisan wine this
will not be, you understand.

Thanks guys

On Jun 8, 5:46 am, "Dar V" wrote:
It's your wine and your tastebuds, part of what's cool about making your own
wine is to make it so you and yours like it. Good-luck.
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message

oups.com...



On Jun 7, 5:31 pm, "Dar V" wrote:
Hi Dave,
It might be dry enough, but I guess I'm concerned about the amount of
sediment left in the wine if it hasn't been racked enough. I follow
Jack's
advice; rack, sorbate, and let sit for at least 10 days before bottling,
but
this is usually after the Welchs has sat for 7 months and been racked 2-3
times already.
Darlene

"Dave Allison" wrote in message

.. .

I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle.
.993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:
How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it?
Darlene

"snpm" wrote in message
groups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles
on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to
use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I dont anticipate huge sediment in the wine at this point, that would
be a first. I will take a glass off and check it out, and if all is
halfway decent, proceed to rack and sorabte and wait and bottle. Its
maybe three months old. In there somewhere. I craft artisan wine this
will not be, you understand.

Thanks guys- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

lol....too true.....in this case, actually my wifes taste buds...I
cant drink it, it tastes too much like pop. But one pleases ones wifey
at all costs, so concord wine it shall be! I just racked it...there
was indeed a significant gooey sediment, and the wine is still cloudy.
Thanks again for the assistance as always guys

If the wine is cloudy, don't even consider bottling! I'd add pectic
enzyme, wait a week, add fining agent of choice, give it a couple of
weeks, then evaluate for bottling.

As has already been mentioned, if you're not sweetening, don't bother
with sorbate.

Bryan



lol....too true.....in this case, actually my wifes taste buds...I
cant drink it, it tastes too much like pop. But one pleases ones wifey
at all costs, so concord wine it shall be! I just racked it...there
was indeed a significant gooey sediment, and the wine is still cloudy.
Thanks again for the assistance as always guys

I'm a little surprised you are still throwing a gooey sediment; this
wine smells like grapes, right? (No stink is what I mean). Concord
is grapey stuff.

I make sweet wine for other so identify with your situation. Tom S
hated sorbate and I usually come around to his camp; he never led me
wrong. Since you need to let this clear a bit anyway I am going to
try hot bottling and will post the results. The idea is to bottle the
wine 'warm' and let it cool slowly, the long contact time kills the
yeast. I have some extra mediocre Riesling I'm willing to experiment
with. I'll post the results.

It will be a little early for you to take advantage of if it works out
but you do have other options.

You can bottle it all dry, then take half a bottle and fill the rest
with sugar. Shake it until it dissolves, it will. (Yes, I'm
serious.) That syrup will keep for months in the fridge. She can
back-sweeten her wine to whatever level she likes and both of you are
happy. When she runs out of syrup, use the last half of the bottle
she opened to make more.

Sorbate can be problematic; it's commonly by home-winemakers used but
I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

Joe

On Jun 9, 4:52 am, Joe Sallustio wrote:
I'm a little surprised you are still throwing a gooey sediment; this
wine smells like grapes, right? (No stink is what I mean). Concord
is grapey stuff.

I make sweet wine for other so identify with your situation. Tom S
hated sorbate and I usually come around to his camp; he never led me
wrong. Since you need to let this clear a bit anyway I am going to
try hot bottling and will post the results. The idea is to bottle the
wine 'warm' and let it cool slowly, the long contact time kills the
yeast. I have some extra mediocre Riesling I'm willing to experiment
with. I'll post the results.

It will be a little early for you to take advantage of if it works out
but you do have other options.

You can bottle it all dry, then take half a bottle and fill the rest
with sugar. Shake it until it dissolves, it will. (Yes, I'm
serious.) That syrup will keep for months in the fridge. She can
back-sweeten her wine to whatever level she likes and both of you are
happy. When she runs out of syrup, use the last half of the bottle
she opened to make more.

Sorbate can be problematic; it's commonly by home-winemakers used but
I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

Joe

thanks joe...yeah it smells grapey.

To answer you question directly, I never sorbate until after the wine has
completely cleared and no sediment is forming. You want all the yeast you
can to fall out. Sorbate will not kill the yeast only stop it from
reproducing so you want as few yeast cells as possible left in the wine.

Just a suggestion. No one says you have to bottle it all at once. I don't
know how much you have but bottle a few bottles, maybe a gallon, and put the
rest back to bulk age. Plane to drink what you bottled in a few months and
it will not be a problem. There is not going to be any significant
fermentation if it is down to .993. Then when the bottles are all drunk up
it should be time to bottle the rest.

Ray

"snpm" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a welches concord 6 gallon going for the wife. SG has been 993
for weeks, but every morning there is still a trace ring of bubbles on
the surface of the demijohn. It has been racked once, and appears not
to have a heavy sediment at this point as none is realy visible, but
obviously, this is concord so its a bit dark.

I want to sorbate. My wife wants to drink her plonk, and I need to use
up some bottles...the bubbles worry me enough to hope sorbating will
help insure against exploding vino. I have a house full of little
kids.

My question is this: should I rack before sorbating? If I sorbate as-
is, will the stirring to distribute the sorbate throw the sediment up
so badly that I might have to wait a really long time before I have a
clear wine again?

Thanks

Sean