I am on my second wine kit. The first was a Luna Rossa and the second a Australian Shiraz. How much, should we expect to see the specific gravity change in the secondary carboy? Both times, it has been at 99.8 at the time of transfer to the secondary. The Luna Rossa never changed, and after checking the Shiraz last night, it has not changed either. Does that mean all the fermentation was already done in the primary? Is that right? The wine is in a dark closet at 72 degrees.
WineXpert Specific Gravity at time of primary to secondary
- Thread starter merlot
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Yes. You real;ly should be transferring it a little earlier. At what SG
does it say to transfer. I know they say an SG or # of days but go by
the Sg as # days can vary tremendously. The reason you should get it in
secondary earlier is so that it ferments some in the carboy so as that
to create a blanket of gas to prevent the wine from oxidizing in there.
This gas will protect your wine. without the gas you are kind of
exposing it to oxygen.
does it say to transfer. I know they say an SG or # of days but go by
the Sg as # days can vary tremendously. The reason you should get it in
secondary earlier is so that it ferments some in the carboy so as that
to create a blanket of gas to prevent the wine from oxidizing in there.
This gas will protect your wine. without the gas you are kind of
exposing it to oxygen.
smurfe
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It sounds like it might be done. If I remember right a hydrometer is calibrated at 60F. I believe a warmer temp of the wine will give a higher reading than the actual SG so you could be around .990 - .995 which is where most kits are stabilized, or I am 100% off and it is the opposite.
Wade is correct, you should let your SG guide you to transfer from the primary to glass. This is the most crucial step in the kit wines to assure they are protected from oxidation. With a higher temperature your fermentation will go faster.
Once the fermentation slows, CO2 production is slowed which leaves less concentrations of the gas to blanket and protect the wine. After you have racked to glass, the instruction time lines are not near as important as the step from primary to glass.
Smurfe
Wade is correct, you should let your SG guide you to transfer from the primary to glass. This is the most crucial step in the kit wines to assure they are protected from oxidation. With a higher temperature your fermentation will go faster.
Once the fermentation slows, CO2 production is slowed which leaves less concentrations of the gas to blanket and protect the wine. After you have racked to glass, the instruction time lines are not near as important as the step from primary to glass.
Smurfe
Along these sames lines, when is too early? I just racked my Prtite Sirah @ 1.025. Only reason I racked earlier then the 1.01 in the directions is that I knew I had to add a bit of water and didnt want to lower it too low in the carboy. It is still pretty active in the carboy right now. I wont have any gas problems, I have plenty in that bottle right now.
I would say to rack as instructions say at SG not days. The days
are just a guide for a beginner to get an idea of approximitely how
fast or slow this is done. But I will usually rack at approx. 1.015 to
1.020. Some kits such as the Grand Cru say to keep it in the primary
until ferm. is done. I will not do this as I do not agree with this
procedure.
Edited by: wade
are just a guide for a beginner to get an idea of approximitely how
fast or slow this is done. But I will usually rack at approx. 1.015 to
1.020. Some kits such as the Grand Cru say to keep it in the primary
until ferm. is done. I will not do this as I do not agree with this
procedure.
Edited by: wade
Thank you for all your answers. At 72 degrees my adjustment will be + .001 - that sounds so small to me (but, what do I know - I just like to drink wine!) The Luna Rossa didfill the carboy right about to the curve in the bottle ( a little low) - I had read that topping wasn't so important at this stage, as it was still fermenting, so I didn't. It was 1.09 going into the primary, 1.0 going into the secondary, and .998 when I stabilized. I didn't do any adjustments on the hydrometer reading to these numbers - so, inactuallity they were - 1.091, 1.001, and .999.Before stabilising, I beat the heck out of it and got a lot of foam,, I was thankful for the extra room in the carboy. I did not top off the wine, until 8 days after stabilizing when we racked it toanother carboy. We also beat it again before transferring to the the second carboy. By the way, we using one of those drill attachments and it worked great.The wine looked very clear, had very little. to no fizzy taste, and a lot of flavor and aroma. I just hope it all keeps getting better and I didn't expose it to too much oxygen. So, we are going to be bottling next weekend! We also have an Australian Shiraz that is ready to stabilize today, and will be starting an Argentina Malbec. I just found out my total cholesteral is 328 - so, I have to drink more red wine, to get my HDL's higher (they are 83 right now)
. I know, I know, that's pretty bad, and I am changing my eating and exercise habits yesterday!! I still have a lot of wine I want to drink in this lifetime!
