Mistake while racking

[RotGut76]

I'm making a kit wine. Not my first but....

The directions state BEFORE racking into the secondary to ensure an SG of 1.010 or less.

I forgot to check the SG prior to racking. So after I racked to secondary I realized my mistake and took a reading. It was at 1.022. This was well after the 5-7 day period but there was still a very little airlock activity.

My question is will this batch continue to ferment to the 1.010 or below? If not is there anything I can do to fix it? It tastes fine but it is, of course, very sweet. My concern also is the ABV. Right now I'm looking at about 7% or so if it doesn't ferment dry.

 

[cmason1957]

It isn't a terminal error. I think I would leave the airlock off and stir it with a spoon once or twice a day. Maybe even warm it up just a bit.

As a side note, many people on here, myself included do the part of the fermentation where everything is in the bucket, without an airlock at all. It will ferment to dry, either way. I do it without an airlock, so I can stir a couple times a day. That extra bit of oxygen, while active fermentation is on-going seems to help it ferment a little bit.

 

[RotGut76]

Thanks. I've been stirring it. Hopefully it will continue to ferment.

I sometimes use an airlock sometimes I don't. This time I just plain forgot to take the reading before I racked.

I checked the SG tonight and it went down slightly. The batch is very fizzy so I'm assuming the yeast is still "working". I put a brew belt on there to raise the temp a little.

Fingers crossed.