My first batch

[sthomas12]

Hi All, i have couple of questions on my first batch i am making.


I am making a Selection Merlot kit from Winexpert. I started the primary on Oct 14th. SG read 1.098. Racked the wine to glass cacboy on 10/21. SG read 0.992.


My question is is it normal for the SG to drop that much in one week? After transferring to carboy, I am not seeing any action. No bubbles through the airlock. Is there a chance that the fermenation is complete? I am concerned that the wine may go bad with no CO2 to protect it!


Any suggestions from the experts?


Regards


Sunil Thomas

 

[Hippie]

Keep it topped up and go the maximum amount of time allowed by the instructions before the next step. Fermentation speed is controlled alot by temp, and it cannot be predicted with much accuracy.

 

[masta]

This has happened to me a few times also....not a problem.


I would not top it up yet since you still have to have room to degas and add final chemicals and fining agents. You should have plenty of dissolved CO2 in the wine even if it is done fermenting.


Grab the neck of the carboy and give your carboy a good rocking back and forth and this will release enough CO2 to purge out the oxygen through the airlock.


Just remember go easy since it is glass and it should be placed a on a surface that won't break the bottom....maybe place a towel under it.


My carboys sit on a wooden bench on top of a few layers of newspapers and they get rocked often especially after fining.

 

[Hippie]

I agree with masta. He does alot more kits than I.

 

[sthomas12]

Masta and Hippie, thanks fro the advice. I gave it a good shake and saw gas coming up. Hopefully it drove air out.



Regards

Sunil Thomas

 

[masta]

Just for info:


The density of CO<SMALL>2</SMALL>(g) is over 50% greater than that of air. At 25ºC (77ºF) and standard pressure, the density of carbon dioxide is 1.799 g/L, compared with 1.18 g/L for air.


The CO2 coming out of the wine will do a good job of forcing the air out of your carboy.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Masta - time after time you prove to be an incredible source of scientific
knowledge. You will have to share your sources sometime.

These little
tidbits of info are great - just wish I could remember them all.

 

[Cove Cottage]

bilbo-in-maine,


Like you, I found so many wonderful tips on this forum but then I couldn't remember them. Soooo... When I find a tip I want to remember, I copy and paste it to a word document and save in my WINE file. I have it broken out into subjects such as, sanitation, corking, hints, racking, oak, etc, so the tips area easy to locate when I need them. Lots of information from masta and hippie