Questions re: first "real" batch of wine

[G259]

Seeing that you added a little sugar to the wine, you can bump up the starting SG a tiny bit as well, for your calculations. Not a huge deal, but I just wanted to point that out. I always make a little extra, in the bucket, and put it in Grolsh type flip top bottles. This I use to top up my wine later.

 

[G259]

Thinking more about it: maybe you won't have to bump it up. You lost some alcohol/ potential alcohol (sugar) when you spilled some. However, you replaced some of the sugar, so the 'Alcohol by VOLUME' may not be affected much. I'd like other's input on that, what do you think? In fact, 1/2 of it was water, so possibly a tad lower.

 

[AlphaGrayWolf]

Ok, here it is Jan. 9 and my wine is still bubbling albeit very tiny bubbles very slowly. There is some residue on the bottom of my carboy, and I want to rack it again to get it to clear. Is it ok to do that while it still bubbles? I am assuming at this point that it is only de-gassing, but what do I know? S.G. 0.990 @ 76°F...

 

[G259]

Definitely degassing at that SG, it's done. Rack on the 3's, 3 days, 3 weeks, every 3 months (after fermentation is complete.)

 

[G259]

Now that I think about it, maybe not. A hydrometer is calibrated at a specific temperature. At 76 degrees, I think you would have to add several points to your measurement. look at the paper in the tube to see what temperature, it should also give adjustment calculations. Relatively minor, I know, but my OCD requires that I inform you!

 

[Stressbaby]

Ok, here it is Jan. 9 and my wine is still bubbling albeit very tiny bubbles very slowly. There is some residue on the bottom of my carboy, and I want to rack it again to get it to clear. Is it ok to do that while it still bubbles? I am assuming at this point that it is only de-gassing, but what do I know? S.G. 0.990 @ 76°F...

How much lees are we talking about here? You aren't necessarily going to speed up the clearing by simply racking. The stuff you see is not making the wine cloudy, it is the stuff you can't see making the wine cloudy. If you have racked once already (I'm guessing you have based on the prior picture) then you can wait a bit. The rule of 3s is as good as any but nothing is set in stone. Generally the racking after the first three days is to get it off of the gross lees. If you've done that then probably OK to wait 3-4 weeks.

If you want the wine to clear faster, degassing may help. Read up on fining agents, filtering. Most wines will clear with time if you are patient.

 

[AlphaGrayWolf]

This is the third racking that is in the carboy now. So I am taking it that I can leave it alone until there are no more bubbles... then bottle?

 

[G259]

From my (limited) experience, I might rack before I bottle. In some of my wine, I have seen sediment that I thought had already been removed. Plus, it may give you some 'sample' wine!

 

[heatherd]

Ok, my wine has reached S.G. of 0.990, but is still bubbling visibly. Do I wait for it to stop completely or rack it to a 3rd fermentation carboy to get it off of the yeast on the bottom? Can anyone explain why it is still bubbling?
I did the calculation on the brewersfriend.com site, and my ABV comes out as a minimum of 16.54% (since obviously I failed to get an S.G. reading just prior to the addition of yeast, and the S.G. reading had gone up from the time I took the initial reading and 24 hrs. after the addition of the yeast, I cannot know the true ABV)... I am wondering if I should just write this batch off and start a new one since I have no real numbers to fall back on to reproduce it accurately if in fact I do enjoy it.

Thank you

If you take three measurements of 0.990, your wine is done fermenting. Add kmeta if you haven't already.

If it is still bubbling, it may be CO2. Stir it to degas. Don't bottle until your wine is fully degassed.

If you've already racked off the yeast and gross lees once, I would wait and rack when you bottle.

 

[G259]

Never rush, it's wine. What, is time going to hurt it? Generally, just the opposite!

 

[Stressbaby]

This wine is what, 2 weeks old? You've already racked 3 times, so @heatherd makes a good point: if you're at 0.990 now and haven't dosed with Kmeta, do that, top it up all the way, you need to minimize risk of oxidation. Then sit on your hands for a month. There are many methods of degassing wine (time, whip, vacuum). Take that time and figure out which of those you want to use. Degassing will help the wine clear. You will want to rack at least once more before you bottle.