Day five fermenting

[brenjmull]

I put the yeast into my old vine red zinfindel on sunday, today the reading it at 0 brixs. It is still fermenting,, how long do I leave it in the bucket before transferring to the carboy? How do you all clean the carboy? I have it sitting in my basement but havent cleaned it yet as I want to wait till I get ready to use it,, but maybe itneeds to dry first after sanitizing? I have been reading here for hours,, you all really know your stuff..

 

[Tom]

Its done. Now what's the gravity...
I would rack to secondary leavind the sediment behind. Leave itg for a few dsys and take a gravity reading. Let us know..

 

[brenjmull]

We put the wine into the glass carboy last night and put on the airlock. It is reading around 1000 ,, if I am reading the hydrometer correctly. I will check it again in a few days. I also dumped in the sediment,, I didnt read the reply here not to. Is that ok?

 

[Wade E]

Personally I like the idea of racking over everything with the exception of the serious sludge at the bottom but do import some of that also as there are viable yeast down there that will help this wine ferment further like a red wine should. You will want to rack it again as soon as its done fermenting though or within 2 weeks as those solids can go bad but its worth the extra racking so as not to have a red wine as such stop fermenting with residual sweetness.

 

[brenjmull]

Ok,, I will keep an eye on it and rack it in 2 weeks. I need to get another carboy before I do this.. I want to start a chardonnay so Maybe I will get that at the same time.. Is there a good place everyone here likes to buy online from that is reasonable?

 

[proksy]

I like to go to my local store and buy empty 5gal culligan or ozark bottles off of them and use those as carboys. But I'm cheap

 

[Wade E]

Try the advertisers above as they are both great suppliers and Ive used them both and would recommend them to anyone! The links are right in between the 2 dark red areas above in every area of this forum.

 

[brenjmull]

We racked the red zin in to a clean carboy leaving the sediment behind last weekend.. the person that got me started said I need to add a quarter tsp of meta to it every time I rack? I didnt do it yet as he said to rack in 30 days but I did it in 15 instead as it was recommended here to not leave the residue in the wine much longer.. should I go ahead and put in the meta or wait till the 30 days?

I also have a chardonnay kit started?? I just put it into the carboy Thursday night!! Kits are so much easier then a 6 gal container of juice..I want to order a cabernet next... I got to get some empty bottles..

 

[Brian]

Ok,, I will keep an eye on it and rack it in 2 weeks. I need to get another carboy before I do this.. I want to start a chardonnay so Maybe I will get that at the same time.. Is there a good place everyone here likes to buy online from that is reasonable?

You are not to far from Lancaster or York you should check out Mr Steves he is awesome and you won't have to pay the shipping or wait.. His stores are great and he has everythign you will need. His has a webpage with the addresses and he is also located on the map..

 

[Tom]

We racked the red zin in to a clean carboy leaving the sediment behind last weekend.. the person that got me started said I need to add a quarter tsp of meta to it every time I rack? I didnt do it yet as he said to rack in 30 days but I did it in 15 instead as it was recommended here to not leave the residue in the wine much longer.. should I go ahead and put in the meta or wait till the 30 days?

I also have a chardonnay kit started?? I just put it into the carboy Thursday night!! Kits are so much easier then a 6 gal container of juice..I want to order a cabernet next... I got to get some empty bottles..

Dont listen to your friend 1/4 tsp id only needed every 90 days not every time you rack. He may rack every 3months.
I would rack maybe every 30 days. It takes a while for the sediment to drop. 2 weeks is to often as you will lose more that way.

 

[brenjmull]

Ok, I will wait till I rack it again in 2 weeks to add the meta?
Where is Mr Steve? I would love to check him out? I went to Homebrew in Lancaster for my chardonnay kit..It was $74.. but got a coupon for $10 off. Thanks

Duh, I just went to the map and saw that Homebrew in Lancaster is Mr Steves,, I didnt get to meet him when I was there but the lady in the store called him several times while I was there and he was very helpful getting me set up and answering my ?s. I will definately be going back there. They were having a social the night I was there but I didnt have time to go back. I am definately going to the one in November though..