Bulk Aging

[blackfin1]

I am in the process of finalizing a 6 gallon batch of Mezza Luna red. I just degassed and added meta and sorbate. After 14 days, the batch is ready to bottle. Although, I am not ready to bottle. Therefore, I noticed about 2 inches of lees at the bottom of the carboy. My question is; will it hurt to rack once more and remove the lees from the bottom of the carboy?

Can I rack to a bucket, clean the carboy and rerack back to the same carboy? Will the air exposure spoil my wine?

Thanks,
Sal

 

[docanddeb]

If you still have sediment, it's not ready to bottle. When did you start this wine? The kits may tell you that you CAN bottle very early, but your best results will be after some aging in the carboy.

Debbie

 

[LanMan]

I Rack to bottling bucket, clean and sanatize carboy, drain back to carboy. Good to go

 

[Tom]

If you still have sediment, it's not ready to bottle. When did you start this wine? The kits may tell you that you CAN bottle very early, but your best results will be after some aging in the carboy.

Debbie

I agree!. wait 2-3 weeks from last racking before you rack AGAIN. Then wait at least 2 weks and rack before bottling.

It's a kit right?

 

[blackfin1]

Thanks, that is exactly what I wanted to know. I will rack to a bucket then into the carboy.

Thanks,
Sal

 

[winemaker_3352]

I agree!. wait 2-3 weeks from last racking before you rack AGAIN. Then wait at least 2 weks and rack before bottling.

It's a kit right?

I also agree!! No need to rush it - you don't want sediment in the bottles.

 

[naperwineguy]

Be careful when you rack back into carboy. Those 2 inches of lees take up volume, so when you rack back in - you are bound to have quiet a bit of headspace in your carboy. You either will need to rack into a smaller vessel, or find something suitable to top up your wine during your bulk age period.

Alot of home winemakers are purist and do not want to mix their homemade brew with something store bought - but unless you have some left over from a previous batch, or a smaller vessel to rack into, your options are limited.

Some people will buy clear glass marbles to drop into their carboy - but depending on how much headspace you need to occupy, that could amount well into the 100s of marbles you would need. Plus I've heard arguments that every time you drop a marble into your carboy you are exposing it to O2 - so the jury is mixed on this approach.

Anyway - anything greater than 1" headspace is probably too much and you should figure out a way to deal with that.

 

[robie]

The answer to your questions is yes.

You mentioned meta and sorbate, but you didn't say anything about clarifier(s).
Did you add the clarifiers when the instruction said? It sounds like you didn't intend to add it. If not, it could take months for the wine to clear on its own, which is OK and is what many of us do routinely.

You never want to bottle unclear wine.