Ginger wine cloudyness

[Gordonmull]

Hi folks

I have a ginger wine on the go.

I made it from 80g ginger, a lemon, 1.5kg glucose, youngs high alcohol wine yeast and 100g raisins. OG 1126.

It was in a bowl fermenting for three weeks covered with cling film. I then racked it to a dj and observed no further fermentation. FG 0996.

I added a crushed campden (just in case) and back sweetened it with sugar. I then shook it to degas and allowed to sit in the cold of the conservatory with 2 tsp of Ritchies Wine and Beer Finings as per bottle instructions (ingredients - isinglass, citric acid, sulphur dioxide). This was on 12 December.

By the 18th it had begun to REALLY clear at the top but still held some odd gel-like clouds to about halfway up the dj. The rest is as clear as tap water. I added some bentonite to see if that would knock the rest down and it does not seem to have done anything 2 days later. My ginger wines usually turn out a little hazy, which I always put down to pectin haze from boiling the ginger and lemons. The finings usedon previous batches were Youngs sachets and i didn't use a cambden tablet. I usually use 1.3kg tate and lyle sugar and half the ginger.

All equipment was sanitised before use, the abv is around 16% and a sample from the cleared liquid tastes amazing, hot, gingery and slightly sweet, so I'm thinking (hoping) it's probably not an infection.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this stuff? It's cloudy and has a sort of gel-like appearance if I rock the fv gently.

Would it be worth chucking some more finings or more bentonite in there?

I will try to post a picture.

[Gordonmull]

Hopefully this will work.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/527 ... db40_z.jpg

[maxashton]

Sounds like you've got jam!

Whack some pectolase in there.

[Gordonmull]

Cheers

I don't have any pectinase and I want to get this bottled before xmas. I've rigged up a crude filter using a sterilised j-cloth secured over the sediment trap of syphon equipment. I'm racking it to a new DJ just now. Even if I can get some of it filtered out it should give the pectinase, which i'll get tomorrow an easier job of it.

Its just strange because in my other ginger wines the pectin haze remained evenly dispersed and not in a lyer of gel and a layer of clear liquid.

EDIT - that didn't work. Pectolase it is. Can I add pectolase to the fv and still bottle?

[Gordonmull]

I put some pectolase in to the fv, mixed gently and bottled. Would have probably been on the 22nd or 23rd of December. The same gel-like mass is still present in all bottles. Is this normal for pectinase? Does anyone know roughly how long it should take?

[Geezah]

Sounds like an infection
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34475&p=370269&hili ... on#p370269

Check the video on that thread.

[Gordonmull]

I don't think it's infection. I tasted bloody nice when I bottled it. I've seen the ropey beer vid before and i'm pretty sure it's not a match unless the finings have somehow pulled the bacteria down to the bottom of the brew.

Stuff it - I'm opening one for quality control/scientific purposes in order to determine:
1 - does it make me
2 - has it gone gloopy throughout the whole bottle.

Will report back soon

[Gordonmull]

Nope no off flavours, consistency is good. This is the best wine I have made apart from the weird suspended sludge at the bottom of the bottles.