Use of airlock and racking questions

[ny3299]

I have two questions please:

In wine kit instructions, after degassing the wine, it called for a placement of a SOLID stopper on the carboy and to let wine sit and clear for a period of time. I was curious why they want a solid stopper at that point instead of continued use of an airlock to ensure CO2 continues to release? If i used an airlock instead, would it affect the clearing process?

Also, when using juices or purees is it necessary to rack the wine before it is fully fermented? I noticed many fruit wine recipes call for the first racking when the SG gets to about 1.030. They don't say why, but I assume that's to get the juice off the pulp. But if I am using juice or puree to start with can I just leave it in the primary fermenter until fermentation is complete?

Thank you very much for your consideration to these questions.

 

[FTC Wines]

Welcome to the forum! I always use an air lock on my aging carboys. Sometimes after a year in the carboy, I'll use a solid stopper, but rarely. I believe the air lock allows gases to escape, & allows the wine to react to temp changes etc. As far as racking at SG 1.030 for fruit wines, I have seen that too. I rack my fruit wines off the gross lees at SG 1.005 too 1.020. My personel preference, prefer to keep under air lock at those #'s for better protection. Roy

 

[Thig]

Let me stab at an answer. Your first question ask about a solid bung, the kit instruction does say AFTER you de-gas. There should be no CO2 left at that point. The problem I have is keeping a solid bung in place because of changing pressure so I use an airlock.

Your next question about racking too soon is important. Others may disagree with me here but now I never rack before the SG hits 1.000. I have racked twice before when it was still above 1.000 and had a mess both times because it overflowed. I would say if you are going to rack before 1.000 then leave plenty of space. There is nothing wrong with leaving it in the primary until fermentation is complete.

 

[Jc5066]

I make my wine in a cellar that is cold. I heat a small room with a portable heater. Once in a while I have a hard time keeping the temps up where I want them. When that happens I will rack off the primary after a week so I can get it off the lees. You do want a little head space.

I would never use a solid bung.

 

[NorCal]

I go to a solid bung after the post mlf racking.

 

[heatherd]

I have two questions please:

In wine kit instructions, after degassing the wine, it called for a placement of a SOLID stopper on the carboy and to let wine sit and clear for a period of time. I was curious why they want a solid stopper at that point instead of continued use of an airlock to ensure CO2 continues to release? If i used an airlock instead, would it affect the clearing process?

Also, when using juices or purees is it necessary to rack the wine before it is fully fermented? I noticed many fruit wine recipes call for the first racking when the SG gets to about 1.030. They don't say why, but I assume that's to get the juice off the pulp. But if I am using juice or puree to start with can I just leave it in the primary fermenter until fermentation is complete?

Thank you very much for your consideration to these questions.

I use an airlock rather than a stopper until I bottle. I like to know that the carboys can handle any pressure or temperature changes.

I have racked at 1.010 and had wine overflow my carboy, so I have to leave more headspace. I like to wait until the wine is nearly dry and then rack because I can fill the carboy up more fully without concern of wine volcanos.

 

[Floandgary]

After all of the fussing around (degassing/stabilizing/back-sweetening/etc.) is done and you've topped your carboy to a reasonably minimal airspace, a solid bung should be able to stay in place. Hopefully your aging wines will be in a location where temperature swings will not be great enough to be of consequence. HOWEVER,,,, can you be sure that the batch is ENTIRELY degassed??? On that note I must declare that my wines are always under airlock until the cork goes in the bottle! Just have to check them every now and then since the liquid can evaporate.

 

[ny3299]

What does MLF mean?

 

[ny3299]

Also, why would the wine overflow at first racking with a higher SG - just so I understand.

 

[CGish]

What does MLF mean?

Malolactic fermentation

 

[CGish]

Also, why would the wine overflow at first racking with a higher SG - just so I understand.

Sometimes racking an active fermentation will 're-energize' the yeast. If you do not leave enough headspace in the secondary, you get to practice your clean-up skills.

If you wait until the wine is dry, this is not a problem.

Either way works, so long as you plan ahead.

 

[heatherd]

What does MLF mean?

Your questions were regarding a kit, so I want to point out that you should not do malolactic fermentation on your batch.

 

[ny3299]

Thanks very much!!

 

[ny3299]

Topping off a fruit wine

I am in the midst of a blackberry wine fermentation. It's a one gallon batch, however, the first racking into secondary fermentation shows about 2 1/2 cups of headroom in the 1 gallon carboy. It's not an issue now that it's still fermenting, however, when fermentation is completed I am going to need to top it off. I know I can displace it with marbles or move it into a smaller jug, but I am interested in suggestions on what I can use to top it off. So, my question is what should I top it off with? If it was less headroom, I would use distilled water, but 2 1/2 cups is a lot on a one-gallon batch to use water, right? If I use a store-bought blackberry juice, should it be from concentrate or not from concentrate? Anything else about using a store-bought juice I should look out for - any recommendations on what to use overall? I would prefer to keep it a pure blackberry flavor, so topping with a red or white wine is not my preference. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks very much!!

 

[av8torx]

Airlock overflowing

Hi, I am on stage two of my winexpert malbec. I went from primary to secondary fermenter. The wine is bubbling up into and out of my airlock. What should I do? I just removed and cleaned the airlock and refilled with water. My carboy was pretty full. My SG was below 1.010 as directed.

 

[sour_grapes]

You can safely leave the airlock off until the fermentation settles down a bit. If you have some cheesecloth, you could throw that over the top.

You can also remove some of the wine and put it into a sanitized wine bottle or mason jar for a day or so.

 

[av8torx]

Hi Paul, Thanks Im just going to keep an eye on it and clean the airlock as necessary to reduce juice build up. If it gets too crazy I will take off the airlock for a bit. Thanks Dave

 

[sour_grapes]

Sounds like a fine plan!

 

[av8torx]

Hi Paul, Do you know where I can read a good way to clean and sanitize wine bottles? I think I am going over board with my cleaning. I have gotten about 50 bottles from the town recycle bin. Some had some fruit fly larva and so now I extra paranoid about making sure the bottles are super clean. So far I have soaked and removed labels and used bleach and water to kill off anything inside them. I have a brush I plan to use with oxyclean. After that I am going to soak in clean water to make sure all the bleach etc is gone. Before bottling I am going to use Star San on each bottle. Any advice or where to learn more would be appreciated. Thanks Dave