# What to do next if bulk aging



## cb_Sadie (Mar 3, 2009)

I'm making a kit from Selection - New Zealand Merlot. I'm on my secondary fermentation (step 2) and now I'm ready for step 3, stabilising, clearing and degas. I want to bulk age this wine for about six months. Do I do step 3 and thenbulk age or do I bulk age after step 2? Is it better to use a glass carboy or a plastic carby, which is what it is in now.


Thanks


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## AlFulchino (Mar 3, 2009)

my opinion - 

degassing will happen over time anyways...so you could fore-go for now ( i have even done kits that never needed de-gassing, but most folks say it is just the opposite, and that kits need it more than wine from grapes, so doing it now gets the co2 out now if you are concerned,i never worry about it)

clearing will also occur over time...so its your preference 

however spoilage won't wait for anything, so consider not avoiding applying protection

i prefer glass over plastic, at least the type of plastic that you are probably using and other than the weight of glass being so heavy, i think glass is just easier and more sanitary in the long run


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## Tom (Mar 3, 2009)

Merlot seem to have alot of gas. By deegassing now it will clear better and faster. One way to ck is start to degas before doing anything. If you see alot of gas then degass before clearing. The gas will suspend some particles and will not clear as fast.

Remember add k-met every3 months when racking.
I rather be safe and degass than to hope and think its not needed.
Just my .02¢ worth


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## Wade E (Mar 3, 2009)

I agree, with kits they tend to have much more gas retention then wine made from grapes and if still gassy in the carboy all that bulk aging will not let it clear properly. Also check the instructions and see what the fining agent needs for lees. Some fining agents need all the lees to be stirred back into suspension to work properly and others will allow you to rack off all the lees so that 1 wont be a problem but if you rack off all those lees then the other fining agent wont work and sitting on lees for extended periods of time isnt good either, a short period of secondary lees contact is actually good though as it will give your wine more body and mouthfeel and is called Sur Lies. Google it!


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## PeterZ (Mar 4, 2009)

Follow the instructions up to the point of bottling. Instead of bottling, rack to a 6 gal glass carboy, add 1/4 tsp K-meta, and put an airlock on it. Every three months rack again and add 1/4 tsp k-meta.


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## cb_Sadie (Mar 4, 2009)

Thanks, that seems easy enough. I read all of this and sometimes I just get overwhelmed, I think I understand and then the more I read I'm not sure I'm understanding it right. I have so much to learn but this sure is a good place to learn. Everyone is so helpful, THANKS..


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## terry51 (Apr 20, 2009)

staying, basically on the same topic -- i tooam a newby and i read about all the posters leaving their carboys bulk aging for a year....so at what step are they doing this? all i have done so far is MM kits, and every racking is suppose to be done at xx s.g. -- is there ever a time that you could wait longer than the suggested time in the instructions or when the s.g. has dropped but the time lapse from the instructions has not passed yet? e.g. step #3 is done after 10 to 12 days when the s.g. is .0996 -- but what if i wanted to wait longer, say a couple of weeks, even tho the s.g. dropped three days after i racked it? thanks everyone............


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## JimCook (Apr 20, 2009)

Terry51,


When the specific gravity is down to 0.996 or lower, measure it on the next day to see if there is any movement. If it's still 0.996, your fermentation is as done as it's going to get. Thanks to a lack of food and a highly toxic environment, yeast won't keep on fermenting that which is not there. When the sugar is gone, their food is gone, so there's not much left for them to do except release harmful stress chemicals that will make your wine less than pleasant. 


The specific gravity measurement should always be your guide instead of time recommendations of the kit instructions. The instructions are written with time guideliness, but not time requirements when it comes to fermentation. The yeast, however, will work at their pace given their environmental conditions and will convert your grape juice into wine. When the wine is dry, all the food is gone, so the yeast aren't actively needed anymore. 


If you are going to let that wine sit in a carboy for a while before taking it to a bottle, then you can follow some of the instructions to the previous posts on this topic. The most important thing is to protect your wine from spoilage through the use of sulfites - add 1/4 tsp. of K-Meta to your kit every two months that it is bulk aging (per Matteo's updated information at Winestock 2009). Also, remember to add your K-Sorbate right before you bottle and your clarifiers (if you are using them) about a week before bottling after you are done bulk aging. 


- Jim


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## Tom (Apr 20, 2009)

JimCook said:


> Also, remember to add your K-Sorbate right before you bottle and your clarifiers (if you are using them) about a week before bottling after you are done bulk aging.
> 
> 
> - Jim




Jim
Can you enlighten us on why sorbate and clairifiers just before bottling vs earlier? Does Matteo suggest this on kits only? What about when you bulk age..


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## JimCook (Apr 20, 2009)

Tepe,


It's detailed on this post: 


I use time as a fining agent when I bulk age my kit wines, not chemicals. I also do not care if my wine develops any sediment as I drink plenty of commercial bottles that inevitably get this when bottle aging. Everyone has their own tolerance, however, so like taste, this is purely subjective. 


The Sorbate is added right before bottling so the sorbate levels will be high and fresh when the wine goes into the bottle. If you add sorbate to a kit and then bulk age the thing for three months before bottling, the sorbate levels will be greatly depleted when you put the wine into the bottle and potentially introduce bacteria/yeast to the environment. The idea is to have the sorbate levels be as potent as possible at the time of bottling to better protect against any nasties in there getting down and dirty in your wine. 


- Jim


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## terry51 (Apr 20, 2009)

man....i am soooo jealous.....i've just gotten brave enough to have TWO carboys going at the same time....
you???




i didn't even count AND you have kits waiting to be started....i'll be so glad when i'm to the confidence level that i'm doing more things right than wrong!!! but i'm not even a "year old".....so i'm happy -- and if george was 'bankable'.....i'd have stock; he's of a past generation of customer service



!!! kids these days don't even know what that means!!! i am so glad this is where i 'started'......and i DID investigate months before ever bought my first kit!!!!


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## JimCook (Apr 20, 2009)

Terry51,


Two carboys... that's how it all started. Then before I knew it there were more and more and more. And I just passed my two year mark, so fear not! 


And one of the reasons I have kits waiting to be started is because time is my limiting reagent, to use PeterZ terms. I have enough fermenters to get three kits going at once, but only enough time to handle one at a time more often than not. 


Keep your chin up and keep fermenting.






- Jim


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## Tom (Apr 20, 2009)

Lets just say I'm at the 10 yr mark



. I now make the "maxium" alowed by law... 200 gallons or 1,000 bottles. I have 30 or so carboys that I use for wine and beer.

HOBBY?? no way !

more like an obsession!


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## IQwine (Apr 20, 2009)

hmmm.... that's where all us newbies are headed.


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