On Feb 10, 4:11*am, Steve > wrote:
> Jim:
>
> I'm a kit kind of guy, and I tend to use the additives included in the
> kits, and that includes clearing agents. *The popular one in Canada is
> Kieselsol-Chitosan. *Good grades of gelatin were apparently difficult
> to source during the Mad Cow thing. *Don't know about now. *Don't know
> if K-C or K-G is better or if it depends on the circumstances.
>
> I tend to use a combination of gravity and clearing agents. *I bottled
> a kit today, so have the data in front of me.
>
> Nov 5 - started - sg 1.084
> Nov 16 - to carboy - sg .990 (ferment complete)
> Dec 13 - stabilizers and clearing (isinglass) added - .988
> Jan 24 - racked off sediment
> Feb 9 - filtered and bottled
>
> That was a six week kit, and it took me three months (13 *weeks or
> so). *That was actually quick for me, because we're low on wine.
>
> As you can see, I did not add the clearing agent as soon as the
> ferment was finished.
>
> Steve

Sure, thanks for that Steve. I see that you didn't use the finings
immediately, but it is basically within the timeline my wineshop guy
suggests.

To be honest, I ask because most of the 'white' country wines that I
have made so far have had a homemade wine taste to them. I.E. a
slight off taste compared to what I would like. I work on a 2 month
repeated racking schedule on average and then roughly a year in bulk
before bottling now. I have been wondering if I would have had a
better tasting wine if I had used finings once fermentation was over
and then aged in bulk...

For red wines I haven't made a bad one yet, for which I am very glad
as I am basically a red wine drinker.

I am glad to hear these examples, it's all very interesting. Many
thanks!