Measuring SG from a carboy, 2nd rack etc...

[Elmer]

I am making a MM Chianti.
I racked 1 week ago when the SG was 1.3
I have had the wine in the carboy and stirred daily.
The foam has ceased, the bubbles in the airlocke have slowed almost to a stop.

my question is, how do I check the SG, with my wine in the carboy. I used to have a test toob and use a sterlized turkey baster to draw the wine out, but the test toob broke!

I wanted to transfer and cease the fermentation and I may not be able to get to the wine store before next week.

I was thinking of transfering all the wine back to my plastic bucket, let it sit for a day and do a SG reading.
Anyone see an issue with this?

After that I would transfer back to a carboy for a few months of bulk aging!

Secondly based on the picture below, do I need to top off?
I do not want to add any more water ( I dont want to decrease the flavor and water down, so what are my options?)

 

[Rocky]

See responses below in red.

I am making a MM Chianti.
I racked 1 week ago when the SG was 1.3 I think you probably mean 1.030. I would imagine that the SG is below 1.000 at this point. You need to protect if from prolonged exposure to air.
I have had the wine in the carboy and stirred daily.
The foam has ceased, the bubbles in the airlocke have slowed almost to a stop.

my question is, how do I check the SG, with my wine in the carboy. I used to have a test toob and use a sterlized turkey baster to draw the wine out, but the test toob broke!

I wanted to transfer and cease the fermentation and I may not be able to get to the wine store before next week.

I was thinking of transfering all the wine back to my plastic bucket, let it sit for a day and do a SG reading. I would recommend against this. It would expose the wine to air and, potentially, spoilage.
Anyone see an issue with this?

After that I would transfer back to a carboy for a few months of bulk aging!

Secondly based on the picture below, do I need to top off? If fermentation has slowed or stopped, you definitely need to decrease that air space. That appears to be a 6 gallon carboy. I would get (buy or borrow) a 5 gallon carboy and maybe a half gallon jug and move the wine into these containers under airlock.
I do not want to add any more water ( I dont want to decrease the flavor and water down, so what are my options?)

 

[saramc]

I bought a wine thief which easily fits down the neck of any carboy and I float the hydrometer in the thief itself. This is one source: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermtech-wine-thief.html

Any tall narrow vessel will work, like a spaghetti noodle storage container or a glass vase.
You want to avoid unnecessary racking/transfer because you set yourself up for exposure to oxygen, etc. Nit quite sure what you meant by 'want to transfer wine to stop fermentation'.

 

[Elmer]

Thanks for Info.
However being unable to do an SG reading in the carboy leaves my wine on a non-precise schedule.
While I can assume that fermentation has ceased, I truly don’t know.

Since I will have do a 1st racking, to rid my batch of the sediment and left over must, I guess I could just assume the SG is below 1.0 and cease the fermentation process and then rack into a carboy and top off with like wine.

I want to avoid having to maintain more than 1 carboy, so I don’t want to reduce down to a 5gal, but I like the idea.

I am soon going to be starting a second batch with the intention of using it for 2014 gifts, and having to numerous carboy around would just confuse the heck out of me!

 

[Scott]

Have heard of some tying floss to the hydrometer to lower into the carboy to test.

The more different size vessels the better, and some labels to keep track.

Good luck

 

[saramc]

I guess I could just assume the SG is below 1.0 and cease the fermentation process and then rack into a carboy and top off with like wine.

I am soon going to be starting a second batch with the intention of using it for 2014 gifts, and having to numerous carboy around would just confuse the heck out of me!

So you know, racking the wine does not make the ferment stop. You are racking to remove sediment/lees which could be a combo of dead and live yeast cells, but you will have sediment drop for months. Time is your friend when making wine. Do not worry.

As far as adding another carboy for another batch...this is what a label is for. Slap a piece of masking tape on the thing.
Your current batch is going to be in the carboy for quite a while, or at least it should be.

 

[TonyP]

I am making a MM Chianti.
I racked 1 week ago when the SG was 1.3
I have had the wine in the carboy and stirred daily.
The foam has ceased, the bubbles in the airlocke have slowed almost to a stop.Slowing almost to a stop means fermentation is continuing. I see no need to do anything but plan at this time,

my question is, how do I check the SG, with my wine in the carboy. I used to have a test toob and use a sterlized turkey baster to draw the wine out, but the test toob broke! Use the tube the hydrometer came in as a test tube.

I wanted to transfer and cease the fermentation and I may not be able to get to the wine store before next week. My suggestion to leave it alone until then. You have adequate protection with CO2 covering the wine at the moment. When you can, get some Chianti and top up the carboy.

I was thinking of transfering all the wine back to my plastic bucket, let it sit for a day and do a SG reading.
Anyone see an issue with this?Don't do it. Putting the wine into the bucket would subject it to oxygen, which could create problems. Leaving the wine for several days - even well after fermentation has stopped - is no big deal.

After that I would transfer back to a carboy for a few months of bulk aging!

Secondly based on the picture below, do I need to top off?
I do not want to add any more water ( I dont want to decrease the flavor and water down, so what are my options?)

Also, keep in mind that the hardest but usually best thing to do with wine is nothing.

 

[Elmer]

Have heard of some tying floss to the hydrometer to lower into the carboy to test.

The more different size vessels the better, and some labels to keep track.

Good luck

Ding, Ding, Ding-We have a winner! (that is my best carny impression)
I like this idea, and will try it.

1st, my initialy issue was how to get the wine out of the carboy an into any container when I could measure it.

2ndly, I must continually misspeak when I say "stop" fermentation. I mean when fermenation has ceased and the SG is below 1. Then adding the sorbate, sillygell, isaglass and all other packets of stuff that comes with the wine. These are usually the last few steps when fermentation has finished.

I only wanted to transfer "rack" the wine into a new carboy, since the remaining must is currently sitting in the batch, but if this is not an issue that I will leave it sitting in the current carboy!