A couple of questions

[AlexPKeaton]

I'm 8 days into the MM Castel de Papa kit. So far I don't think I've ruined it, haha.

I mentioned in another thread that I racked the wine a little late (@1.014 sg vs. the 1.040-1.050sg in the instructions). It says to rack the wine again in 6-7 days. Because I delayed the first racking, should I start the second racking earlier?

 

[Putterrr]

Do your intructions mention a SG hydrometer reading for the second racking. If so then go by the reading and not the number of days. I usually do the first racking at 1.010 or lower so you should be fine

 

[Flem]

You should do the next racking when the fermentation is complete. That is, when the SG stays the same for 3 days in a row. So, as Puterrr says, use your hydrometer as your guide. Your instructions will tell you approximately what your final SG should be. Good Luck!

 

[AlexPKeaton]

Thanks everyone. SG is 0.994 today, so if it stays the same for another couple of days I'll rack again.

 

[robie]

Thanks everyone. SG is 0.994 today, so if it stays the same for another couple of days I'll rack again.

That will definitely work.

Recently Tim V. of Wine Maker Magazine wrote an article saying he now believes if the wine finishes earlier than X days, but the instructions say to leave the wine in secondary for X number of days, go ahead and leave the wine in until X number of days is completed.

Apparently it is to give time for the fermentation process to produce all the other nice goodies. Fermentation produces more than just CO2 and alcohol.

In you case, you can go either way, since you intend to test again in a couple of days.

 

[AlexPKeaton]

Have been in secondary for two days now. Have been at 0.992 for a while, so I guess i'll rack and degass tomorrow or Thursday.

My next concern is that I've only had the oak chips in the wine for the past two days (when I racked the wine). So, if the wine has been done fermenting for a few days, would it hurt to leave it in the secondary for another day or two, or should I rack again after three days of the same SG readings?

 

[shoebiedoo]

If it were me, I'd wait till Sunday or so to rack it. There's no hurry. Hard to ruin wine by waiting. Rushing can though. But that's just me.

 

[Wade E]

I would leave it in for the recommended amount of time to let the oak do it's full extraction.