Left in primary too long?

[Vardee123]

Hi all,

Very new to wine making here. I think I left my wine in primary too long. The starting SG was 1.08 and when I moved the wine to a carboy it was 0.90. It's been in the carboy for 1 week now. What does this mean for the rest of the fermentation process? I know the alcohol content will be very high - is there any way to mitigate this? The kit is a Liebfraumilch by Winexpert and comes with 3 reserve concentrates that I haven't added in yet to avoid further fermentation but I'm also worried about off-tastes from dead yeast. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,
V

 

[heatherd]

Hi all,

Very new to wine making here. I think I left my wine in primary too long. The starting SG was 1.08 and when I moved the wine to a carboy it was 0.90. It's been in the carboy for 1 week now. What does this mean for the rest of the fermentation process? I know the alcohol content will be very high - is there any way to mitigate this? The kit is a Liebfraumilch by Winexpert and comes with 3 reserve concentrates that I haven't added in yet to avoid further fermentation but I'm also worried about off-tastes from dead yeast. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,
V

Welcome! 0.90 is good, that's dry. You'll want to stabilize with potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate prior to adding anything else to your wine.

 

[Ajmassa]

No worries. You fermented as low as it could go— but that’s gonna happen regardless if your transfer early or late.
Since your starting SG was 1.080 you’re still only around 12% abv. As long as it didn’t sit in the primary for a whole bunch of extra days while sitting at .990– and you didn’t notice any off odors when transferring then you’re good.
No idea about the kit, the flavor packs, sweetness level, or what the ending abv is suggested to end up at tho.

 

[sour_grapes]

AJ alluded to this, but did not say so explicitly: your SG is not 0.900, but probably 0.99x. If you were assuming 0.900 in your ABV calculation, you will have gotten the wrong number. (It is always best to refer to your SG with three digits after the decimal, so your intent is clear.)

Here is a good video for help on reading a hydrometer:

How To Read Hydrometer

 

[joeycannoli]

As AJ said, as long as the wine didn't sit too long on the gross lees you should be fine. How long did it sit in the primary at .990 before racking?

 

[Vardee123]

Thank you all for your responses! I think I've definitely read the hydrometer wrong. It should be 0.990. I'm not entirely sure how long it was at that value before we moved it but I tried the wine when moving and it didn't taste off. It was sitting in primary for a total 2 weeks.

 

[NorCal]

If it doesn’t smell bad, all is good. If it does smell bad, splash rack it a few times and smell again. That’s what is nice with wine, if it’s gone bad, your nose will usually let you know before your tongue needs to experience it.

 

[winojoe]

saul good man. Just keep going with the kit instructions.

 

[joeycannoli]

saul good man. Just keep going with the kit instructions.

As a Better Call Saul fan... I see what you did there