Racking
- Thread starter ZAF
- Start date
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Its currently in a carboy.
Do not add yeast to the carboy. It needs oxygen, and if it does start up, you may have quite a mess if/when it bubbles over.
I'm piecing things together here from previous posts.
@ZAF please tell me if I am wrong about any of this. You can just refer to the number in the list.
What juice did you use? (Store-bought, from a vineyard, from a friend with vines?) What yeast did you use?
I'm piecing things together here from previous posts.
@ZAF please tell me if I am wrong about any of this. You can just refer to the number in the list.
- You've done a lot of reading, but have very little actual experience making wine, which is fine, we all have to learn somehow. I was the same, but I made 20 or 30 kits before I tried making wine without one.
- You are not making a kit. You stated that you are starting with 3 L of 100% grape juice and 2 cups of sugar May 22.
- You broke your hydrometer, ordered another one but didn't notice it was the wrong type. You started the wine anyway, then ordered the correct type.
- You must be using a recipe, otherwise how would you know how much sugar to add without a hydrometer? It would be helpful for us to see the recipe.
- You started in a primary fermentation bucket that has a lid and an air lock, but you left it open for 48 hours then put on the lid and air lock.
- You asked for help June 11 because you figured it was getting time to do your first rack into a secondary carboy and were confused by apparently conflicting opinions about when this should happen. You were also unsure about when to add K-meta (campden tablets).
- Around June 17 you racked from your primary to a glass carboy (secondary fermenter). Even though you didn't have a hydrometer yet, and all the information in this thread suggested that the time to rack is based completely on your SG readings you figured the amount of sediment justified it.
- 2 weeks later, July 3, you have a hydrometer, SG is 1.026, in tastes a little sweet, and fizzy. The air lock appears to be not bubbling, and the wine looks fairly clear.
- Shortly after that post it is suggested you may have a stuck fermentation and provided with a link to relevant information.
- July 6, today, it sounds like you have some nutrient.
What juice did you use? (Store-bought, from a vineyard, from a friend with vines?) What yeast did you use?
I just re-read my post. I hope I don’t sound “snarky”. I am just trying to get the facts straight. Someone else just got a whole lot of advice based on some wrong information at the beginning, which made all the advice opposite to what it should have been. It would really help to know the SG of the juice you started with. If store-bought, you could buy some more and measure it, otherwise whoever you got it from might be able to tell you. Depending on the yeast, there may just be too much alcohol for it.
Also, I would highly, highly recommend you make a batch of DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine
It is quick and inexpensive, and wonderful to drink immediately after bottling. I guarantee that after making one batch of a recipe that’s been tested hundreds (thousands?) of times over many years, you will be able to answer most of the questions you asked here. And if you read the entire thread, as time permits, cover to cover, you will be helping others with their questions!
It is quick and inexpensive, and wonderful to drink immediately after bottling. I guarantee that after making one batch of a recipe that’s been tested hundreds (thousands?) of times over many years, you will be able to answer most of the questions you asked here. And if you read the entire thread, as time permits, cover to cover, you will be helping others with their questions!
@KCCam First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to go over the thread and summarize what happened. You spent time and effort going over my work so I could never take it as being snarky rather someone who is genuinely trying to help. I am really learning a lot.
As for the recipe, I started reading a lot online and about making wine out 100% grape juice bought form the store. This is the second time I use this recipe. The first time went very well. Managed to get SG down to below 1 (0.994). The first batch bottle is now stored and hopefully I'll drink it in a couple of months (I bottled it mid may). Pre-bottling it tasted dry.
The first batch was 1L worth. So i simply tripled the recipe but could not take SG reading.
I re-tested the SG yesterday it was the same as before. I am happy to wait 3-4 days and test again.
I have some of the juice stored I'll take basic SG reading and I'll report back. It will obviously be without the added sugar.
What did you mean by "Depending on the yeast, there may just be too much alcohol for it."?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and respond.
As for the recipe, I started reading a lot online and about making wine out 100% grape juice bought form the store. This is the second time I use this recipe. The first time went very well. Managed to get SG down to below 1 (0.994). The first batch bottle is now stored and hopefully I'll drink it in a couple of months (I bottled it mid may). Pre-bottling it tasted dry.
The first batch was 1L worth. So i simply tripled the recipe but could not take SG reading.
I re-tested the SG yesterday it was the same as before. I am happy to wait 3-4 days and test again.
I have some of the juice stored I'll take basic SG reading and I'll report back. It will obviously be without the added sugar.
What did you mean by "Depending on the yeast, there may just be too much alcohol for it."?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and respond.
