AnnArrogance
Junior
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2014
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 3
Hello, all!
I have embarked on my first 5-gallon batch of Skeeter Pee (second batch of wine ever), and am amazed that it's going so well! I started it last Saturday (11/29) and pitched the yeast on Monday (12/1). I used Lalvin EC-1118 and made a slurry with some of the watered-down must in a Mason jar per a video I saw on YouTube, since I didn't trust that I actually had enough lees/slurry from the first racking of my 1-gallon Passionfruit Wine. It started fermenting like mad immediately! In fact, I've been stirring it vigorously twice a day, and there were times when the foam on top of my 5.5-ish gallons of must has threatened to overflow my 6.5 gallon primary before I even really start up the drill! Wow!
I've been checking the SG periodically, and this morning it hit 0.998 (original SG was 1.070 bang on). So it's technically in the fermented dry range right now, but there's still a good head of yeast foam (sorry if there's a term for this I'm not using), though it's not nearly as thick as it was, and it looks like there's still a lot of activity, so I'm kind of afraid to rack it to my carboy (pic from this morning):
So, here's the noob question: should I wait until the activity settles down a bit first, or should I go ahead and rack it? I just don't want to end up with an overflowing carboy!
Thanks in advance for the advice! Man, I am loving this hobby! I think I might have to make a batch of Dragon's Blood (possibly all blueberry rather than triple berry) next if this batch of SP all goes well--it's really satisfying to have something that goes this quickly in winemaking terms, and it smells pretty darn good already!
I have embarked on my first 5-gallon batch of Skeeter Pee (second batch of wine ever), and am amazed that it's going so well! I started it last Saturday (11/29) and pitched the yeast on Monday (12/1). I used Lalvin EC-1118 and made a slurry with some of the watered-down must in a Mason jar per a video I saw on YouTube, since I didn't trust that I actually had enough lees/slurry from the first racking of my 1-gallon Passionfruit Wine. It started fermenting like mad immediately! In fact, I've been stirring it vigorously twice a day, and there were times when the foam on top of my 5.5-ish gallons of must has threatened to overflow my 6.5 gallon primary before I even really start up the drill! Wow!
I've been checking the SG periodically, and this morning it hit 0.998 (original SG was 1.070 bang on). So it's technically in the fermented dry range right now, but there's still a good head of yeast foam (sorry if there's a term for this I'm not using), though it's not nearly as thick as it was, and it looks like there's still a lot of activity, so I'm kind of afraid to rack it to my carboy (pic from this morning):
So, here's the noob question: should I wait until the activity settles down a bit first, or should I go ahead and rack it? I just don't want to end up with an overflowing carboy!
Thanks in advance for the advice! Man, I am loving this hobby! I think I might have to make a batch of Dragon's Blood (possibly all blueberry rather than triple berry) next if this batch of SP all goes well--it's really satisfying to have something that goes this quickly in winemaking terms, and it smells pretty darn good already!