Headspace mistake question

[Ericphotoart]

I am making a banana wine which I racked 2 weeks ago. It's not fermenting but still not clear with a very little sediment. I racked to a clean 5 gallon carboy not realizing that leaving several inches of headspace is not good idea. It's about 4 gallons of wine in it. So my question is, is it better to leave it as it is for next 2-3 month until the next racking, or rack now to 3+1 carboys with no headspace left?

 

[Johnd]

I am making a banana wine which I racked 2 weeks ago. It's not fermenting but still not clear with a very little sediment. I racked to a clean 5 gallon carboy not realizing that leaving several inches of headspace is not good idea. It's about 4 gallons of wine in it. So my question is, is it better to leave it as it is for next 2-3 month until the next racking, or rack now to 3+1 carboys with no headspace left?

3 + 1 with proper headspace is always your best bet once fermentation has ended.

 

[Ericphotoart]

My only concern is that racked it just 2 weeks ago, so racking again now will expose the wine to oxygen again.

 

[cmason1957]

My only concern is that racked it just 2 weeks ago, so racking again now will expose the wine to oxygen again.

Probably exposes it to less oxygen than the amount you have in your headspace. and certainly for much less time.

 

[Scooter68]

There is a common fear of exposing new wine or fermenting wine to oxygen. That fear often leads to way too much worry. Racking to remove headspace is much less risky than leaving a wine in a container with too much headspace unless that wine is still doing a lot of gassing off of CO2.
One question is how much headspace do you currently have? if the wine level is within 1-2 inches of the top of the carboy then you are fine. Anywhere below that might be an issue. You did say that your wine is still not clear but not fermenting. You have a couple of easy options, Rack as you mentioned into smaller containers where you can reduce headspace or Top off with some white wine now. Either way will work and the racking will not endanger your wine with too much oxygen. Actually the first one or two racklings within the first 2-3 weeks after fermentation stops will probably benefit your wine by reducing CO2 and that will help your wine clear faster. CO2 in the wine tends to keep sediment suspended longer.

 

[Ericphotoart]

It’s a banana wine that I make the 1st time do topping off with a different wine is not an option for me. It’s a 5 gallon carboy with about 4 galllons of wine so the headspace is significant, more than 2 inches. I guess I will rack it today.
Thanks for all help

 

[Scooter68]

Understand the desire to keep your first batch "Pure" I've always been lucky to start high in volume (Except for my first 6-8 batchs) so that I had 'extra' of the wine in a smaller container to top off.
And the careful racking (Not disturbing the current sediment) will help you see progress better and more drops out of the wine.