SG or Time?

[Maverick00]

Im already into my first wine kit and was confused as to when I was suppose to rack into secondary fermenter. Instructions specified at approx day 6-8 at an SG of 1.020 or less, rack to secondary. At day 5 however i was already sitting at an SG of 1.000. I left it until day 6 before racking (SG 0.999). Instructions now state at day 20 to begin clearing and stabilizing when SG is below 0.998. It is now currently at day 11 and I'm already at 0.998. Fermentation is progressing faster than what's stated in the instructions, should I be racking and progressing through each step based on SG? Or try and balance it between time specified as well as SG? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

 

[BobF]

Sg is the milestone. Number of days for each step is an approximation.

 

[cpfan]

Im already into my first wine kit and was confused as to when I was suppose to rack into secondary fermenter. Instructions specified at approx day 6-8 at an SG of 1.020 or less, rack to secondary. At day 5 however i was already sitting at an SG of 1.000. I left it until day 6 before racking (SG 0.999). Instructions now state at day 20 to begin clearing and stabilizing when SG is below 0.998. It is now currently at day 11 and I'm already at 0.998. Fermentation is progressing faster than what's stated in the instructions, should I be racking and progressing through each step based on SG? Or try and balance it between time specified as well as SG? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

Two comments:

Without knowing which kit, I can't tell you what final specific gravities that I have experienced. You should allow the sg to drop as far as it will go before stabilizing and clearing. If the temperature is good (sounds like your is), one test that it is used is getting the same sg reading three days in a row. DO NOT proceed to sytabilizing just because the sg is below .998. That kit may drop to .992.

I check the sg in primary after 5-7 days, and if it is close to 1.000 then I transfer to carboy. Before stabilizing, I usually wait longer than the instructions suggest. This depends on other factors in my life, but I rarely stabilize before (in time) that the instructions suggest.

Steve

 

[Maverick00]

Thanks guys,

The kit is a grand cru California Chardonnay. My wine appears to be stable at 0.998 but I'll wait it out before stabilizing and clearing. I was just getting caught up in the numbers "transfer to Carboy when SG is below 1.020" well does it matter if it's 1.019 or 1.000? Had a taste today and as far as that goes, everything appears to be on track : )

 

[cpfan]

The kit is a grand cru California Chardonnay. My wine appears to be stable at 0.998 but I'll wait it out before stabilizing and clearing.

I don't recall making a Grand Cru International Collection California Chardonnay. The Internationals were fairly new when the store that I ran closed. However, the regular Grand Cru kits tended to finish around .995.

I was just getting caught up in the numbers "transfer to Carboy when SG is below 1.020" well does it matter if it's 1.019 or 1.000?

In my experience, if you transfer a wine to carboy above about 1.005 there's a good chance that the ferment will bubble into and out of the air lock making a nice mess.

Steve

 

[rjb222]

The GCI California Chardonnay usually finishes at about 0.996. Take the time in the secondary before clearing. There is a lot of flavor in the lees.

 

[Maverick00]

Thanks for the info Steve/rjb

I'm going to be starting a gewürztraminer next week so this will help alot!

 

[robie]

Yes, leave the wine in secondary at least the full number of days called for by the instructions. Lots of nice things develop in the wine during this time of setting on the lees.

 

[pete1325]

Robie, is this just for whites? I thought leaving on the lees causes bittterness......or is that only for reds?

 

[robie]

Robie, is this just for whites? I thought leaving on the lees causes bittterness......or is that only for reds?

Here we are talking about leaving the wine in secondary for the subscribed time, not primary. This is for red and white kits. The lees in a kit's secondary are mostly yeast as most of the other materials has been racked off after primary. This applies even to WE reds, even though they have you take over pretty much everything from primary to secondary. Still, lots of lees will remain behind in the primary bucket.

This came down from Tim V. of Wine Maker's Magazine a few months ago.