Hi all, first post. I am going to tell the whole story, as suggested!
I am making a Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cabernet. It's a 6 week, crushed grape pack kit. I started it on 2 Feb, followed directions carefully, but opted to not put the crushed grapes into the bag, but let them float around in the primary. There was 24.5L of juice.
Primary fermentation went great, stirred daily, kept a loose lid on, in a bathroom I have regulated to 70-72 degrees (initial SG 1.102 @ 78 degrees, that is corrected it for temp as hydrometer instructions said). Here is where it gets screwy. I had that glass hydrometer that broke on day 2. Someone gave me a refractometer type hydrometer which I started using on day 4, SG 1.083. I used it every day and was frustrated when on day 8 the SG was1.038, Day 9 SG was 1.033. By day 8 the bubbles were very light when I would stir the grape skins down (per kit instructions). During this time I had ordered another glass hydrometer, and on Day 10 I checked calibration (floated it in exactly 60 degree water, and it was precisely on). Checked the wine with the refractometer (SG 1.033) and then with the glass hydrometer (SG 0.998 !!). With the lack of active bubbling I had to assume the glass hydrometer is correct.
So I racked the wine to a glass carboy, adding the enzyme as directed, and all was fine until the bottom of the primary was reached. There was a fabulous amount of sediment at the bottom, and with my 6+ gallon Chinese carboy, when I ran out of liquid to siphon, the wine did not reach the shoulders. It is currently at the 22L mark (I marked by the liter and gallon prior to this) which is right where the shoulders start. This leaves a fair amount of headspace and I am worried about the oxidation. Kit says I can top with wine or water (during this stage) to leave 3 inches of headroom - it says it must only have 3 inches. Now I have looked around and some people say to leave it, as it is still producing CO2, some say to use marbles(or similar) some say to put a layer of CO2 on it, some say to use wine, some to use water. I do not want to top up with water or wine.
If the SG is 0.998, has all fermentation stopped? If yes, then is it really protected? If not, can i just lay the CO2 gas on it? Based on looking on this forum, I understand if I had racked it at a slightly higher SG it would be fine with this headspace because it would be fermenting fairly actively. It is currently bubbling intermittently on the ferm lock, and there is a fine layer of bubbles developing (it's been in the secondary carboy for about 12 hours) but nothing vigorous.
What I would like to do is get a 5 gallon carboy for the bulk aging (because I sucked up plenty of the goopy sediment and know it's in the carboy, so I will have even less when I rack it again) so I don't have to add anything for that process. Am I safe in letting it go in the secondary at the current headspace for the 10 days it calls for before the next racking?
Thank you - first kit is nerve wracking!
Kyle
I am making a Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cabernet. It's a 6 week, crushed grape pack kit. I started it on 2 Feb, followed directions carefully, but opted to not put the crushed grapes into the bag, but let them float around in the primary. There was 24.5L of juice.
Primary fermentation went great, stirred daily, kept a loose lid on, in a bathroom I have regulated to 70-72 degrees (initial SG 1.102 @ 78 degrees, that is corrected it for temp as hydrometer instructions said). Here is where it gets screwy. I had that glass hydrometer that broke on day 2. Someone gave me a refractometer type hydrometer which I started using on day 4, SG 1.083. I used it every day and was frustrated when on day 8 the SG was1.038, Day 9 SG was 1.033. By day 8 the bubbles were very light when I would stir the grape skins down (per kit instructions). During this time I had ordered another glass hydrometer, and on Day 10 I checked calibration (floated it in exactly 60 degree water, and it was precisely on). Checked the wine with the refractometer (SG 1.033) and then with the glass hydrometer (SG 0.998 !!). With the lack of active bubbling I had to assume the glass hydrometer is correct.
So I racked the wine to a glass carboy, adding the enzyme as directed, and all was fine until the bottom of the primary was reached. There was a fabulous amount of sediment at the bottom, and with my 6+ gallon Chinese carboy, when I ran out of liquid to siphon, the wine did not reach the shoulders. It is currently at the 22L mark (I marked by the liter and gallon prior to this) which is right where the shoulders start. This leaves a fair amount of headspace and I am worried about the oxidation. Kit says I can top with wine or water (during this stage) to leave 3 inches of headroom - it says it must only have 3 inches. Now I have looked around and some people say to leave it, as it is still producing CO2, some say to use marbles(or similar) some say to put a layer of CO2 on it, some say to use wine, some to use water. I do not want to top up with water or wine.
If the SG is 0.998, has all fermentation stopped? If yes, then is it really protected? If not, can i just lay the CO2 gas on it? Based on looking on this forum, I understand if I had racked it at a slightly higher SG it would be fine with this headspace because it would be fermenting fairly actively. It is currently bubbling intermittently on the ferm lock, and there is a fine layer of bubbles developing (it's been in the secondary carboy for about 12 hours) but nothing vigorous.
What I would like to do is get a 5 gallon carboy for the bulk aging (because I sucked up plenty of the goopy sediment and know it's in the carboy, so I will have even less when I rack it again) so I don't have to add anything for that process. Am I safe in letting it go in the secondary at the current headspace for the 10 days it calls for before the next racking?
Thank you - first kit is nerve wracking!
Kyle