Strawberry Wine - Ready for First Rack too Quickly?

Making my first strawberry wine. Pitched KIV-1116 yeast on Thursday at 8pm after first 24 hours of the strawberry/pectic/etc. mixture sitting. Must has been at approx. constant of 75 degrees since then.

My recipe says to rack once SG has reached 1.03 which should take 5-6 days.

I started at 1.09 Thurs., was at 1.06 last night, and tonight at 1.04, so I'm expecting to hit 1.03 tomorrow, which will only be 4 days.

Does this mean my yeast has been working THAT efficiently and I'm just ready to rack ahead of schedule, or is something wrong? Is the must too warm?

Thanks in advance!

Yes your wine is working like it shuld but to be honest I would not rack until sg was below 1.010. 1.030 is still fermenting fairly god and I would be afraid of a volcano happening.

Julie said:

Yes your wine is working like it shuld but to be honest I would not rack until sg was below 1.010. 1.030 is still fermenting fairly god and I would be afraid of a volcano happening.

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Better listen to Julie. I had a volcano recently and it is not something you want to clean up. Be patient.

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip.

My recipe says to rack the 2nd time when SG has reached .990. Is that accurate?

Also, my recipe makes no mention of adding metabisulphite after the initial 1/8 tsp I used for my 3-gallon must. From what I've read it seems like I should be adding more fermentation is complete - another 1/8 tsp?

I made a mostly strawberry mix and it was like light speed as well...from what I heard it happens. I started at 1.090 and within 3 or 4 days i was at 1.000.

themottspot said:

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip.

My recipe says to rack the 2nd time when SG has reached .990. Is that accurate?

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You may or may not ever get that low. But it sounds like the recipe wants you to rack when dry. If SG is below 1.000 and reads the same for a few days in a row, you're dry. I'd rack at that point.

I am late to this thread, but I want to add that several fruit wine recipes I have that use the harder-to-clear fruits or fruits that leave a lot of lees advise to rack from the bucket to the carboy at 1.030.

Yes, it is still working at that time, so you leave more headspace for foam and rack your remaining wine into a smaller container (1 gallon, 1.5 liter, whatever it fits). Once the wine settles down in activity, and certainly within 3 weeks or less, you rack again to a clean carboy and top up with your small container of wine.

The reasoning behind this approach seems to be that the wine "liquor" benefits by getting out of the fruit suspension in the bucket, and that a lot of lees will get left behind in the first carboy that would have been suspended if the wine went dry in the bucket and then was racked to a carboy.

The active anaerobic ferment seems to help the wine shed lees quickly on the first racking. That apparently makes clearing successive rackings easier. I know I have followed these recipes, and it does seem to me the wine clears faster than what others have told me it should. I used no clearing agents.

Thanks for the tip!

I don't mean to keep asking questions, but I'm new at this and it's a learning process. I'm doing my research but can't always find a clear answer for my questions.

I racked tonight at 1.002 SG and there's a fair amount of carbonation going on, with bubbling in the air lock. Is this normal or is my wine going to explode?

That's normal activity, relax and as others have said wait until 2-3 days of same reading then degass and stabilize.

Unless I am making a kit, I typically rack when my S.G. has dropped by 2/3. I do take into consideration the # of days the fruit/pulp has been intact (and if the S.G. has not dropped by day 5 the fruit/pulp is removed regardless of where the S.G. is). And I have NEVER experienced a volcano, and I always fill the carboy to where the top of the shoulder meets the neck of the container.
Also, the yeast you chose is known as a fast fermenter with a wide temperature range...so what you are seeing as far as the rapid decrease in your S.G. is to be expected.