Mosti Mondiale Keep in Primary?

[pracz]

Hi all -

I have a Renaissance Old Vine Cab kit where the fermentation appears to be complete (2 days at .996). It has been 9 days. I kept the must in the primary through the entire process (including the yeast nutrient). The lid has been snapped on with an air lock since I added the nutrient.

Is it okay if I keep it in the primary until the weekend or is that too long to wait? I also have an RJS Chardonnay in the same boat. It's funny how they fermented out at the same time!

Thanks all!

Regards,

Pete

 

[ibglowin]

I would transfer to a nice tight small mouthed carboy with an airlock and let it sit for another week or so.

 

[pracz]

Thanks, Mike.

Should I stabilize and degass or just rack and let it sit for a week?

Thanks again!

Pete

 

[ibglowin]

Too early if its only been 9 days. Should be like day 20 at the earliest before you do that. Just rack it over to glass for now.

 

[pracz]

Sounds good, Mike.

I appreciate the help!

Regards,

Pete

 

[pracz]

Too early if its only been 9 days. Should be like day 20 at the earliest before you do that. Just rack it over to glass for now.

Sorry...One more question (I'm a really newbie at this). I assume I should be leaving behind the sediment/oak at this point, correct?

Thanks again,

Pete

 

[ibglowin]

Nope, at this point its just a nice quick (and dirty) transfer of everything except what sticks to the bottom of the pail. Fill it up including oak chips.

Keep it warm. Let it sit with a stopper until day ~20 and then do a good clean rack leaving all the gross lees and sediment behind.

Degas, stabilize, clarify and let it go into bulk aging.

 

[pracz]

Got it! I am off to do some racking then...

Thanks again,

Pete

 

[JohnnyK68]

Mike I have a question. How are you getting the oak chips out of the primary and into the secondary? I sanatized my spoon and just tried to scoop them out and then add them, but I lost most of them when trying to get them into the small hole of the glass carboy. It was a Castel Del Papa, not that it matters. Because i lost alot of the oak in the transfer, I decided to add one spiral and I will check it in a few weeks. If there is an easy way to transfer the oak, please share.

 

[admiral]

Mike I have a question. How are you getting the oak chips out of the primary and into the secondary? I sanatized my spoon and just tried to scoop them out and then add them, but I lost most of them when trying to get them into the small hole of the glass carboy. It was a Castel Del Papa, not that it matters. Because i lost alot of the oak in the transfer, I decided to add one spiral and I will check it in a few weeks. If there is an easy way to transfer the oak, please share.

That is a problem. That is why I don't rack to a carboy until the fermentation is over. Then I just leave the oak behind. I believe there is enough CO2 in suspension to protect the wine from O2. Once in the carboy, I stabilize and clarify and degas. If I taste it then and determine that I need more oak I add some for a month or two. Then rack and leave the oak behind. I have had no problems with this method.

 

[ibglowin]

I use a hose and attach to the carboy and just drain into it. When its almost empty I pick up the primary and tip to get as much as I can into the Carboy.

At that point I get my trusty 8" funnel with screen and dump the rest into the Carboy The oak or most of it will end up on the screen. I use a spoon and get the rest out of the Primary and onto the screen/funnel. I then wash the oak (while on the screen/funnel) with some clean water to get most of the sticky goo off it and then use another funnel with a wider opening to pour the chips back into the Carboy.

 

[robie]

Getting those wet oak chips, or what's left of oak shavings out of the fermentation bucket and into the small opening of the carboy is a challenge.

This might be a good time and maybe IMO the only good time to use a plastic Better Bottle. The opening of the Better Bottle is almost twice the diameter of the glass carboy's, making it much easier to put the oak in there. The wine is not in this first carboy stage long enough for the very slight air intake of the plastic to make any significant difference.

With the larger opening, I can put the oak in a small muslin bag if I want, rinse the bag between the bucket and the carboy stage, and still get the bag easily into and out of the Better Bottle.

I have one Better bottle and this is how I will use it from now on. I doubt I will ever buy another plastic bottle. Ever tried to put a vacuum on a plastic carboy.

 

[pracz]

I am going to degas and stabilize this weekend.

One question I have, when I racked to secondary (last weekend) the level of the wine came up to where the carboy starts to taper toward the neck. Because it is not all the way up to within 2 inches of the neck will that create an oxidation problem? I am assuming not because I did not degas yet, is that correct? Oh, and yes I have an air lock on with a k-meta mixture in it.

Pete

 

[Scott]

It is ok now with the headspace from final ferm but will want to top it off with like wine or marbles or argon or maybe smaller series of carboys.

 

[pracz]

Thanks, Scott. That's what I thought.

I plan stabilizing, degassing and adding the clarifiers in the primary then racking back to a 5 gallon carboy and hold the residual in 1/2 or 1 gallon carboy to be used as topper for other kits I have going.

Thanks again,

Pete