Racking question

[Samthedionisian]

I'm sure Dionysus would appreciate that. Yeah, there is usually a small amount of good wine that is not worth trying to get in order to ensure you dont get too much lees. That or just mark a bottle that you know will be cloudy.

 

[Ajmassa]

I'm sure Dionysus would appreciate that. Yeah, there is usually a small amount of good wine that is not worth trying to get in order to ensure you dont get too much lees. That or just mark a bottle that you know will be cloudy.

The fridge trick is good to know regardless. I don’t do it as standard practice, only when needed. Anticipating loss at racking is just part of the game. But occasionally I’ll get negative flow transferring by vacuum, or bump the carboy, mixing up a good amount of wine and lees.

 

[NorCal]

You probably make too large a quantity to try to recover it.

Guilty as charged, around 150 gallons per year.

 

[bstnh1]

I toss it. A couple of cups of wine out of a 6 gallon batch just isn't worth the effort.

 

[chaylgd]

Put a board under one side pf primary, when you go to rack, take board out. The lees will be settled to one side, siphon from the other side. Works well with the secondary also.

 

[bstnh1]

I like that idea! I'll have to give it a shot. I rack using an auto-syphon and sucking some sediment is always an issue.

 

[Scooter68]

Leave the board - Any time you move a carboy with lees, they are going to move to some extent. You still achieve the movement of the lees to a smaller more compacted area. Just put the tip of the racking cane on the other side of the carboy. As long as the tip isn't in the lees it should do just fine. Sorry about the crude drawing but hope it helps.