WineXpert Italian Primitivo; wheres my bung

[thunderhill]

This morning the two batches of WE Italian Primitivo Kit I am making reached SG 1.010, so I decided to rack them into their respective carboys for secondary.

Things were going well until I could not find the proper sized bung for the second vessel. I took a solid bung and inverted it and pushed it over the opening. I came back into the room a few m inutes later and you guessed it; the bung was lying on the floor.

I made a hole in the bung and forced an airlock into the hole and pushed the bung back on. I took some thin wire and tightened it around the lip in the hopes of keeping the bung secure. I am at work now, so I won't find out if my Rube Goldberg works until 6PM.

If the work around is unsuccessful, will the batch be ruined because of the exposure to air for 8 plus hours? I can't get to a retail store until Tuesday afternoon so I'm a little concerned about the batch.

I would appreciate your suggestions.

Thanks

Thunderhill

 

[winemaker_3352]

Well you racked a bit early IMO - but that might actually benefit you now. You will have some activity going on so you should have some CO2 protection..

The drilled rubber bung and airlock should work - the reason it blew off before was because of the CO2 inside the vessel - popped it out.

 

[thunderhill]

You are probably correct. The instruction sheet called for the racking at SG 1.010 so I decided to follow.

The fermentation was still active so hopefully it will help reduce the damage if the bung blows again.

Once I inserted the airlock it started bubbling like crazy. I guess the movement invigorated the yeast. I will keep it under watch and let you know how I make out.

Thanks for the comments.

Ron

 

[Wade E]

8 hours is nothing at all, I wouldnt even worry about that if the wine was fully degassed and exposed for that amount of time unless fruit flies were abundant.

 

[thunderhill]

I checked both batches this morning; A is just sitting quietly doing nothing at all, B is still bubbling away. Its amazing I make both batches side by side, every move was identical, yet I see two different reactions.

It will be interesting to see how they turn out.

BTW; the inverted bung is working fine. I am going to leave it in place until I begin the clearing process.

Ron

 

[dbrewr]

I transfered mine after 7 days exactly and the SP was 1.010 also.
ok according to instructions. It fizzled a few days, but is quite now. After 10 days i will start to clairify.
PS I took a little sip good stuff.
I have the Aust/Voig in the primary now.

 

[thunderhill]

Thanks for the info. I checked mine this morning and the "B" batch is just about done bubbling. I will take a reading (SG) tomorrow and if it is in range I will go to step #3. I am curious about a potential difference between the two batches. If I find much variation, I might just combine them and let them age together in bulk for about a year.

Happy to hear about their taste.

Ron

 

[jdeere5220]

You sound like you are in a bit of a hurry. Try to slow down a bit. If you can still see bubbling, even slight, then you are nowhere near ready to stabilize. Give it a few more days, then check the SG, then give it a few more days and check again. Don't stabilize until you have verified that the SG has stopped dropping over at least 3 days.

Just because the SG might be at 0.996 doesn't mean the fermentation is done. A lot of these will go to 0.992 or even lower. So try to give it some time and don't rush things along. The instructions are telling you how to get it done fast. You want to get it done right. Tim at W.E. talks about this at some length in his blogs.

 

[thunderhill]

I checked it three days in a row, and the sg was 0.094 and 0.090 respectively. I moved into the third step by adding the clearing agents, stirred it in and topped them off. Now I will sit back and wait.

I did take a taste; very good, a little thick, but the promise seems great.
Once it settles I am going to put 6 gal in American oak and leave 6 gal in a carboy. I will let you know how they mature.

Ron

 

[surlees]

I checked it three days in a row, and the sg was 0.094 and 0.090 respectively. I moved into the third step by adding the clearing agents, stirred it in and topped them off. Now I will sit back and wait.

I did take a taste; very good, a little thick, but the promise seems great.
Once it settles I am going to put 6 gal in American oak and leave 6 gal in a carboy. I will let you know how they mature.

Ron

I don't see any mention of degassing. Did you? Degassing is best done before adding fining agents around 22-24 days after pitching yeast.

Fred

 

[thunderhill]

Forgot to mention that, good catch. I did degass, I pulled out the old electric drill and stirred things up.