Newbie Secondary fermentation

[Banzai88]

Working on my 6th small batch wine, cab sauv. Primary fermentation was a fairly normal 7 days, however bubble/foam seemed somewhat short, about 48 hours before almost all activity stopped. Tasting the wine before transferring for secondary, the wine was sweet (SG 1.022). Now on day 2 of secondary it's bubbling like crazy. Is this normal? What caused the fermentation to kick in again. Thanks.

 

[Ajmassa]

Its normal. And never actually stopped- just slowed down. Maybe o2 when transferred was just what it needed.
your better off going by the SG readings to determine when to transfer. Those timelines given in the instructions are very generalized and tons of variables can alter the timeline.
Just when you think you've got the hang of this a new batch will throw you a curveball to remind you that one size does not fit all
In the future I'd wait until closer to 1.000 before transferring. Personally I don't transfer a kit primary until just about dry.

 

[Banzai88]

Thank you. Really hope I don't wind up with sweet wine. I plan to upgrade to 6 gallon batches soon, so hope to get most mistakes in before the larger batches.

 

[Elizajean]

Its normal. And never actually stopped- just slowed down. Maybe o2 when transferred was just what it needed.
your better off going by the SG readings to determine when to transfer. Those timelines given in the instructions are very generalized and tons of variables can alter the timeline.
Just when you think you've got the hang of this a new batch will throw you a curveball to remind you that one size does not fit all
In the future I'd wait until closer to 1.000 before transferring. Personally I don't transfer a kit primary until just about dry.

I transferred my last two kits to secondary at .995 because of personal reasons and did not get to transfer earlier. I doubt it makes any difference. I left them in secondary for another week and both finished at .993 and .992 so quite dry.

 

[Ajmassa]

I wouldn't call that a mistake. You'll just have more fermentation taking place in your jug than typical. No big deal.
There's a ton of useful info here for wine from kits. Since your close I'll suggest to skip the sorbate addition (if it ferments dry*). Once dry there's no use for sorbate and can effect taste.
Also I would definitely recommend to jumping to 6 gal kits asap. Whether 1 or 3 or 6, they all require the same amount of work. It's all about the vessels. So just don't do a 6 gal kit in 6 separate 1 gal jugs! And wine from fresh juice pails too. They can make a pretty good wine and are fairly easy compared to kits. Good luck

 

[Elizajean]

I wouldn't call that a mistake. You'll just have more fermentation taking place in your jug than typical. No big deal.
There's a ton of useful info here for wine from kits. Since your close I'll suggest to skip the sorbate addition (if it ferments dry*). Once dry there's no use for sorbate and can effect taste.
Also I would definitely recommend to jumping to 6 gal kits asap. Whether 1 or 3 or 6, they all require the same amount of work. It's all about the vessels. So just don't do a 6 gal kit in 6 separate 1 gal jugs! And wine from fresh juice pails too. They can make a pretty good wine and are fairly easy compared to kits. Good luck

I've been putting in the sorbate as instructed in the kits, but all mine are dry with no additional fpacks. So, if I understand your comment, the addition of sorbate is not needed, even if instructed?

 

[Ajmassa]

I've been putting in the sorbate as instructed in the kits, but all mine are dry with no additional fpacks. So, if I understand your comment, the addition of sorbate is not needed, even if instructed?

Yea man. The sorbate is used to make sure fermentation doesn't start back up later on. Which can happen if not fermented dry. So the only times it's needed is when residual sugar is present or you bavksweetened your wine later on. But under 1.000= no sorbate needed.
Not to say it's BAD to use it. Some people say it can add a geranium like taste that takes a while to dissipate. I believe I noticed the taste before. But may be just because I was looking for it.

 

[Elizajean]

Yea man. The sorbate is used to make sure fermentation doesn't start back up later on. Which can happen if not fermented dry. So the only times it's needed is when residual sugar is present or you bavksweetened your wine later on. But under 1.000= no sorbate needed.
Not to say it's BAD to use it. Some people say it can add a geranium like taste that takes a while to dissipate. I believe I noticed the taste before. But may be just because I was looking for it.

Will keep this in mind. So far, I have not noticed it. I've made seven kits, but I have heard about the geranium taste. Since I like dry wines, and ferment dry, I may leave it out of future kits.

 

[Ajmassa]

Good move. You might as well since it's unnecessary when dry. There's a few things in those kit instructions that aren't needed to be followed to the T. The primary lid locked tight with an airlock isn't needed either. It can be left loose for easy access to stir and check sg.
And most importantly the time to bottle. Longer aging in bulk is standard practice by many. I just bottled a kit today that I started last december. Allowed me to add more oak for a bit and then remove. And then noticed how the oak taste mellowed out while aging. Bulk aging makes those kinds tweaks possible. And it's just plain fun to play with different ideas and tweaks in this hobby.

 

[Elizajean]

Good move. You might as well since it's unnecessary when dry. There's a few things in those kit instructions that aren't needed to be followed to the T. The primary lid locked tight with an airlock isn't needed either. It can be left loose for easy access to stir and check sg.
And most importantly the time to bottle. Longer aging in bulk is standard practice by many. I just bottled a kit today that I started last december. Allowed me to add more oak for a bit and then remove. And then noticed how the oak taste mellowed out while aging. Bulk aging makes those kinds tweaks possible. And it's just plain fun to play with different ideas and tweaks in this hobby.

Yes, I've come to realize that the timeframes of the kits are very rushed. I am getting more comfortable taking things slowly. I like kits, and will probably always use them, but am not feeling as restricted by them as I was when I started. Thanks for all your replies!

 

[cmason1957]

Adding sorbate by itself should never lead to the geranium taste. It only happens if Mlf happened and that doesn't happen with kits.

 

[Ajmassa]

Adding sorbate by itself should never lead to the geranium taste. It only happens if Mlf happened and that doesn't happen with kits.

Yes, thanks for correcting that. I got my sorbate side effects mixed up. Not geranium taste as cmason1957 explained, but a "bubblegummy-like chemical" taste in kit wine. Which I'm pretty damn sure I've noticed on a Rosè before. I believe it's pretty much accepted all around that if you dry you should forego the sorbate.
Here's a quick article explaining potassium sorbate. http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/sorbate.htm