Air lock, topping off and aging questions.

[WVRoger]

Keep in mind I am only doing one gallon juice wines for now so questions pertain to those.

1. I am following a recipe that has me covering the primary carboy with a paper towel secured with a rubber band for the first three days and then installing the air lock. Why? I mean, why not start with an air lock installed.

2. If I am racking to secondary and create additional head space can I top off then with more juice? I have been topping off with wine after second racking and still will. But, would adding juice adjusted to original SG at first rack cause problems.

3. Do straight up juice wines benefit as much from aging as wines made from fruit or with added botanicals?

 

[m_kluch]

Keep in mind I am only doing one gallon juice wines for now so questions pertain to those.

1. I am following a recipe that has me covering the primary carboy with a paper towel secured with a rubber band for the first three days and then installing the air lock. Why? I mean, why not start with an air lock installed.

2. If I am racking to secondary and create additional head space can I top off then with more juice? I have been topping off with wine after second racking and still will. But, would adding juice adjusted to original SG at first rack cause problems.

3. Do straight up juice wines benefit as much from aging as wines made from fruit or with added botanicals?

1. Yeast need oxygen to multiply. However, Since you're only making one gallon, the headspace to must ratio you will have in the carboy will have plenty of oxygen for your yeast colony to grow. To be safe, aerate your must well before pitching yeast if you're going to install an airlock right away.

2. Yes, you can top off with more sweetened juice but then that would defeat the purpose of racking to a different container in the first place. Topping off with more juice will get you renewed fermentation and produce more yeast and sediment. You will have to leave headspace for this renewed fermentation. That is, unless you wait for quite some time after fermentation ends completely in primary and stabilize with potassium sorbate and k-meta when transferring into secondary.

3. The benefits of aging depend greatly on each particular wine so I don't think anyone has the answer to this one. In general, I've found that all of my wines benefit from some aging no matter what they were made from.

 

[Ohio Bob]

2. If I am racking to secondary and create additional head space can I top off then with more juice? I have been topping off with wine after second racking and still will. But, would adding juice adjusted to original SG at first rack cause problems.

I think that’s perfectly acceptable. There will still be viable yeast, so the new juice will just contribute to being wine. If it was me, I would have used all the juice I had in primary, and add wine to top off at every racking as needed.

 

[ChuckD]

when Racking from primary to secondary I often top up with juice. Like Bob said… it just adds to the alcohol. If I’m racking later I typically use wine.

 

[WVRoger]

when Racking from primary to secondary I often top up with juice. Like Bob said… it just adds to the alcohol. If I’m racking later I typically use wine.

So, at each racking I lose a little volume. I'm thinking topping off with juice will replace what I've lost and any additional alcohol gain would be relative to the volume gained. I guess my goal is to use as little wine as possible for topping off - at least until I have some of my own to use.

 

[Rice_Guy]

So, at each racking I lose a little volume. … and any additional alcohol gain would be relative to the volume gained. I guess my goal is to use as little wine as possible for topping off

Another look at this is to estimate what your volume loss will be putting the must together and formulate sugar as if that volume was actually in the primary. Follow this with simply topping up with water.

12% ABV or 10% ABV are not magic numbers. Most yeast will tolerate 14% ABV, and I have periods where most wine started at an estimated 14% then were topped off with water.

 

[winemaker81]

So, at each racking I lose a little volume. I'm thinking topping off with juice will replace what I've lost and any additional alcohol gain would be relative to the volume gained. I guess my goal is to use as little wine as possible for topping off - at least until I have some of my own to use.

The problem with repeatedly topping with any fermentable substance is that your wine will never clear. Every time you add sugar, in any form, you're renewing the fermentation, yeast are reproducing and making more sediment.

As Bob said, start with more juice. Have extra small containers to put the excess in, and top with that.

If you put the wine under airlock while it's still fermenting, you need to leave headspace in the jug to avoid a boilover through the airlock. Leaving headspace while the wine is heavily degassing (first few weeks after fermentation completes) is a good idea as well. After that, top within 2" - 3" of the bung.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I'm thinking topping off with juice will replace what I've lost and any additional alcohol gain would be relative to the volume gained.

Option two; rack to an airlock at 1.030 to 1.010 and top off any juice available. For a second racking at 0.995 to 0.990 use a liquid which doesn’t contain sugar. (30 days) Do a third racking whenever it is clear (3 months/ 6 months?). From here move to a 750ml storage bottle in under a week.
Excess headspace generates oxidized flavor/ kills fresh fruity aromatics. In my winemaking I rate oxidation as a major defect. This is your wine, traditional wine was not as clear as modern process so mainly concentrate on if it tastes good.

 

[Raptor99]

When I started, all my wine batches were 1 gal. What many of us do is start with a larger volume, to provide wine from the same batch for top up. The procedure is something like this:
* Start with 1.5 gals in a 2 gal food grade bucket covered by a towel for primary. Plan your recipe and ingredients for a 1.5 gal. batch.
* When fermentation is finished, rack into a 1 gal carboy. Put the extra in wine bottle(s) of the right size with a stopper and airlock
* Next racking, rack the 1 gal carboy off sediment, and top off with wine from the wine bottle(s) under airlock.
* Once it is clear and you are ready for bulk aging, you can drink any left over wine in the wine bottle.

The equipment you would need add:
* 2 gal food grade bucket (Home Depot or Lowes)
* a few empty wine bottles of various sizes (I have 1.5 L, 750 ml, 375 ml)
* drilled stoppers to fit wine bottles, plus a few extra airlocks (a #3 stopper will fit wine bottles)

 

[mikewatkins727]

The equipment you would need add:
* 2 gal food grade bucket (Home Depot or Lowes)
* a few empty wine bottles of various sizes (I have 1.5 L, 750 ml, 375 ml)
* drilled stoppers to fit wine bottles, plus a few extra airlocks (a #3 stopper will fit wine bottles)

Check with nearby Walmart's bakery section. Their cake icing comes in a 2 gal bucket, There might be a small charge for the empty bucket.

 

[WVRoger]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.