exorbitant lees in secondary fermenter

[Wiccan_Lager]

Hello everyone,

last night I took a walk down to the basement to make sure my purple lovers were doing ok in their new glass houses. Airlocks are still showing activity as they have been for 2 weeks which makes me a happy camper.

BUT...

I took a look at my 6 gallon carboy of Alicante and there is a huge amount of lees at the bottom. I am talking about a good 5 to 6 inches of lees that has dropped out. Just about the first ridge of a 6 gallon carboy.

Now I usually leave my wine in the secondary fermenter for about 2 to 3 months but all that lees on the bottom has me a little nervous. Should I rack off as soon as I see fermentation is complete in this case or do you think it should be OK?

I have never seen this much lees before.

Just in case you guys need more info:

Alicante
OG: 1.100 (can we say rocket fuel?)
Yeast: Red Star Pasteur Red
Been in secondary for about 2 weeks or so.

 

[jswordy]

Rack it now.

 

[Wiccan_Lager]

even if it's still fermenting?

 

[DoctorCAD]

Best time to rack is when it is still fermenting, less risk of oxygenation.

 

[Wiccan_Lager]

Crap. I don't have any smaller carboys yet....

This may have to wait until Saturday when I have time to go get some carboys. I have nothing smaller than 6 gallons at the moment.

 

[cimbaliw]

You can rack back to your primary then into the cleaned glass jug.