IS it carboy time yet?

[cecilias9]

Well, my SG this morning is at 1.042.The juice is now producing a gently roll. I took another video. It has a little fizz on top now. Is it time to transfer to the carboy this evening? Any tips on how to do that most efficiently? Are we supposed to do it from the spicket at the bottom or use a siphon or some other method?



Any suggestions are appreciated...
Cecilia

 

[Brewgrrrl]

As long as it's fermenting this actively, there is plenty of CO2 forming a layer above the juice and you don't need to worry about transferring it over. I often transfer later than sooner (6+ days), because often when you transfer the wine the yeast gets stirred up and active again.

 

[fivebk]

I would wait untill the SG is 1.010- 1.020 . there will still be plenty of co2 in the wine to protect it and you won't get a wine volcano

BOB

 

[vcasey]

I agree with Brewgrrrl & Bob about waiting to rack. Racking too early will stir up the yeast and really get them working hard and when you rack it into a carboy, especially with that high an SG, it has less space and expands out the top and all that wonderful wine ends up on the floor instead of in the bottle where it belongs. I ferment mine to dry right in the primary which has the added advantage of making degassing easier.

 

[cecilias9]

Thank you very much, all of you!

 

[smurfe]

I try to transfer around 1.020 as well. I like to wait till the rolling fermentation is over so I can fill the carboy to the neck and not worry about it getting up in the airlock or blowing it out.

 

[Wade E]

If you did rack you would most likely have a colored ceiling like I said in the other post. It will not have enough room in the carboy or that active of a fermentation and either clog the airlock and explode or just foam up and out all over the place. Either rack at around 1.015 or there abouts or let it finish in primary with lid and airlock.

 

[cecilias9]

Thank you all for your comments.


I know I am not there yet, but what exactly is degassing?


I thought you had to transfer to a carboy and not leave the wine in the plastic bucket... See how much i Don't know. Hmmm. Why is it that almost all the pictures show wine fermenting in a carboy??? What are the advantages of the carboy over the primary? I know... lots of questions.

 

[Wade E]

You dont have to transfer to glass if its still fermenting. The thought behind it is to get the wine over to carboy while its still fermenting a little so that there will be a layer of C02 on top of your carboy to protect the wine but if you have your carboy properly filled there is so little room that its not of importance. The way I look at it as once you take the airlock out once that small layer would be gone anyway. The main reasons I like to ferment to dry in bucket is that 1) when racking you can leave behind too much viable yeast thus sometimes your wine doesnt finish fermenting and 2) by having it in the bucket the wine degases itself much more. Degassing is the act of disturbing your wine so that all the C02 that was made during fermentation is dispersed and this should be done at temps of around 75* as cooler temps make it much harder to get that C02 out of suspension. If you have trapped C02 in your wine your wine will not clear properly as the gases are holding the sediment is suspension.

 

[cecilias9]

Wade,


Thank you for your explanations. But... what exactly does it mean "to ferment to dry."???And if you leave it in the bucket, at what point do you put an airlock on it.


I think with muscadines it would be important? to transfer to carboy on account of Waldo saying that there is a great danger of oxidation with the muscadine wine? And there might be too much air space in the primary?

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Dry = all the sugars are gone

(I was going to tease you and say to leave it alone until it all evaporated)

 

[Wade E]

I ferment almost all of my wines in my bucket but to each their own. I put a lid and airlock on at around 1.020 and in doing so the gases will protect in until opened just like in a carboy except by doing it this way you can let it finish fermenting and then rack it off all the sediment ( a little more then racking it early) as the wine has stopped fermenting which will let more sediment fall out and also let the wine degas more.

 

[cecilias9]

How do you know when it is finished fermenting and when all the sugar is gone? And then do you rack into a carboy so you can see how clear it is becoming?

 

[grapeman]

I think it would be a good idea for you to start out racking to a carboy at 1.010. That is a good Specific gravity to do it at. It won't create a volcano at that SG, but will still have enough sugars to create adequate C02 to fill the headspace. Wade has been making wine for a few years now, so he uses some shortcuts that might not let a new winemaker get the whole experience. After in glass, you can see the wine and watch it clear, watch the airlock go, etc. It gives you a sense of satisfaction.


Dry wine means it has no residual sugars in it and generally means it is between 0.990 and 0.996. After your wine has gotten to that level and remains the same reading for a few days, it is finished fermenting and considered dry.


Good luck Cecilia, sounds like it is doing well. Keep following Waldo's instructions and you won't go wrong.

 

[cecilias9]

Well, at 9:10 pm I took the temp. It was 72 degrees. The SG is at 1.013, so it looks like I will be transferring to the carboy tomorrow morning after Mass. I am looking forward to watching it; although, according to Waldo, I should put it in the closet or cover it so the light does not cause trouble. But I will still peak at it every day. This being the first time and all; I just can't help it.

I have taste tested and it is pretty good for fermenting muscadine juice. YAY.

 

[Wade E]

You dont need a closet just a place out of the sunlight or you can put a T shirt over the carboy. Others even take the box the carboy came in and flip it over and cut a small hole in the top for the airlock.

 

[cecilias9]

Now that's a good idea, using the box it came in! Thank you.

 

[Wade E]

Glad to be of help.

 

[cecilias9]

Well, it was finally carboy time this morning. My SG was at 1.006, so we transferred to the carboy at about 12:30 pm, after washing and sanitizing everything. I just checked on the wine and it is bubbling nicely in the airlock. We have some in the five gallon carboy with plenty of head room and then some in a half-gallon jug with headroom. Since there was still a little juice left over my husband poured it and most of the sludge that was on the bottom into a gallon jug which is also bubbling, but is only about 1/2 full. I guess that one is "his experiment." And I have no idea what he is thinking about it - other than he wants to see what it will do?




I do have questions though.Itseems to me thatevery time you rack, some wine will be lost, soif you make a 5 gallon batch how much wine do you really end up with usually? And what are you supposed to do towards the end when you are not supposed to havevery much headroom? Thank you. Cecilia

 

[Wade E]

This is why when making a wine from scratch always start with more then
you need like making a 5 1/2 gallon batch and do as you did and rack to
the 5 and the 1. When its done fermenting add all your ingredients like
sulfite and sorbate and stir really good (degas) before topping up so
that you have room and so you dont get the dreaded wine volcano and once
degassed add your fining agent and then top up. Here is a picture of
what we mean with a a wine volcano below! This is caused buy not
starting to degas nice and easy and once you get some of the gas out
then you can get a little more violent with it to get the rest out!