My wine progress, and a question

[CoastalEmpireWine]

So as of this morning here is how my strawberry wine is doing:
Day 0: S.G. = 1.086
Day 1: S.G. = 1.070
Day 2: S.G. = 1.004
When should I transfer to my Carboy?

 

[Dend78]

wow! what is the temp and are you sure its 1.004 today? thats a huge jump in 2 days, i could see 1.040 but man thats nuts, if so go to 0.996ish then transfer over add bung and airlock from then on.

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

Probably about 76 degrees, yea I was shocked myself but I checked it with 3 hydrometers and all said the same, ill post a pic if you want to see

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

The picture of my hydrometer in the strawberry wine

 

[Dend78]

wow thats crazy fast, yeah i would let it run to dry then transfer over.

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

That's what I was thinking also, damn yeast are super hungry haha, it's still fermenting strong!

 

[BobF]

Strawberry you say? I would xfer it now. With all of the CO2 I bet your real gravity is really lower than 4.

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

Transfer this soon? Its only been in the primary 4 days.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Strawberry you say? I would xfer it now. With all of the CO2 I bet your real gravity is really lower than 4.

I agree - I would transfer it now.

I always transfer my wines when the SG is between 1.000 - 1.005..

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

3 days with yeast, starting S.G. was 1.086

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

ok, I'll get started on that now

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

I have it transferred over into a carboy, is there anything else i need to do to it right now, or just kick back and wait til I get the same S.G. for three days in a row?

 

[dangerdave]

I agree - I would transfer it now.

I always transfer my wines when the SG is between 1.000 - 1.005..

Ok, I know we have probably talked about this before, but remind me. What is the advantage of transferring to a secondary vs leaving it go dry in the primary? Is it all about the CO2 blanket?

@CoastEmpireWine: Mine did that, too. There's just something about strawberry.

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

From my understanding transferring your wine to the secondary gets your wine off the sediment in the bottom of your primary that might cause off flavors but that's about my understanding of it

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

It's fermenting like crazy, possibly 3 bubbles a second

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

A better picture of my very first wine in the carboy!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Probably about 76 degrees, yea I was shocked myself but I checked it with 3 hydrometers and all said the same, ill post a pic if you want to see

76 - is that the air temp or the must temp?

If the air temp is 76 - must temp is probably in the 80's - which could explain the fast fermentation.

How much yeast and nutrient did you add??


Yes - it helps to prevent oxidation as fermentation approaches dry - less CO2 is released. You can use the primary - snap a lid and airlock on it - i just prefer to rack to a carboy.

And when i need to draw a sample out - not much O2 gets in the neck vs opening the lid of a bucket...

 

[winemaker_3352]

A better picture of my very first wine in the carboy!

Looks good - the color will darken as it clears. Be patient with this - it takes a while for strawberry to clear - after i add in super kleer - I still wait another 3-4 months - there is always very dark tiny specs - I am assuming remnants of strawberry seeds.

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

Air temp is 70, I didn't add much yeast nutrient at all really, maybe 1.5 tsp for 5 gallons, is fast fermentation bad? It's going to be bulk ages for 9.5 months because I'm deploying over seas

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

And I only used one pack of Wyeast rudesheimer yeast. It's a liquid yeast and after about 4 hours I introduced the yeast to a starter which got it going and I poured it in