Can I rack back into my plastic fermenter?

[slh]

I might be in trouble here. I have a batch of "kit" merlot that I'm supposed to be racking for the 3rd time. The problem is, the carboy I had broke and I'm wondering if I can rack back into my plastic fermenter to get me by till I can get another carboy. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[jet]

Where is it now? Assuming it currently is in a carboy, either wait until you get another carboy, or a rack into the bucket, wash the carboy and rack back into the same carboy.

 

[slh]

Where is it now? Assuming it currently is in a carboy, either wait until you get another carboy, or a rack into the bucket, wash the carboy and rack back into the same carboy.

Yes, it's in a carboy. Your suggestion makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Flem]

Since you have already racked it two times, I'll assume that fermentation is complete. Just wait until you get another carboy. If you put it into the bucket and then back to the carboy, you're putting a lot of oxygen into it. IMO

 

[slh]

Since you have already racked it two times, I'll assume that fermentation is complete. Just wait until you get another carboy. If you put it into the bucket and then back to the carboy, you're putting a lot of oxygen into it. IMO

Yes, that's true. It's a kit wine, however, and the instructions are pretty "stickler" but I'm just gonna have to risk it. Let oxygen, the better.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I would just go get another carboy and rack into it.

If there is not a lot of sediment at the bottom - you will be ok to wait until you get a new carboy.

 

[slh]

Thanks to everyone for your expert guidance. I did wait quite a spell (over 10 days deviation from the kit directions) while I was trying to find a good buy on another carboy. Turns out, the day before I finally found my good deal I decided to go ahead and sanitize my fermenter, rack, clean the carboy and rack back.

I was extra careful to keep oxygen at bay. First, I put the lid on the fermenter and put the racking hose in through the airlock hole so I could avoid catching contaminants. I racked, then racked back to the cleaned and sanitized carboy. Everything went just fine. Now the wine is in it's final aging phase before bottling.

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