Does this sound OK?

[BPoland858]

Can anybody help the ultimate rookie, who also happens to worry over the small details

My wife and kids gave me a wine making set up for Christmas which included an Island Mist Peach-Apricot Chardonnay kit.


Christmas night I took the plunge (I couldn't wait to get started). I was very careful with cleaning everything, and tried to follow the directions to the T. It started with an SG reading of 1050, and If I read it right, should yeild approx 6.5 % ABV.


I racked for thesecondary fermentation6 days later with a SG reading of 1010. Since then I have used a wine theif to take a couple of SG readings over the past week and the the number is dropping. It's about 994, with 4 days left before degassing.


My questions are these:


Last night I noticed alot of sediment on the bottom of the carboy. The wine in nowhere near clear, but at this point the sediment looks to be about 3/4 in thick, kinda like a puffy cloud layer on the bottom of the carboy. Is that normal, or do I have something else going on?


My wife did get me a stirrer that hooks up to a drill, as well as a floor corker.

My other question is, since this is appears to be a very mild wine, do you think it would be a candidate to get spiked up with some Vodka prior to bottling.


This is a great forum. I can't stop reading it!

 

[masta]

Sounds like everything is perfectly normal and the sediment is fine and will be stirred when you degas and add final chemicals/fining agent.


Yes you can spike with alcohol or next time add sugar to increase SG when making up the kit.


5 lbs of sugar works just right for me with these types of kits

Great Job and welcome to winemaking!

 

[PolishWineP]

I hope you told you wife and kids how wonderful they are!

A Fizz-X and a Floor Corker! You are one lucky man!


It sounds like you are well on your way to a nice little wine. Sediment in a carboy is good. Keep up the good work.

 

[MedPretzel]

Don't worry with the sediment. That is perfectly normal. Let it fall a bit more, rack when it says to.


If you really are that impatient, there is nothing wrong with racking it now. Just be prepared that you will most likely have to rack it again. Racking is the most gratifying process in winemaking because you see some instant results. However, I take no responsibility if something goes wrong.

Also, it almost doesn't have to be mentioned because it's so routine and critical: Sanitize everything before you rack.





Good luck, and keep us posted. With pics?

 

[BPoland858]

Thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear.

I'm hooked. I'm already making plans for my next kit.


Thanks Again!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Bill - In case the sediment issue isn't perfectly clear, you should always
expect to see some develop, both in the primary and in the carboy after
racking out of the primary. As Masta said, the sediment is meant to be
stirred up into the wine at degassing time when you add the fining and
stabilizing ingredients. A lot of stirring is needed, this has to be
stressed, in order to properly degas. The next step after stabilizing will
allow you to rack off the lees and really begin seeing clear wine. Should
be a lot of fun, so enjoy and keep asking questions. Not long ago I was
the new guy, I know how the questions pop up.

Bill

 

[masta]

I have posted this before but will again just to reiterate the importance of following the directions when making kits in regards to not racking before stabilizing wine after fermentation in the secondary.


From Winexpert:


<A name=43>Q: Why is it necessary to add the fining agents (package #4) before transferring the wine must off the sediment that has built up in the carboy bottom? Wouldn't it be more efficient for package #4 to be added after the sediment has been removed? It seems the clearing agent has to do more work to clear the wine by adding it with the sediment still in the carboy, especially when you're stirring this sediment up in the process.</A>


A: This one fools a lot of people, as it does seem at the outset that you'd want to get rid of the sediment first and then add the clearing agent, particularly when the wine in the carboy otherwise seems clear. The temptation is so great, many winemakers DO switch the steps themselves. This is not wrong - it's just less efficient, believe it or not.


The clearing, or fining, agents used in Winexpert's wine kits, whether it be chitosan or isinglass, both act more efficiently in clearing wine when they have a base of sediment to begin with. The sediment acts as a trigger mechanism which sends the finings into action in clearing out the mix of proteins, pigments, phenolics, dead yeast, etc.


Both the fining agents and the particles to clear out from the wine have either a positive or a negative charge. And just like in the movies, opposites attract. A negatively charged fining agent like bentonite will serve to bring together those particles having a positive charge, while positively charged fining agents like chitosan or isinglass will attract negatively charged particles. This process allows for the molecular weight structures of the particles to become larger: smaller particles join together to become larger particles, which in turn fall to the bottom of the carboy when their mass becomes great enough.


If the fining agents do not 'find' enough particles present in the wine must to join together into larger particles, the clearing process may stall, as there will not be enough small particles present to conglomerate into the larger particles which will fall out. Small particles on their own will remain suspended in the must, and the fining's efficiency is reduced.


This is why you must thoroughly stir the sediment when adding package #4, as it effectively mixes the fining agents and the particles together to start the clearing process.


Resist the urge to jump the gun on transferring, or racking, the wine! Trust the method behind the madness of Winexpert's instructions, and stir up that sediment with confidence!

 

[RAMROD]

Ok I want to know where you found your wife! And if she realy understands what she has started here!LOL

 

[BPoland858]

She is one of a kind, of that I'm sure, and, yes I think she's begining to see a pattern. It probably doesn't help that I keep refering to the basement as 'The Wine Cellar'.


All the best, and thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Waldo]

My gawdddddd...A stir x....A floor corker.......AND A BASEMENT !!!


You are ready to rock n roll MPoland....Welcome to the best forum and the greatest bunch of people on the net

 

[BPoland858]

My gawdddddd...A stir x....A floor corker.......AND A BASEMENT !!!


You are ready to rock n roll MPoland....Welcome to the best forum and the greatest bunch of people on the net

The basement may not be the greatest place to make wine. I finally bought one of those stick on thermometer and slapped it on the side of my carboy. It's reading between 66 and 68 degrees

. I wonder if I need to invest in a brewers belt to keep the temp uparound 72 - 73.

 

[PolishWineP]

If you wife will allow, keep your primary fermenter upstairs. It's only for a short time, and it really will give your wine a nice start. If you can push your luck one step further, when you first rack your wine into a carboy for the first time, keep that upstairs too. That too is for a short time and then when that's racked off to the cellar with it.


There are all sorts of fun ways to cover carboys. There's the "dresses" with a pull string at the top, (I think Northern Winos uses those) and then there's funny t-shirts that can be put over the top. Tape the flaps of a carboy box up, then turn itupside-down,and paint it or wallpaper it.


Promise her the next wine you make will be of her choosing!