Look at this picture....

[geek]

My white Riesling has been in 2nd fermentation carboy for about 2 weeks.
I am ready to rack off and move to another carboy and add k-meta and sorbate to stabilize.

The small 1gal glass container you see is basically the remaining of the 6gal bucket (my carboys are 5gal), I put the cap on this small jug but the cap is a bit lose. The wine is very clear in it..

So.....what should I do with this "left over" which is a little bit over 1/2 gallon.

Can I:
1-rack everything to a 6gal bucket, de-gas, stabilize altogether, fill 5gal carboy and put the rest in a couple liter bottles.

2-rack 5gal carboy directly to another 5gal carboy, de-gas, stabilize, air-lock, etc. Rack remaining 1/2 gallon into another 1gal jug to stabilize and then place wine in 2 liters.

Thoughts??

......

 

[Rocky]

Geek,

Is there a reason that you have the cap on the gallon jug rather than an airlock? IMHO you are flirting with disaster with the loose cap and I would be reluctant to mix that back into the wine in the 5 gallon carboy unless you are certain that there has been no change in the wine in the gallon jug. I would go with your option 2.

 

[geek]

Rocky, I just didnt have an air-lock available and decided to leave as is...
Lastly, how can I be certain that there has been no change in the wine in the gallon jug? How can I check that?

..

 

[JohnT]

Either top it off with store bought, or put in fridge and drink it.

 

[Deezil]

You're still going to lose some volume from the 5-gallon clearing out, so if you could put the 1-gallon/leftover into smaller bottles so it has less headspace and will "go bad" slower, it'll help keep your 5-gallon full so you dont get stuck with storebought wine top offs

It's probably thoroughly laced with CO2 at this point, so its probably been "okay" but i would get the leftovers in a smaller bottle.. After you degas, which will help the 5-gallon drop more sediment, than you'll want to really watch the leftovers for degradation

I do the "loose lid" thing with quart jars, but i make sure that the lid can still move around.. The seal on the lid will grab the lip of the glass until theres enough pressure to push it up but you wanna make sure it still moves around under the screw-cap or you're gonna be hurtin.. I still unscrew the quart jars daily and lift the lid to kill any pressure.

 

[robie]

Move it to several 750ml bottles and drink whatever is left.

 

[Julie]

Why are your racking after 2 weeks? and why are you adding k-meta and sorbate at this point?

 

[geek]

julie,

The white wine is in 2nd fermentation, I left it for 2 weeks to make sure the SG goes all the way down and I can still see some bubbles coming up.

I havent checked the SG for those 2 weeks but will do it now when I rack and remove sediments.

I'm adding sulfites to stabilize, isn't that the proper procedure?

..

 

[g8keeper]

julie,

The white wine is in 2nd fermentation, I left it for 2 weeks to make sure the SG goes all the way down and I can still see some bubbles coming up.

I havent checked the SG for those 2 weeks but will do it now when I rack and remove sediments.

I'm adding sulfites to stabilize, isn't that the proper procedure?

..

you should take a gravity reading BEFORE you rack off the sediment and stabilize...this will tell you IF you wine is actually done fermenting or not, and whether or not it is time to stabilize....you should check your gravity readings for 3 consecutive days, and IF it hasn't changed, and normally is somewhere below .999, then it is ready to be stabilized....but once again, check the gravity BEFORE you decide to rack....lack of airlock activity is NOT a guaranteed sign that fermentation is complete....

 

[geek]

I don't have a siphon thieve to take a sample and check SG and I don't want to put hydrometer in it b/c I won't be able to easily take it out. I guess I'd just syphon a sample into a bottle and then see.

I haven't checked SG since Ocy. 13 (I know I should've checked it until I get same low reading for 3 days in a row), do you think it should be very dry now and ready to go?

I don't want to start checking 2 days from today, if possible.

Here are the SG readings I've had but haven't checked SG since:

Oct. 05 12pm 1.080
Oct. 06 8pm 1.065
Oct. 07 4pm 1.055
Oct. 08 6pm 1.040
Oct. 09 7pm 1.028
Oct. 10 8pm 1.020
Oct. 11 5pm 1.016
Oct. 12 8am 1.012
Oct. 13 2pm 1.008
Oct. 13 2pm Racked to secondary.

 

[jensmith]

I don't have a siphon thieve to take a sample and check SG and I don't want to put hydrometer in it b/c I won't be able to easily take it out. I guess I'd just syphon a sample into a bottle and then see.

I haven't checked SG since Ocy. 13 (I know I should've checked it until I get same low reading for 3 days in a row), do you think it should be very dry now and ready to go?

I don't want to start checking 2 days from today, if possible.

Here are the SG readings I've had but haven't checked SG since:

Oct. 05 12pm 1.080
Oct. 06 8pm 1.065
Oct. 07 4pm 1.055
Oct. 08 6pm 1.040
Oct. 09 7pm 1.028
Oct. 10 8pm 1.020
Oct. 11 5pm 1.016
Oct. 12 8am 1.012
Oct. 13 2pm 1.008
Oct. 13 2pm Racked to secondary.

A clean turkey baster works good for stealing samples for taking sg readings. Or taste testing! I use my baster far more then my theif. I do lots of tasting!

 

[babered]

Do you have a turkey baster? That's what I use...works great!

 

[wvbrewer]

Don't rush your wine making. Follow your kit or recipie timelines as cloe as you can, and things will turn out good.. I dont mean forget you hydrometer, but longer clearing times will help you wines quality.