Have you got a long, 2 piece 'Latstock' syphon tube that's what you need to syphon from the likes of 25L fermenters and buckets? http://www.stonehelm.co.uk/browser.php?genre=Woodshield+Distributors+Latstock+Syphon+Rod+28ins+x+5/16ins+&headerType=spc&file=flp.php&product=6138 Try Wilkos 2 part A & B sachet finings, but one of these should have been used on the whole batch before splitting into smaller containers. Did you de-gass before racking off into "closed" 5L containers?
Apart from wines that have a lot of tannin in, which do need to be left, it's up to personal taste, if you sip it and think its ok then go for it
No, I only have a small one (said the Bishop to the Actress!) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Brew-...F8&qid=1473532800&sr=8-1&keywords=wine+syphon, so I will need to invest in something bigger at some point. I can transfer the entire batch into my large bucket to add the finings to the whole lot, if that would work? Oddly enough, my syphon works perfectly well with the bucket. I added a crushed campden tablet to each demijohn and then waited for just over a week to be doubly sure that it wasn't still fermenting, if that is what you mean by degassing?
Ah, so the likes of the blackcurrant juice one should be good to go pretty sharpish then, as there is no added tannin?
I make 6 galls in each 25L fermenter and just 1 sachet from Wilkos should turn it cristal clear overnight. A standard syphon is fine with a bucket, but too fiddly to use through the neck of a fermenter, get a long 2 piece one and use a couple of clothes pegs on the tube straddling the neck to hold it in place above bottom sediment. They need to have the CO2 in solution removed by the likes of shaking a half full demijohn until all the gas is released, or this will come out of solution in a sealed container with no means of escape. A glass demijohn is best for this. A CT will inhibit oxidation from all the air getting in when shaking it. You can let it gradually, naturally de-gas, but you need to get the CO2 out for the finings to work correctly as the CO2 prevents sediment from dropping, sometimes just de-gassing will clear a wine.
I don't have any glass demijohns, only the plastic ones - in fact, I am even cheating with them now, instead of paying £9 for each one, I am buying the spring water from the supermarket for £1.10 and then spending a couple of quid on an airlock and suitable grommets. The strawberry wine is in three of these containers, and it cleared itself over the course of a couple of weeks before I transferred it today. Would it be worth cracking the lid at some point just to make sure that it is not building up any CO2? For the pear wine, I take it I am best to transfer it back to the bucket, add the finings, and then shake half a container at a time to de-gas before transferring back to the demijohns for a bit? How will I know that the gas has come out of solution?
I use the same plastic 5 litre bottles, but I only pay £1.07 for them from morissons Don't bother with air locks, just don't tighten em down. Vinegar fly won't get into them like that
Ah, that would be a bad idea with child and dog knocking about the place - the whole lot would end up feeding the carpet!
