I love science! There is a mathematical answer for everything (almost). My major professor used to say if you. cant express something mathematically, you don’t understand it. Not sure I believe that absolute statement, but. math helps. Thank you.
Think about purchasing the AIO. I have been using it to degas and rack into secondary's, and it is so easy! I can't wait until it's time to bottle so I can try that function. BTW................you are lucky your SP fermented down to .994. I never got mine below 1.022 so I racked it into a secondary and am hoping that "time will heal all"..................................................Dizzy
Best thing I ever did was buy an AIO! Having the right equipment makes winemaking so much easier and. more enjoyable.
@DizzyIzzy - I thought I was the only one to have trouble with SP. The only time I tried it, I had really weird problems. Floating "popcorn twists" in the beginning and stuck fermentation later on. I kept trying everything I could think of to restart it. I was scared to bottle it with so much residual sugar. After 2 months, I finally threw in every frozen berry I could find in my freezer, some frozen bananas, 1 1/2 pounds of raisins, and a bunch more sugar and turned it into ??? Dragon Pee ???. Haha. The fermentation then completed quickly and cleared well, and was almost as good as my first batch of the original Dragon Blood I made at the same time.
KCCam, Thanks for the primer on bottling. I will write it all down and use that info at time of bottling. I didn't know about the "adjusting of the length of the filler tube"? It was not included in the AIO instructions. I will try to figure out just what that means. Your "popcorn twists" are quite unique. Wonder what that is all about? Anyhoo..................sounds like your innovative Dragon Pee worked out really well. I am almost afraid to look at my SP which I racked into a carboy @ 1.022.......so'o afraid! What state do you live in?
You'll know what I mean once you try one, but the attached picture shows what I'm referring to as "the filler tube" circled in red. Push that tube further into the bottle to leave more space. The wine will be at the level of the bottom of that bent tube because wine goes into the bottle from there, and when you release the vacuum, it sucks it back out from that tube (which is why your carboy has to be lower than the bottle).
There are lots of experts here... I'm NOT one of them. But my understanding is that if wine is perfectly clear, and the SG doesn't change for 3 days, add K-Meta & Sorbate and wait a week. If still no change in SG then it should be OK to bottle. I've also read that "the best way to restart a stuck fermentation is to bottle it!"
Oooo, I don't think you won't be sorry.
That’s another good thing about the AIO, since you’re degassing in a closed system with vacuum, if you apply too much vacuum and it bubbles up like crazy, the bubbles get sucked into the “overflow” bottle and don’t spill anywhere. It can make the release valve sticky, but that’s easy to disassemble and clean. Sure beats cleaning the normal mess that a volcano makes!
some 1 by lumber or 3/4 plywood between the carpeted ens will greatly increase stabilityThat is a good idea. Very simple and effective.
Many of us use a furniture dolly (picture below, available at Harbor Freight or the like for small money) or a plastic milk crate. Or both! The milk crate has the advantage of protecting your carboy from bumps.
