We are new to the forum and this is our first post. We have recently started our first batch of wine from a kit. The kit is a WineExpert brand of Pinot Noir. Our primary fermentation was done in the bucket for 1 week as per the instructions. The temperature has been kept between 18-22 degrees Celsius. We had a few degree swing as our wine making is in the basement and in the winter it is obviously colder up in Canada. When we were starting our batch, the temperature was only 16.5 degrees Celsius in the basement . We ended up using a belt style carboy heater for a few hours to get the temperature up to 24 degrees celsius so that we could add the yeast. We were able to remove the heater as the natural heat of the fermentation seemed to maintain the temperature on it's own. We were able to leave the heater off for most of the week.
At seven days we checked the SG and it was 1.00. We then did our first rack into the carboy. It went pretty well except for the fact that the rigid siphon line with the cap on the end in the bucket shifted a couple of times while racking stirring up some sediment. I think we ended up with a little more sediment in our secondary fermentation than we would like.
I have 2 concerns:
My first concern is the water we use. We have a saltwater aquarium so we have an RO unit for our aquarium water. Tap water is a big NO NO for marine aquariums, so in my infinite wisdom I thought it would be perfect for making wine. I am afraid that I might have made a mistake; we used RO water in our primary fermentation. I hope I have not ruined our first attempt.
My second concern is the headspace in the carboy. The kit instructions say not to top up which seems to go against a lot of the advice I see. Please see attached picture.
At seven days we checked the SG and it was 1.00. We then did our first rack into the carboy. It went pretty well except for the fact that the rigid siphon line with the cap on the end in the bucket shifted a couple of times while racking stirring up some sediment. I think we ended up with a little more sediment in our secondary fermentation than we would like.
I have 2 concerns:
My first concern is the water we use. We have a saltwater aquarium so we have an RO unit for our aquarium water. Tap water is a big NO NO for marine aquariums, so in my infinite wisdom I thought it would be perfect for making wine. I am afraid that I might have made a mistake; we used RO water in our primary fermentation. I hope I have not ruined our first attempt.
My second concern is the headspace in the carboy. The kit instructions say not to top up which seems to go against a lot of the advice I see. Please see attached picture.
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