Clearing in a bucket.....

[Neil F]

...as opposed to a demijohn or carboy.
I'm 3 weeks into a 5 gallon kit, everything has went well so far.
16 days primary, sg went from 1.082 to 0.995, I then racked it into 2 smaller buckets while I washed and sanitised the 5 gallon bucket , then returned it to the 5g bucket adding stabiliser, and finings, as per the instructions.
I'm a little bit worried about how the large surface area will affect the wine?
The bucket seals well, the lid bulges but the airlock is silent. I've taken a small sample and it tastes good and is clearing very well.
Do I have anything to worry about re headspace etc....?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[cmason1957]

Headspace is a huge concern when you are bulk-aging, it is full of oxygen. And I bet your bucket doesn't seal nearly as well as you believe that it does. None of them do, those lid seals are notorious for leaking. It is your wine, you are welcome to do as you please, but best practices say in a carboy with very little headspace.

 

[Neil F]

Cheers fella, kinda thought that after reading up a bit, looks like I'll be buying more demijohns.
Or, it's got a couple of days clearing left, should I maybe just bottle it at the end of the week?

 

[cmason1957]

My general answer to that question is no wine should be bottled before 6 months or a year, it isn't as clear as you think it is. Procrastinators unite!!!!

 

[sour_grapes]

Procrastinators unite!!!!

Maybe tomorrow.

 

[cmason1957]

Maybe tomorrow.

Nah, next week sometime. I'm waiting on sum ting.

 

[sour_grapes]

Never put off 'til tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after tomorrow!

 

[cmason1957]

And just to prove that I follow my own advice, I have a wine kit in my basement that probably could have been racked last weekend, it still sits, waiting. I thought about doing it last night and doing some blending trials, but there was a hockey game on, so, nah. It will wait, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. They aren't going anywhere.

 

[NorCal]

Cheers fella, kinda thought that after reading up a bit, looks like I'll be buying more demijohns.
Or, it's got a couple of days clearing left, should I maybe just bottle it at the end of the week?

Let it age in an oxygen free environment, with an appropriate level of SO2 and your wine will be way better for it.