Rhubarb wine not clearing...

[Jelliebabe]

Hi all - I started off some Rhubarb wine (my first attempt at wime makeing) and followed the instructions shown in a thread below entitled "quick, nice wine" hoping it would be!

Its stopped bubbling but is completely NOT clear... I racked it into a new DJ on Saturday and it seems to be a little better - but I still can't see through it! Anyone know if this is normal??? Am I being impatient... HELLLLLP dont want to fail at the first lot!!!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi all - I started off some Rhubarb wine (my first attempt at wime makeing) and followed the instructions shown in a thread below entitled "quick, nice wine" hoping it would be!

Its stopped bubbling but is completely NOT clear... I racked it into a new DJ on Saturday and it seems to be a little better - but I still can't see through it! Anyone know if this is normal??? Am I being impatient... HELLLLLP dont want to fail at the first lot!!!

Sounds like you are being impatient when did you start it off?

[cptncrackoff]

Rhubarb is low in pectin so shouldnt be that, perhaps you are being just a little impatient, I know I always am!!

[BigShot]

Did you make it with this year's rhubarb?

If so, make sure the airlock has plenty of liquid in it, put the wine away and forget about it until mid May... no sooner.
Rack it again and check again in early to mid June.

If it's totally clear and no sediment at the bottom, put it into bottles and forget about them for at least a few months. If there's sediment at the bottom, rack again and leave for a few more weeks.

Basically keep racking until there's no sediment left between one racking at the next - then it's ready for bottles.

I started making country wines about 18 months ago and haven't drunk a single one of them yet. They improve massively over time so I'm in no hurry at all. My first elderflower wine will be opened later this year, ditto elderberry.
I plan to make them last though so no serious inroads to be made until a year from now - then I'll have a constant supply of wines aged for at least 1 or 2 years.

Loads of people drink them right away, but all the young wines I've tried so far turned my face inside out. Leave them longer and they transform.
With all the effort of foraging/harvesting the ingredients and making the wine, it's madness to sup it all before it really tastes good.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I plan to make them last though so no serious inroads to be made until a year from now - then I'll have a constant supply of wines aged for at least 1 or 2 years.

Loads of people drink them right away, but all the young wines I've tried so far turned my face inside out. Leave them longer and they transform.

I do agree - it's amazing how something can change in the bottle just with time - I;m thinking of parsnip wine in particular here.

I have to say though, that my patience levels only let me keep wine for 1 year before opening, though...

[BigShot]

I think I'd be much the same, except for the fact that I decided my FIRST year's wine would not be drunk at the suggested "3 months" time for it to mature. I've got a single demijohn of 18 month old elderberry (not even in bottles yet - I'll be bottling it soon though) and the other ones come in bit by bit after that one.

Initial patience means I'll be laying down wines for a year or two while still having a supply ready to drink from earlier.


I read a post a while back where a guy had been making a wine - I forget which but it was a fruit. Could have been apricot or damson or plum - no clue. Anyway he tried it for about 3 or 4 years before giving up as he'd never been able to make it drinkable.
About 3 years later he found his last batch - forgotten about - in the garage.

"Why not?" - tasted it and he loved it. He then kicked himself for missing out on years of laying down the wines. He started again that year though but had to wait a good few years for it to mature before he felt like drinking it.

[Jelliebabe]

Oooooh - Its only been about three weeks... I knew not to drink it straight away but I just didnt know how long the "clearing" bit would take... bummocks - Looks like I need MORE dj's so I can get loads more on the go!

Cheers folks!

[BigShot]

Thought that might be it.

Just give it time... and you can NEVER have too many demijohns. I was lucky and got 5 from a RealCycle ad so I've never (yet) been stuck.
I never really advocate the use of plastic when there's a glass alternative - but if it helps you can get airlock bungs to fit the top of those big 5-litre water bottles so they can be used as demijohns.
Better glass in my book though.

Winemaking really made my head spin when I started off. Someone once joked that the only thing I wasn't monitoring was the precise "Pantone" shifts of the wine as things progressed.

I've since learned to just ignore it and let it do its thing... which really helps when it comes to not getting impatient. Forget it's there and then panic once in a while when you think the airlock may have run dry... which I'm about to go and check now.

At first I was taking a hydrometer reading at the start to estimate an ABV at the end, but now I'm typing this I realise I forgot to do it for last year's elderflower wine. Maybe I'm maturing/mellowing with age too. :P


I would suggest racking until it stops throwing sediment though. I'm helping someone with a redcurrant wine that looked clear, but a final racking showed a sediment I couldn't see from outside the bottle and a tiny one was thrown even after that.
That's getting bottled this week though.

[Hilary B]

Some wines pay for more 'in bottle maturing' than others. Elderberry really needs a lot longer than elderflower!
We have had some that were 'not brilliant, but would get you drunk' when bottled, that have improved a lot with a couple of years.
As a general rule of thumb, the darker the wine, the slower it 'ripens', but also, roots are slower than fruits, which are slower than flowers. There are exceptions to all these rules!
Some wines are already delicious when ready for bottling!

[BigShot]

Nice rule of thumb there, Hilary.
Mental note made!

[Jelliebabe]

I heart Freecycle - I put on a plea last night for Demijohns or any other wine making stuff and have had a promise of three glass demi's and a box of wine bottles and some miscellaneous kit too! Aren't folk great!

Also a big Thanks for all of the great hints and tips - I must get the wine books out and READ them! LOL

[BigShot]

That's great!
Someone told me a while back that you'd have to be mad to buy home brewing kit as there's so much cluttering up sheds, attics and garages all over the place.

I bought a few of my bits for ease, but I'll take free where I can get it.

[Jelliebabe]

Oooooooh it's clearing! Racking it was the answer! I will rack it again in a couple of weeks. thanks Guys!