Young peach wine getting odd hydro reading

[Matty22]

I have 5 gallons of peach wine in secondary. It was started on 1 July 2011 so it's only 2 1/2 months old. I racked it today and took a hydro reading. I almost lost the hydrometer cause it went so low.

I won't really be able to tell when I have several days of the same gravity reading in order to tell if fermentation has stopped due to not being able to read the hydrometer. The hydrometer says to bottle when it dips below the red line and it was WELL below it.

My concern is that it's only 2 1/2 months old and that seems really early for fermentation to be close to done. I tasted it and it was extremely tart with no trace of a sugary taste so I'm guessing that most of it is gone. There was a good 3/4" of leeds on the bottom of the carboy.

Any ideas?

 

[Brewkowski]

Any ideas what the numbers on the hydrometer were? In my experience fermentation should be done by now unless it's been at a fairly low temperature. I've heard peach wine throws of lots of lees and takes a long time and usually clarifying agents to clarify.

 

[Matty22]

I couldn't read the hydrometer cause it went all the way down into the wine with just a little tiny bit of the tip left out. Just enough for me to pinch it to get it back out.

It definitely is a bit opaque. Hope it comes out with racking, but I'm not sure it will.

 

[Brewkowski]

If they hydrometer is sinking that much it's definitely done fermenting, assuming the hyrdometer goes to like .0990, so it's dry and there are no sugars left to ferment. Did you happen to take a gravity reading in the beginning? Now is the hard part, waiting. Check out Pectic Enzyme, Bentonite, SuperKleer, or other fining agents. Were you planning on a dry wine or were you going to sweeten it?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Matty, My first peach wine was much the same way. It was AWFUL and so hot it was undrinkable. I dumped half of it, THEN got on here to discover it just needed time. I let it set and only touched it when it needed to be racked ( lees in the bottom 1/4 inch or so.) I let it go a while and it went from looking like chocolate milk ( literally) to a beautiful clear yellowish color. I back sweetened it a bit and then bottled it and it was fantastic. Just be patient.The fermenting may be done but it is probably a long way from ready to bottle yet.

 

[Matty22]

Yeah, I'm planning on sweetening it, but I won't do that until I'm ready to bottle and after I've stabilized it. I have pectic enzyme that I'll use to clear it up as much as possible, but I can't use a lot of the liquid fining agents as they are shellfish derivatives and my mom is allergic to shellfish.

I didn't take an OG reading because I'm still a noob and I was confused about how to use the darn thing at the time. Now that I've gotten a few more batches under my belt I'm more comfortable with it.

 

[Yooper]

Yeah, I'm planning on sweetening it, but I won't do that until I'm ready to bottle and after I've stabilized it. I have pectic enzyme that I'll use to clear it up as much as possible, but I can't use a lot of the liquid fining agents as they are shellfish derivatives and my mom is allergic to shellfish.

I didn't take an OG reading because I'm still a noob and I was confused about how to use the darn thing at the time. Now that I've gotten a few more batches under my belt I'm more comfortable with it.

You can assume it's at .990, as it can't go any lower than that. Double check your hydrometer in water to make sure the paper hasn't slipped down, and look at the hydrometer to see the top is .990. It should be fine!

You probably won't need any clarifiers, if you give it time. I almost never use any finings as many of my friends are vegetarians so they wouldn't expect animal products like gelatin, isinglass, chitosan, etc, in my wine.

Let it sit, topped up to the bung, for at least another 60 days. If after 60 days, there are lees, rack it again and top up. Once it stops dropping lees, it should be clear. But if not, we can help you clear it naturally.

Don't bottle until it's completely clear and no longer dropping ANY lees after at least 60 days.