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Too much alcohol kills yeast, or at least prevents it from multiplying, not sure which. Different yeasts have different tolerance to alcohol concentration. EC-1118 is what every kit I ever made included, and is considered a workhorse. It is very tolerant to temperature changes and alcohol to about 18% ABV. Other yeasts are developed for promoting or inhibiting different aspects of the fermentation. Some yeasts die at much lower alcohol levels. If, for example, your grape juice was 1.080 SG before adding sugar, then adding 2 cups of sugar to 3 L of juice would raise it to about 1.125, which is a very high starting sugar concentration. If fermented dry, it would be almost 19% ABV, so it would never actually be able to ferment all the sugar and would stop at some point before that. At the present level of 1.026 it would be almost 14%. Some yeast might have trouble at that level.
Knowing you made this recipe before helps too. Did you take notes? If you did you might already have the starting SG from that batch, if not, you should start. Did you use the same type of yeast for both? What type was it?
I used red star dady activated yeast which is advertised up to 15%.
It was a busy day yesterday so I did not get a chance to do the SG for the juice. Hopefully will do it today.
So lets say hypothetically speaking if my original SG was 1.15 and now my SG is 1.026 and it won't go any lower, it could mean that I have hit the limit of my fermentation which is approx 15% and that all the yeast have potentially died. And if that is the case, is it potentially safe to bottle at such high SG?
It was a busy day yesterday so I did not get a chance to do the SG for the juice. Hopefully will do it today.
So lets say hypothetically speaking if my original SG was 1.15 and now my SG is 1.026 and it won't go any lower, it could mean that I have hit the limit of my fermentation which is approx 15% and that all the yeast have potentially died. And if that is the case, is it potentially safe to bottle at such high SG?
Fermcalc indicates OG should have been about 1.106:
If true, your ABV is now about 10.5%. Bottling would be a mistake, IMHO.
Yes, that's the one I found too (probably suggested in this forum -- possibly even from @sour_grapes come to think of it). It does everything. If you are at all technically inclined, the information on there site is also very interesting reading.
I agree. I can’t remember where I saw it — I think it was In someone’s signature here — something like “The only guaranteed way to restart a stuck fermentation is to bottle it.” You don’t want bottles exploding.
Hi everyone.
I am racking now a fruit wine off the pulp and was about to sulfite but recall reading somewhere that is not a good thing to do at this stage (~ 1.020). I probably shoudld have started a new thread but I(not having visited winemakingtalk in a while, have forgotten where the "start new thread" button is hidden... AND I am mid racking process so please excuse my appearence.
Do those who sulfite, sulfite when racking of the pulp/berries/grape skins mid process, ie, ca. 1.020 SG ?
I am racking now a fruit wine off the pulp and was about to sulfite but recall reading somewhere that is not a good thing to do at this stage (~ 1.020). I probably shoudld have started a new thread but I(not having visited winemakingtalk in a while, have forgotten where the "start new thread" button is hidden... AND I am mid racking process so please excuse my appearence.
Do those who sulfite, sulfite when racking of the pulp/berries/grape skins mid process, ie, ca. 1.020 SG ?
* the reason to not sulphite is that you plan to do a secondary malic acid fermentation on grape wine
* the reason to sulphite is that it is protective and makes better quality fruit wine,
The vast majority of us sulfite at the completion of fermentation, indicated by a SG below .997 and unchanged for three straight days.
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
Don't understand why anyone would add sulfite (K-Meta) to an ongoing fermentation.
It can interfere with fermentation but is not going to be a sure fire way to stop a ferment. Most likely outcome are: 1) Stalled ferment (One that could restart on its own later with no warning) 2) Slow down an on going ferment, 3) Create conditions that stress the yeast or otherwise create off-flavors and odors.
So I would NEVER add K-Meta during a ferment unless I was also going to add Potassium Sorbate as well in an effort to stop the ferment permenantly. Even then there is no guarantee that it will stop when you want - at a specific SG.
It can interfere with fermentation but is not going to be a sure fire way to stop a ferment. Most likely outcome are: 1) Stalled ferment (One that could restart on its own later with no warning) 2) Slow down an on going ferment, 3) Create conditions that stress the yeast or otherwise create off-flavors and odors.
So I would NEVER add K-Meta during a ferment unless I was also going to add Potassium Sorbate as well in an effort to stop the ferment permenantly. Even then there is no guarantee that it will stop when you want - at a specific SG.
Thanks for everyone's input... I got it done!
Scooter68 - some people like to add a pinch whenever racking (or transferring) to counter any potential oxygen up-take... I just assumed that meant any racking operation... even during fermentation. Perhaps it is not necessary as the yeast may take it out themselves.
Scooter68 - some people like to add a pinch whenever racking (or transferring) to counter any potential oxygen up-take... I just assumed that meant any racking operation... even during fermentation. Perhaps it is not necessary as the yeast may take it out themselves.
