Racking Question

Hello!

Sorry in advance as I'm sure this has been asked before, but I tried searching and couldn't find what I was looking for....


Anyways, my wife and I made our first batch of wine yesterday! In reading the instructions, the kit says to rack it to a second carboy about a week or so after moving to secondary fermentation in order for the wine to clear.

However, I have been making beer for 3 years and mead for over 2 years so I am quite familiar with fermentation processes, etc and this seems a little excessive to me. I know that when I make my meads I let them sit in the primary for awhile, rack to secondary, then bulk age for a 9-12 month.

Since I only plan on making wine on an occassional basis as I drink a lot more beer or mead, I really dont want to invest in a 2nd carboy and have it collecting dust for most of the year, let alone adding another step to risk oxidation, etc.

I have bottled numerous meads directly from a carboy with lots of sediment at the bottom and have never had an issue keeping the racking cane above the sediment to keep the end product crystal clear in the bottles.

I know it might take a little longer to clear without the second racking, but I'm not in a rush to have it done and dont mind monitoring until its completely clear.

Thanks for any advice!!

Welcome to the forum. Not sure what kit you have going, but the easiest way of dealing with this is to rack from your carboy back to your bucket to get it off the sediment. If you do this add your sulphite ( diluted in some warm water) to the bucket first so you have some protection against oxidation and put your tube or cane to the bottom of the bucket so the wine flows in submerged rather than splashing. It can also be easier to degas in the bucket.
Knowing what your kit is helps in answering your question - for instance , a WinExpert kit usually needs the sediment stirred back in for clearing.
Leaving it as is would probably work, depending on how long you leave it, but racking it simplifies the process.

It is a Selection Original Pinot Noir kit. The instructions say to leave in the secondary for ten days, add the fining agents, sulfites, and sorbate; then let sit for 8 days, then rack to another carboy and allow to sit for 14 days to become brilliantly clear.

So you will be transferring from the bucket to your carboy when the SG drops to about 1.010 and when fermentation stops you will stir up the sediment, adding your sulphite/sorbate/clarifier as instructed and degassing.
After that you can either rack again as per instructions ( using your bucket, back to your carboy) or you can leave it sit on the sediment until it clears. I don't think it will make much difference either way, unless you plan to bulk age for a while, in which case I would rack off the sediment. Don't forget to top up your carboy after you stabilize.

Yes, thats my exact plan. I dont think Ill bulk age for all that long. Thanks for the advice!

You didn't say if you fermented the wine in the carboy or in a fermentor bucket.
You didn't say how long you intend to let the wine set on the lees.

I'll assume you fermented the wine in some sort of fermentor bucket. I'll also assume you are going to let the wine set on the lees for several months at least, although I am only guessing. If I am wrong and you intend to bottle in only a few weeks, which I wouldn't do, you can let the wine set on the lees for such a short time.

Otherwise,
you can rack the wine back to the bucket, clean the carboy, then immeditately rack the clean wine back to the carboy.

If you leave wine on the lees in the carboy, I would smell of the wine about once a week ans taste it every once in a while to make sure it doesn't start picking up any off aromas from the lees.

robie said:

You didn't say if you fermented the wine in the carboy or in a fermentor bucket.
You didn't say how long you intend to let the wine set on the lees.

I'll assume you fermented the wine in some sort of fermentor bucket. I'll also assume you are going to let the wine set on the lees for several months at least, although I am only guessing. If I am wrong and you intend to bottle in only a few weeks, which I wouldn't do, you can let the wine set on the lees for such a short time.

Otherwise,
you can rack the wine back to the bucket, clean the carboy, then immeditately rack the clean wine back to the carboy.

If you leave wine on the lees in the carboy, I would smell of the wine about once a week ans taste it every once in a while to make sure it doesn't start picking up any off aromas from the lees.

Click to expand...

I agree - leaving wine to long on the lees can impart unfavorable smells and/or flavors.