Brand spanking new...

[KCCam]

like the one pictured below, which is giving black holes tips on how to trap light

I love that description!

easy to misunderstand term

Yah, I guess I wasn’t “clear.”

I’ve used a flashlight or laser pointer on darker ones. If you can see the beam, it’s reflecting off of particles. But it doesn’t even have to be that dark for that trick to not work either. Putting it in a smaller container (like a glass) can help, but hey, these are tricks to help predict if the wine will drop any more sediment, or start fermenting again, if bottled today. Clarity is beautiful, but it’s really just an indicator that the wine is perfectly finished. Only time can make you certain of it.

 

[winemaker81]

I’ve used a flashlight or laser pointer on darker ones.

That is an excellent tip!

 

[KCCam]

I’ve used a flashlight or laser pointer on darker ones.

That is an excellent tip!

I've found the laser particularly good. If you shine through the carboy to a distant (or close) wall, the "fuzziness" of the dot can help too.

 

[Vaudun]

Well, I would say that it looks like you have a stuck fermentation.

@sour_grapes, that's what I was afraid of, however, I don't know if it was from jostling my jug about, but I just looked, and there are now streams of tiny bubbles rising up again, so it looks like fermentation is back on!

Restarting a fermentation that close to finished (1.015) is not trivial. To do so, I would use a starter (Using Yeast Starters For Improved Fermentation).

I checked out the link on yeast starters and threw one together last night. I'm getting ready to start a 5 gallon batch of wine, so I thought the starter was a good way to go. I was going to use some in my small batch, also, to try and restart it, but I guess I don't need to do that, now.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

Cheers!

 

[Vaudun]

The best way to get a stuck ferment to re-ignite is to bottle it!

that sounds about right!

As I mentioned above, though, it looks like fermentation has restarted, so I think I'll let nature take its course, fits the time being.

Thanks and cheers!

 

[Vaudun]

But on the bright side, you’re only dealing with 1 gallon (5 bottles).

...it’s not really the cost of the ingredients you’re trying to salvage, like it might be if you were making 6 gallons or 60 gallons

True, which is why I started small.

I suggest if you have a turkey baster, clean it well or buy a cheap one. Siphoning to get a sample is a pain. 5 pumps of the baster gets me enough wine for an SG measurement, and can be used to return the wine without stirring up the lees too. It’s quicker than siphoning and easier to sanitize than racking equipment.

Good advice. I'll definitely be digging through my junk drawers to find my turkey baster. It sounds so much easier than borking around with my autosyphon.

Thanks and cheers!

 

[Vaudun]

For darker wines (like the one pictured below, which is giving black holes tips on how to trap light)

LOL I wish I had said that. That's awesome.

 

[Vaudun]

Hi all.

Just wanted to pop in and say I'm still around.

So, I'm getting ready to bottle my inaugural batch of wine. There has been no visible signs of fermentation for over about 2 months now. I racked the wine from its 1 gallon carboy into about a month ago and added a campden tablet.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks before I get started?

I read somewhere that I should put another campden tablet in before bottling. How long should I wait between using the tablet and bottling the wine?

Should I pour the wine from the carboy into the bottles, or siphon out?

Should I sanitize my corks? With K-meta? Boiling water? Do I let them dry afterward?

So many questions, so little wine.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* at two months we tend to add both metabisulphite and sorbate, you could get away with meta if it is dry since sugar is the driver to encourage regrowth.
* my experience is that red grape holds some SO2 therefore it might be OK, whites as well as country wines consume SO2 therefore I assume zero and add more meta every time I rack/ transfer. The eventual when you can test is “add enough to make 50ppm”. The main purpose for adding more meta is to increase the shelf life. If you plan on using this batch within a year again you might let it go.
* I siphon as much as I can, do you have a racking cane? If not polyethylene tubing straightens out if heated,,, ie I make my own racking canes, siphon tubes, long runs, I have collected silicone tubing I patch racking tubes together with,,, vinyl also will work to patch tubes together,,,, early days I would work in the kitchen and place the carboy on the counter and use a drawer to siphon bottles into ie look at what you have for height example an empty pail up side down
* SO2 is nasty stuff! I did coughing fits starting siphons and eventually got a vacuum so I wouldn’t breath it.
* corks generally store them dry, yes some will slosh sanitizer on them and last week someone posted about a humidor for sanitizing. I use plastic Nomacork and always slosh in a cottage carton with some sanitizer.

remember wine is forgiving, we each use different tweaks and by and large they work.

 

[Vaudun]

Hi @Rice_Guy,

Thanks for the feedback.

* at two months we tend to add both metabisulphite and sorbate, you could get away with meta if it is dry since sugar is the driver to encourage regrowth.
* my experience is that red grape holds some SO2 therefore it might be OK, whites as well as country wines consume SO2 therefore I assume zero and add more meta every time I rack/ transfer.

Well, this is the peach wine that I started with this thread. I just checked SG and it's still at 1.012, but there's been no activity for a couple months. I racked it about a month ago, and there's no bubbles and no new sediment.

* I siphon as much as I can, do you have a racking cane?

I just I ordered 2 stainless steel canes (after looking at all-in-one wine pump).

* corks generally store them dry, yes some will slosh sanitizer on them and last week someone posted about a humidor for sanitizing. I use plastic Nomacork and always slosh in a cottage carton with some sanitizer.

I'm using natural cork, so I think I'll definitely give them a bath.

remember wine is forgiving, we each use different tweaks and by and large they work.

Thanks again. I'm slowly building up my own library of tweaks, and this input helps.

 

[Vaudun]

I finally bottled my first batch of wine that I started with this thread. SG was still 1.012 but no activity for several weeks. I bottled it up on February 6, and now we wait.