My first batch.. am I messing it up?

[WineGirl2]

I am a newbie and just transferred my first batch from the first fermenter to the carboy. I washed and then sterilized everything, but I forgot to sterilize the outer portion of the hose ends that come into contract with the wine. Do I need to be worried about that?

Also, the directions said to leave a liter space at the top of the carboy, but clearly I left too much space... probably 2 liters. Is this okay?

Thanks!

 

[oldwhiskers]

First off, welcome to the forum!!!!

At this point there is not a lot you can do about the hose issue other than be sure it has k-meta in it, did add k-meta at the beginning of the ferment? I am assuming it has finished fermenting and has been racked to the secondary.

Is this a wine kit or a recipe of your own? What size is the carboy?

 

[WineGirl2]

Thanks! I'm glad I found this forum!

Yes, I forgot to mention I'm using a wine kit. I don't know what k-meta is. The kit had me add to the first fermenter bentonite and the yeast. I racked to the secondary last night and did not add anything. It's still bubbling a little bit, but the instructions say it's fine if it doesn't.

I think it's a 6 gallon carboy.

 

[oldwhiskers]

Well definitely follow the kit instructions. I have not made any of the kits yet, so hopefully someone that has will chip in.

 

[novalou]

I am a newbie and just transferred my first batch from the first fermenter to the carboy. I washed and then sterilized everything, but I forgot to sterilize the outer portion of the hose ends that come into contract with the wine. Do I need to be worried about that?

Also, the directions said to leave a liter space at the top of the carboy, but clearly I left too much space... probably 2 liters. Is this okay?

Thanks!

You can top up your carboy with water. My preference is to find a similar wine and top up with that.

 

[dangerdave]

The instructions usually say not to top up the carboy after transferring to the secondary. If it is still fermenting, topping up is not an issue, as the wine is still producing CO2 (bubbling in the airlock), which will protect the wine from oxydization. The head space is not a problem right now. As long as the hose was clean, don't sweat the unsanitized outer hose surface. It is very highly unlikely to be an issue.

I know you are a bit nervous about your first kit. We've all been there! Just relax, enjoy the experience, and follow the instructions. You will do fine. Remember to pay more attention to the SG (hydrometer) readings than the timeframe given by the instructions. You hyrometer is your friend.

Once the kit is done fermenting---confirmed by a stable SG below 1.000---you will rack, stabilize, degas, fine, and then top up the carboy. Like I said, follow the instructions. They will lead you to a nice finished product. What kit are you making?

 

[WineGirl2]

Thanks, I'll stop worrying about it.

I'm making the wine that I got in my kit deal: Vintner's Coastal Red.

 

[dangerdave]

Nice!

Ok, I checked the instructions for your kit, WineGirl. Some of them differ a bit. It says to leave it for 10 days in the secondary carboy. In this case---for various reasons---you want to follow the time frame. If you racked it today, leave it until March 5th, then proceed with checking the SG as instructed. At some point, the airlock will stop bubbling. That is normal. Make sure you read the instructions carefully. Some of these kits have some ifs/ands/buts about them in order to get the best results.

See, you have a whole ten days to chill out and wait for the next step.

 

[botigol]

Dave has you pretty well covered, but I am going to add a couple things. K-meta is short for potassium metabisulfite; this is one of the packets that the instructions will have you add in the Stabilizing step. Like Dave wrote, the headspace isn't a big deal at this time since your wine is still producing enough CO2 to fill the space above it. For later you will have to decide how to handle that space. I'm going from memory, I made this last August, but I don't think that the instructions for Coastal Red state to 'leave' a liter of headspace. I'm pretty sure that it reads that you might have as much as a liter of space left. Per Tim Vandergrift (the guy who wrote those instructions), they design the kits and instructions to have you add up to a liter of water later. In any case, current state may have the acid or sweetness out of balance by a tiny bit due to the additional liter of space. That said, it isn't much and may not even be perceptible to most of us. It may even be exactly perfect for your taste. However, you will either need to fill the space or rack to a smaller vessel at some point. If you decide to fill the space I would probably use both water and a bottle of DuBoeuf or Jadot Beaujolais Villages. If you rack to a smaller carboy you will have 2-3 bottles left over with which you will have to decide how to handle. For a different batch I recently drilled out the middle of a cork in order to make a stopper for an extra bottle of wine and stuck an airlock into it. Sorry for being log-winded, I didn't think that I had that much to say when I started typing :0)

 

[RandSinCan]

I believe you are making a WineExperts kit. The following is from their Wine Wiki.
http://www.winexpert.com/wine-wiki/show/Instructions,+Topping+Up+After+Stabilising

Instructions, Topping Up After Stabilising

"Winexpert kits are designed to be topped up with water, exactly once, up to 920 ml (about a quart). This can only be done at the fining and stabilising stage, after all of the finishing ingredients have been added to the carboy. The kits themselves are purpose-designed to be exactly 4% over-strength, to take this topping water into account. If you were to top with wine instead of water at this point, you would not improve the kit, but merely put it out of spec.
Written by Phyl on March 24, 2011 at 12:58:47 PST."

 

[DoctorCAD]

Here is another quote by Tim Vandergrift (the guy who wrote those instructions),

"If you leave behind more than a cup of liquid, you're wasting wine: you want to leave dormant yeast, most of the oak chips/powder and the bentonite. My rule of thumb is that if it will flow up a racking cane, take it".

 

[WineGirl2]

Thanks everyone. This batch is definitely a learning experience for me.

My stepmom is making the very same wine and will be racking. oon. I'll get some to add to mine to get it where it's supposed to be and then top off with water.