secondary air lock no bubbles

[appleweld]

when i made my first wine last year, the air lock bubbled for a week or so after the first racking. at this time, i thought sterilizing meant using some boiling water. then i found this site and watched a few of georges videos. ive learnded a lot so far. this 1st wine is very good and most like it. now i sterilize with k-meta or na-meta. when i rack into the secondary, it seems the fermentation stops as i see no bubbles in the air lock. is the residual sanitize solution causing fermentation to stop? i drain the carboy upside down for 10 minutes but is this long enough? and what about the solution left in the bottle at bottling time, does this affect anything?

 

[grapeman]

If it isn't bubbling, you probably racked it at near dryness. I like to rack before dry so it will finish fermenting and give a nice gas blanket to fill the carboy. It just seems to clear better that way for me, but everybody has their own routine. Unless you are leaving a lot of k-meta in the carboy or bottle, it won't harm anything or stop fermentation.

 

[ibglowin]

Check the specific gravity!

Luke, use the "force"

 

[appleweld]

the sg at time of racking was .999. should i rack earlier, say at 1.010. will it make a sweeter wine if its a fruit wine? i started a grapefruit last night. i had a bunch of grapefruits so what the heck. its beginning gravity was 1.105. at what piont do you think i should put in the secondary?

 

[Wade E]

Whats the sg now. It probably still is fermenting or was but just wasnt enough to pressurize the airlock and make it bubble. For white wines and lighter fruit wines I like to rack around 1.010 but with darker fruits and red wines I usually ferment to dry in the bucket with the airlock on. I only rack the others as they are more prone to oxidation then the darker wines.

 

[appleweld]

i racked yesterday, and havent checked since. should there be much change in one day, or will it take several. on another note, the sediments are coming down nice, probably the top 2 inches is transparent.

 

[PeterZ]

At .999 you are pretty close to dry. You will not see a lot of airlock action at this point. Most of my wines finish at about .996, but even at .999 you could be done. Give it a day or two and check the sg again.

 

[appleweld]

so, if i want a wine naturally sweeter, at what sg do i stop the fermentation?

 

[PeterZ]

It is almost impossible to stop a fermentation for residual sweetness. The best thing to do is ferment to dry, rack off the lees, treat with sulfite and sorbate, and back sweeten. You can use simple syrup for the sweetening or a fruit juice concentrate.