Wade Im doing a Grand Cru right now. They dont say to keep it in the pri until completion, but do say to keep it there until 1.01. I thought I racked @ 1.02, but according to the boss (my wife) it was actually 1.025. Nonetheless I have real active fermentation in the carboy right now. This dosent hurt anythning does it?
Thought I would show you a picture of the carboy roller my hubby made for me today - I had been told that it is not to infrequent that a carboy actually breaks off at the neck, or the bottom falls off when transporting from here to there. So we got the harness and made the roller to cover all the bases!
I thought I did picture right, where did it go?Edited by: merlot
I thought I did picture right, where did it go?Edited by: merlot
JohnnyK68 said:
No that just means that youll have a tad more sediment in your
secondary but fine. You must have a nwere or older kit than mine as I
had to read it frontways, sideways and backwards looking for when they
wanted it racked but it only mentioned day # 14 and said to check SG
before stabilizing. Should be @ .998 or less. It doesnt even mention
checking for a few days to see if its stable. Poorly written directions
if you ask me. I hope yours are the new directions and a lot more
informative for newbies.
I have found, or so it seems,that racking at 1.010 - 1.015 gets the fermentation going stronger again. I racked one at 1.025, as I would be out of town when the right time came, it foamed up into the air lock for about 5 days thereafter. The wife was not pleased with the mess, it was sitting on the kitchen counter. I have had one fast fermentor go to .990 in the primary, in only 5 days.
Dave
Dave
NorthernWinos
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I pitched yeast into the Black Currant wine 4 days ago at 1.090, took a reading today and it was .996...was very surprised as it didn't appear to be fermenting very vigourously...sure was a rush to get it into the carboy.
Our house is very warm...we have a wood furnace downstairs...it is about 77* where I ferment...too warm I guess....the rest of th house can get even hotter....usually have the bedroom window open winter and summer.
Our wine/root cellar ranges from 62*-66* winter or summer. it is right next to the furnace room, but is pretty well insulated. It only warms up if I work in there and leave the door open too long.
In a wine book I first started with it said to remember the numbers 70-60-50...primary ferment at 70, finish at 60...store at 50....guess I don't live in a prefect world.
Our house is very warm...we have a wood furnace downstairs...it is about 77* where I ferment...too warm I guess....the rest of th house can get even hotter....usually have the bedroom window open winter and summer.
Our wine/root cellar ranges from 62*-66* winter or summer. it is right next to the furnace room, but is pretty well insulated. It only warms up if I work in there and leave the door open too long.
In a wine book I first started with it said to remember the numbers 70-60-50...primary ferment at 70, finish at 60...store at 50....guess I don't live in a prefect world.
NorthernWinos
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wade said:
Once I put it in a carboy, it ended up being about a 5 1/2 gallon batch...
The directions on the can for a 5 gallon batch said to add 6 cans of water to the one can of juice [that alone added up to over 5 gallons]...and then they said to add 12 1/2# sugar [that much sugar would have made a lot of volume]....glad I didn't follow the directions...
I used 4 cans of water, 2 bottles of Red Grape Concentrate, used the 5th can of water to melt 9 1/2# sugar....the S.G. was a bit high so I had to add 2 more quarts of water.
So ended up with a little over 5 gallons....it was pretty thick at racking, so I didn't taste it...it sure smelled nice tho.
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Merlot,
I like your carboy cart. Combined with the carboy hauler, handling should be a lot easier and safer. I'm always uneasy about dropping one during handling- imagine the mess it would make!
PS- If that is wine overflow into the airlock, you should remove the airlock, dump the wine out, clean it and refill with suitable liquid. While doing that, place a towel or cloth over the opening to keep critters out. Nice color!Edited by: appleman
I like your carboy cart. Combined with the carboy hauler, handling should be a lot easier and safer. I'm always uneasy about dropping one during handling- imagine the mess it would make!
PS- If that is wine overflow into the airlock, you should remove the airlock, dump the wine out, clean it and refill with suitable liquid. While doing that, place a towel or cloth over the opening to keep critters out. Nice color!Edited by: appleman
Actually, per the instructions, ( somewhere I read it) you can fill the airlock with wine, instead of the pmb. After we whipped it, I had about a quarter cup I couldn't fit back into the bottle, some for me, some for the air lock! This then goes in to the dark "cellar", closet, covered with a light tablecloth, until the next stage....It is a pretty color isn't it?
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