I am curious if I should rack into my secondary fermentation vat. I started my 12 gallon skeeter Pee recipe with fresh blueberries. I started the batch 13 days ago. The original SG was 1.140 and is down to 1.014. the past four days I dropped from 1.050 to the 1.014. should I rack it or should I leave it for another week or so in primary? I am using a red star distillers yeast.
Skeeter Pee racking
- Thread starter Monnster
- Start date
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The point of racking is to separate lees from the clearer wine. No "harm" in racking when the fermentation is finishing. It' quite possible some entrained lees will be carried over and will be needed to racked off.
One of "my" decision points is the type of primary container. If an open topped bucket, I typically rack earlier than later. The point here is reducing the chance oxygen exposure. If fermenting in a closed top primary fermenter, like a Fermonster, where I can seal off outside air and use an air lock, I usually let the must finish fermenting, start to clarify, then rack.
As long as the yeast is fermenting and producing a hefty amount of CO2 the yeast is in it's anaerobic state and protects itself from oxygen exposure.
Generally, I don't rack by numbers or time.
One of "my" decision points is the type of primary container. If an open topped bucket, I typically rack earlier than later. The point here is reducing the chance oxygen exposure. If fermenting in a closed top primary fermenter, like a Fermonster, where I can seal off outside air and use an air lock, I usually let the must finish fermenting, start to clarify, then rack.
As long as the yeast is fermenting and producing a hefty amount of CO2 the yeast is in it's anaerobic state and protects itself from oxygen exposure.
Generally, I don't rack by numbers or time.
Using distiller's yeast (any brand) is for the alcohol content and not for nurturing the tastes involved with wines. If using the SP with berries for alcohol content, it won't matter when it's racked.
