Here's my question: I am almost finished with my second fermentation and then I plan on racking it at least three times because of the difficulty in getting all the sediment out and of course I will be using an airlock while I'm racking, if I am correct on this? I plan on doing this because I know CO2 will continue to escape even if very small amounts. Now by question is: when I store my wine after this point for aging should I also be using the airlock during this time?
Airlocks
- Thread starter davidj77
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Donnab1045
Winemaker
I would use an airlocks for the first year. It can detect any new fermentations that may appear.
Personally, once I got past the fascination of bubbling bubblers (which took years), I switched over to these dudes and never looked back. Been using them for years with nary a mishap:
https://morewinemaking.com/products/silicone-stopper-breathable-carboy.html
I'm on the same boat as @Johnd -- once active fermentation is over and the wine is degassed, I switch to vented bungs.
@davidj77, I suspect you can make improvements in your racking process to reduce the number of necessary rackings.
After the pressing/first racking, I let the wine rest 1 to 3 weeks. The sediment will build up, then (normally) the level will reduce as it compacts. During this time I'll give the carboy a sharp right/left twist several times to shake sediment off the sides of the carboy.
Before racking, put a wedge under an edge of the carboy to tilt it. During racking, hold the cane off the bottom, so you're getting clear wine only -- lower the cane as the level in the carboy drops. When reaching the end, point the cane into the lower edge of the carboy, and the moment you see sediment being sucked up, stop. Pour the remainder of the wine in the carboy into a bottle, along with loose sludge, and refrigerate for a week. The wine usually clears and you may recover more than half the volume -- carefully pour off the clear wine.
Gross lees, which is grape/fruit solids, needs to be removed. The fine lees, which is yeast hulls, does not. I don't plan a set number of rackings -- I rack when the sediment indicates it is required.
Last fall I reserved 4 liters each of the varietals I made (most of the wine is in blends), racking in November and again in February. Last week I bottles these wines and there was a very fine layer of dust on the bottom of the jugs. Racking carefully I have 5 bottles of each, and the remainder went into a bottle for immediate consumption. It was a tiny bit muddy (not that you could see it) and it tasted must fine.
@davidj77, I suspect you can make improvements in your racking process to reduce the number of necessary rackings.
After the pressing/first racking, I let the wine rest 1 to 3 weeks. The sediment will build up, then (normally) the level will reduce as it compacts. During this time I'll give the carboy a sharp right/left twist several times to shake sediment off the sides of the carboy.
Before racking, put a wedge under an edge of the carboy to tilt it. During racking, hold the cane off the bottom, so you're getting clear wine only -- lower the cane as the level in the carboy drops. When reaching the end, point the cane into the lower edge of the carboy, and the moment you see sediment being sucked up, stop. Pour the remainder of the wine in the carboy into a bottle, along with loose sludge, and refrigerate for a week. The wine usually clears and you may recover more than half the volume -- carefully pour off the clear wine.
Gross lees, which is grape/fruit solids, needs to be removed. The fine lees, which is yeast hulls, does not. I don't plan a set number of rackings -- I rack when the sediment indicates it is required.
Last fall I reserved 4 liters each of the varietals I made (most of the wine is in blends), racking in November and again in February. Last week I bottles these wines and there was a very fine layer of dust on the bottom of the jugs. Racking carefully I have 5 bottles of each, and the remainder went into a bottle for immediate consumption. It was a tiny bit muddy (not that you could see it) and it tasted must fine.
you WILL have dissolved CO2 in your wine at least till it has gotten one or two degrees warmer than serving temperature (ie summer). Does it matter? probably not.
I would always use a solid cork if I am not checking the water level every month.
CO2 is an inert gas so I intentionally ignore the gas till bottling week at which time I may still have a lot in solution. - through the first summer wine has an air lock to let it naturally degas - starting in fall I switch to a check valve when a carboy is opened and afterwards I pull a vacuum to degas/ fill the headspace with CO2 again - in the week where bottling is planned I will periodically vacuum for a few minutes an hour - if it can hold in the blue bulb on a headspace eliminator (5 inches Hg) for half an hour it is good enough.
I would always use a solid cork if I am not checking the water level every month.
