RJ Spagnols am i ready for the next step

[yoyo]

i am making the rj spagnols german rieling auslese. i started it 12 days ago. my first sg was 1.086, at day 5 it was 1.050, day9 1.025, day 11 1.006, and today day 12 1.006 again. my instruction say to clear and stabilize at .998 or lower. do i have to wait or since i have a constant sg for 2 days can i rack it to the next step. i might be trying to do it sooner because i am ready to go, but hey its worth asking. also, has anyone tried this wine before, how is it. Thanks, by the way this is my first batch ever.

 

[Tomy]

I would get it off the gross lees and rack into a secondary, top off and check SG every week or so. At 1006 there should be some active yeast still working. Tomy

 

[smurfe]

I don't make that brand of kit but I believe there is no rackingfor secondary fermentationon the directions is there? With the SG stated you have not fermented to dry yet which would be below 1.000 I would still rack it to a carboy and top it up but not stabilize it yet to see if the SG will drop some more. The racking may stir it up a little to stimulate a little more fermentation. If you stabilize it now you will have a touch of residual sweetness that probably will not be that noticeable. What temps did you ferment at?

 

[masta]

smurfe is correct in that the instructions for these kits from RJ Spagnols call for the entire fermentation to be completed in the primary (SG <0.998) before racking to secondary carboy. This is done due to the fact RJS uses Super-Kleer as a fining agent and it is critical that the wine is properly degassed before adding it. RJS has found that doing the complete fermentation in the primary allows for the wine to partially degas on it's own after the fermentation is complete and less gas for the consumer to force out of solution.


You should always follow the instructions included in the kit since they will vary from one manufacturer to another.

 

[yoyo]

thanks for the advice, i will check it today and see what the sg is.
as for the temp i fermented at, i have a spare fridge with a brewers thermostat hooked up to it. i have it set at 70 degrees. it seemed like a nice median from what the directions stated. hope the sg goes down, cannot wait to go to the next step, also when i rack to the second step is it ok to try it and taste it

 

[Dean]

you need to get this kit down to 0.998 or it has the potential to restart fermentation in the bottles. What I would do is stir up the wine a bit. There is LOTS of active yeast on the bottom of that carboy that have been pulled out of suspension from the bentonite. Also kick up the heat to 74 on your Johnson controls there.

So again, stir it up, wait a few more days for the SG to go down, then stabilize. I've done this kit and it is very nice. The Suss reserve pack makes the kit come out off-dry anyways, and if you added it with residual sweetness, the Riesling would be too sweet, and not have enough supplied sorbate.

 

[univity]

I have made a number of RJ kits (everyone should try the Kiwi Melon Pinot - like drinking sweet tarts!) - I would stir it a little and just wait until it is under .998 - Then you rack to carboy and like directed above, degas it very well - I have the drill attachment thingy and usually stir 1 direction 2 min, switch drill direction for 2 min , repeat twice - i do this each place in the instructions where it says to stir well. Without doing this I have noticed they do not always clear. I have noticed that newer kits come with 2 packets of clearing agent, so they must have had a lot of clearing problems. I just made 2 kits - one came with 1 clearing packet and one came with 2. I bottled the 2 packet one last weekend and will probably bottle the 1 packet this weekend as it took longer to clear. I sometimes have had to add more clearing agent myself. I like Sparkaloid, although the more experienced folks around here prolly know better than I do.
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