Home brew (plum wine) ready for racking, its still very cloudy?!
Now, i brewed some apple wine around the same time which has completely settled and looks quite clear and is also now ready for racking.
Do you think theres something wrong? I'm hoping/expecting it to settle quite well after I add the tablets to kill the yeast.
Any advice or info out there from ppl's who've got some experience with home brews?
Answers: Now i've gone to great lengths to make sure everything was sterile etc, I've also used pectic enzyme to destry as much of the pectin (which can cause clouding) as possible from the brew before I strained the mulch. It's still very cloudy.
Now, i brewed some apple wine around the same time which has completely settled and looks quite clear and is also now ready for racking.
Do you think theres something wrong? I'm hoping/expecting it to settle quite well after I add the tablets to kill the yeast.
Any advice or info out there from ppl's who've got some experience with home brews?
Depending on how long it's been in primary, and if this is your second racking or not, it could take some time to clear...
If this is the first racking, and it's been in primary for 2-4 weeks already, go ahead and rack it off the lees, and it will finish settling in secondary. If it's already been in secondary for a month or so, and still isn't clear, and you're really in a hurry, you could try buying some clarifiers from your local homebrew shop. You could also try cold crashing it, putting it in the fridge for a couple days to stop fermentation, and forcing everything to settle out.
It also depends on what yeast you used, what your recipe was, and what your original gravity reading is. If this is a high ABV wine, it could just be taking longer than your apple wine did to ferment.
Time will settle all, if you continue racking whenever you see a good 1/4 - 1/2 inch of lees on the bottom of your vessel, it will eventually clear.
edit: if it's been in secondary for 4 months, then yeah, I'd go with the clarifier option... check your local homebrew shop, or http://www.midwestsupplies.com
it would be OK (safe) to drink, even if it's a little cloudy, it may taste a little yeasty, but after that long, the fermentation is definitely finished.
Get a Fining agent to settle the yeast. Your homebrew store can help
Add your camden tablets to kill the yeast first.Wait 24 hrs.then add gelatin finings tothe wine.This will clear the wine in 7 to 14 days.Gelatin finings can be purchased at any beer/wine supply shop or ordered on-line.Adding finings also helps remove off flavors in the wine and will improve the flavor.I just used it on home-made blackberry wine and it came out crystal clear.Good luck.