A couple questions about my first batch

[Boatboy24]

Don't know what k-meta is.

Potassium Metabisulphite. It is used both as a preservative in finished wine, and (in the right concentration) a sanitizer when dissolved in water.

 

[saramc]

It is degassed. I put everything that I was supposed to put in according to the directions. Don't know what k-meta is. The last time I racked the wine, there was almost no sediment at the bottom.

And you have confirmed that the wine is still at the same gravity you backsweetened it to? To confirm it did not start refermenting?
Since you did have sediment with the last racking (almost does not count) that is yet another indicator of too early to bottle...you ideally want sediment free for one (I prefer two) months after the last racking before you decide it passes the clarity/sediment free test.

 

[wkingsnorth]

Ok, I added vinclear a couple days ago. It was stuff that came with my filter kit. Overall the wine is clearer other that some of the vinclear floating around in the carboy. I checked the weight and it is now 1.10. I am not sure that is because of the vinclear or what. It is also dryer tasting than it was. I am going to rack it again this weekend.

 

[JoyofWine]

And you have confirmed that the wine is still at the same gravity you backsweetened it to? To confirm it did not start refermenting?
Since you did have sediment with the last racking (almost does not count) that is yet another indicator of too early to bottle...you ideally want sediment free for one (I prefer two) months after the last racking before you decide it passes the clarity/sediment free test.

Question: When you are doing a kit that needs to bulk age longer (not a Orchard Breezin or Mist wine) how often should you rack it into a clean carboy? Thanks!

~Joy

 

[1tonmama]

Question: When you are doing a kit that needs to bulk age longer (not a Orchard Breezin or Mist wine) how often should you rack it into a clean carboy? Thanks!

I think good rule of thumb is not more than 4 racks. At least 3 weeks but not more than 90 days between the racking. You'd probably want to rack on shorter periods (i.e 45~60 days) at the beginning of the aging (when there'd most likely be more sediments dropping) and then space out the racking to ~90 days for the last rack and bottling. With the Cab Sauv kit I have going right now, I'm looking at about 12 months of bulk aging in a carboy.

 

[JoyofWine]

Thank you!

 

[wkingsnorth]

YES!!!!! The wine cleared up! I am going to wait until next weekend to filter and bottle it. I racked it again today and there was sediment in the bottom. The vinclear did the trick! I am enjoying a nice glass of it right now.

 

[jimmyjames23]

Awesome stuff.

 

[wkingsnorth]

Bottled the first batch this morning. On to the next