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I have my apple wine in a 6-gallon carboy currently after racking it over from primary about 3 weeks ago. It’s starting to clear nicely, but I see about an inch of fine lees has now formed. Thinking about racking it into a 5 gallon. If I go that route, how can I store the excess for purpose of...

I am new to the wine game, but an old hat at venison. I've accumulated all the toys over the years and have made about everything there is to make, I imagine. Can you share what you have at your disposal for equipment? I would be happy to share some recipes based on that. Grinder? Stuffer...

UPDATE: with several days in a row of .996 readings, I decided to rack to a 6 gallon carboy. Pretty cloudy, as expected, and had JUST ENOUGH to avoid a boatload of thick sediment at the bottom. Attached pic below is how full I got it...is this acceptable? To high or low? I did add 1/4 teaspoon...

Thank you so much for all the great advice! Two more questions, if you don't mind, as I am getting ready to rack the first time in the next day or two. First, I have heard that once fermentation is under 1.000 there is no need to stir the must each day. Would you agree with that? I hope that is...

For 6 gallons, can you tell me how much of each (Sorbate and K-meta) to stabilize? Do I want to do that now (before my first racking), or just before bottling? I guess the same questions for back-sweetening...not now, but after racking and before bottling?

Do you happen to have any starting suggestions? Like a can per gallon or something like that? And I assume the potassium sorbate kills any yeast so fermentation doesn't start up again, or...? Thank you!

So as near as I can tell, my reading was about where the red line is. Is that to be read as 1.002? If so, what do you recommend? If it stays at this reading for a couple more days, okay to rack to carboy, or...?

Thanks!

Thanks, Jovi. At this stage, if I use a wine thief to grab a sample for a gravity test, is it okay to put that sample back in (using santized equipment, of course) or do you typically discard that sample? Or consume it? :)

Update on my batch--just completed day 8 of primary. At the peak, I was getting a bubble every 1-2 seconds. A few days ago, it slowed to 8-10 seconds, then 15, then 30, and so on. Today there is not noticeable movement in the airlock. I know that doesn’t necessarily mean primary fermentation is...

So far, so good! It seems each time I do a new step and it doesn't end in disaster, my comfort level grows. Best of luck to you, too!

Wow! Thank you so much, everyone, for such great and detailed advice. I surely do appreciate you taking the time to share your wisdom! That's what I love about true forums like this--they really do serve to educate and inspire (that hasn't been my expereince on FB groups where it seems to be a...

And first timer is an understatement...completely overwhelmed right now as I’ve never made wine of any kind, but I am ready to jump in. I apologize in advance for the ramble. I have probably read TOO many articles and now I feel more overwhelmed than before. We had a bumper crop of Zestar...