# Wine in airlock and another question



## Sammyk (Nov 15, 2011)

We placed the peach and plum in 1 gallon carboys on Sunday. These were Vinters Harvest

Two of the bottles sucked the wine up in the airlock? And this is bubbling. Why did this happen? Should we just leave it or dump the wine out and replace with water?

Also on the peach, also Vinters Harvest has no activity in the airlocks. It has been sine the 7th, about 8 days. Label says to check the SG in 3 to 4 weeks. why would there not be any activity?


----------



## Sammyk (Nov 15, 2011)

That should have said plum and red raspberry in the first sentence...


----------



## Minnesotamaker (Nov 15, 2011)

Hey sammy,
I think what happened with your airlocks is that your wine was too active to be in jugs. Did you start your wine in a primary fermentor first or did you start it in the jugs? The airlocks don't have the ability to "suck" the wine up, it's more likely that if your wine was fermenting too fast, it created some foam which overflowed into the airlock. You should dump the wine out of the airlock, clean it, and put clean water back in it before putting it back on your wine.

It's possible that your peach is done fermenting. The best way to find out is to take a reading with your hydrometer. If it is 1.000 or less, it's done. If it is still at a number larger than 1.000, you may have a stuck ferment. In that event, make sure your wine is at a warm room temp (75-85 degrees), if that doesn't get it going you might have to pitch a yeast starter.


----------



## Sammyk (Nov 15, 2011)

The label on the can says to place in carboys when the SG is 1.040 so that is what we did.....

Actually it is not wine but some of the foam that was on top of the wine. I know this because it is lighter color. 

Original fermenting was in a pail for 5 days. As per label, we moved it to carboys when it hit 1.040. It was still actively fermenting at that time.

Is that not right?


----------



## Rocky (Nov 15, 2011)

When you have very active fermentation (and with an SG of 1.040 you would) you can get some of the foam up in the airlock. Just clean out the airlock and replace the water/k-meta solution in it. It will be fine.


----------



## pete1325 (Nov 15, 2011)

Leaving a little more head space is an another option. Then just top off when it's done fermenting.


----------



## winemaker_3352 (Nov 15, 2011)

You probably transferred a little early IMO. I like to transfer when my SG is around 1.005.

Then i don't fill past the shoulder of my carboy b/c it does still foam up a little bit.


----------



## Minnesotamaker (Nov 15, 2011)

You'll also find that some wine foam more than others. Some make bubbles that instantly pop on the surface, others tend to have more resilient bubbles that pile up and take a long time to pop. Temperature can also have an effect on the speed of the ferment. Warmer wines expand and ferment faster.


----------



## Sammyk (Nov 16, 2011)

It did turn warm here and it was foam. Two of the 3 carboys had the foam. We cleaned them up and removed a little liquid from both and put a new airlock on them


----------



## tjbryner (Nov 16, 2011)

Sammy remember that the directions and recipes are not written in stone, They are merely a guide line. I never transfer any thing till the SG reads 1.00 or less.


----------



## Sammyk (Nov 16, 2011)

So are you saying NOT to follow the directions on the Vinters Harvest cans?


----------

