Can I go into secondary at 4.5 Brix?

[Ace]

I'm just coming into the 9th day of fermentation with my Chilean Cab-Merlot Style red wine and I've been stuck at 5 Brix for 2 days. Yesterday I added 3.25 tsp of Superferment nutrient to each of my 6 gallon buckets. There was a little foaming but very little change. I ran a hydrometer reading and read 4.5 as an average of all 6 buckets.I have been diligent in 2-a-day stirring a.m. and p.m. Am I correct in thinking that the final 0 to -1.5 Brix level will be achieved in Secondary? I am required to be out of town until early next week (Mothers Day) and don't figure I'll be able to work in the winery until then. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BigDaveK]

I do country wines. I always strain through a brew bag and transfer to secondary around 1.020. Still fermenting a bit so the CO2 should fill the headspace pretty quick.

 

[Ace]

I do country wines. I always strain through a brew bag and transfer to secondary around 1.020. Still fermenting a bit so the CO2 should fill the headspace pretty quick.

Thanks. 1.020 is 5.1 Brix so that should be OK. Usually I get it to 0 but this Chilean is stubborn. 2 years ago I did the same Chilean Cab-Merlot Style blend and had no trouble getting it down to 0. Guess it's just the way it is.

 

[winemaker81]

Go ahead and rack to secondary, but leave extra headspace since the wine is likely to continue fermenting. If not, you might have purple volcanoes spouting out the airlocks. Racking into secondary may spur the yeast into action, or the yeast may be on break and suddenly decide it's hungry, or something.

Every batch is different -- if I crush 300 lbs of grapes together, then divide it into 2 different primaries, I have 2 batches. It's 90% likely the two will be close enough to identical, but there is no guarantee. Individual factors may send them on different paths.

I recommend tracking SG by bucket and not averaging. This helps you identify if one bucket is stuck and another is not.

 

[Ace]

Go ahead and rack to secondary, but leave extra headspace since the wine is likely to continue fermenting. If not, you might have purple volcanoes spouting out the airlocks. Racking into secondary may spur the yeast into action, or the yeast may be on break and suddenly decide it's hungry, or something.

Every batch is different -- if I crush 300 lbs of grapes together, then divide it into 2 different primaries, I have 2 batches. It's 90% likely the two will be close enough to identical, but there is no guarantee. Individual factors may send them on different paths.

I recommend tracking SG by bucket and not averaging. This helps you identify if one bucket is stuck and another is not.

Thanks. I'll do it in the morning. The point about extra headspace is spot on and very helpful. I'll babysit it all day then I have to leave for a few days. Think the extra headspace will give me peace of mind while I'm gone. Thanks again.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Wine is very flexible. I have been racking at 1.030 to 1.020. If you aren’t using skins/ extracting polyphenols it is kinda neutral and the calendar wins.

 

[Ace]

Went into secondary today and all seems well. Thanks for the help, especially leaving extra headspace. About a half hour in, it started to foam and burp excessively. Will check in on it tomorrow morning before I leave. Once again, many thanks for the input.