# Leaving pee in primary?



## WineYooper (Mar 13, 2011)

Have to leave town tomorrow and my pee is at SG 1.03 and suspect the way it is going will be at 1.02 in the A.M. My question is would I be ok to leave in the primary with the lid snapped on and an airlock in place or should I transfer everything to secondary? Will be gone for probably a week and wonder what is the best way to handle this. This is my cranberry slurry pee made with two lemon and two 16 oz. lime added to it. The past pees have been made with lemon and then after kms and sorbate have been added a half gallon of red raspberry. Really have enjoyed these and the raspberry has added a good taste to it even tho dilutes it some. This helps knock down the abv slightly and keeps the consumers on their feet longer.


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## docanddeb (Mar 13, 2011)

I would transfer all to secondary with an airlock, unless it was a high foamer! You could even transfer this stage to a slightly larger carboy, and leave a little headspace until you get back. I hate to have things go completely dry on me... and it HAS happened!! Those last numbers seem to drop really fast!

Debbie


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## Julie (Mar 13, 2011)

if you snap down the lid and add an airlock, it should be find. A lot of people on here let there wines go dry in the primary.


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## WineYooper (Mar 13, 2011)

Just checked and my sg is close to 1.02 now. I think I'll snap the lid on and let it go. I am concerned that it will finish and then the sediment/yeast would create some off flavors. It still is producing enough foam that if I put in a carboy I might have a foam mess. But then again maybe by morning it might be low enough that I could transfer to secondary and it would be fine there. Thanks for the input, I have never had to walk away from a batch of anything that was this close to finishing.


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## Minnesotamaker (Mar 13, 2011)

In addition, I don't typically top up at the point it goes to secondary if there is still some ferment going on; I like to leave room for the sugar addition at the end. The fermenting CO2 will push out the oxygen and as you said, you'll be getting the batch of the gross lees. With almost all my SP batches, you get foaming during a fairly narrow portion of the ferment. There is that stage early on where you get the brown foam; after it dissapates, the white foam bubbles seem to pop fairly easily and the foam doesn't build up. Now, depending on what other ingredients you have in there, it could be different.


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## WineYooper (Mar 14, 2011)

From the input I think I will transfer to secondary since my sg is 1.015. The foam has decreased and I had skimmed off the heavy fruit particles a couple of days ago so this should help. This will be another lesson learned, hope it's to the good.


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