First Kit. Question about Secondary/Racking

[JackH]

Hi all.
Making my first wine from kit (I have prior homebrewing experience). Couple of questions, (and I have tried my best to research this here, so sorry if I missed it).

First the background details:

Kit is California Connoisseur 7.5L Sauvignon Blanc for 6 gallon batch; EC-1118 yeast. Day 1 SG=1.082, Racked to secondary on Day 6 (SG=1.006). This was a deviation from instructions, which had the entire fermentation to stability within the primary. Temperature has been a steady and stable 74F throughout.

My intent is to leave it in the carboy (secondary) it's in now until stability. There's about 1 inch of sediment at the moment. I've read conflicting accounts as to whether it's beneficial or harmful to leave it on these lees at this point in the process. I've seen references to racking after 3 days in secondary to get the wine off the gross lees, but this seems exclusive to whole grape versus kit. At any rate, is it OK to ferment as is to stability?

Second question is, when it's time to rack again (prior to sulphite/sorbate addition and degassing), I was hoping to go from 6 gallon carboy to 6 gallon carboy. When I get close to the sludge while siphoning, I was going to halt the transfer and then move the sludge to another smaller sanitized container to decant any wine off the sludge and add back to the new carboy. If I go this route, how much time do I have to leave extra headspace in the receiving carboy (which would have an airlock) while I wait for the sediment to settle for the decanting? And should the container for decanting be sealed or also have an airlock? My other option is to just transfer to a 5 gallon carboy, but I hate the thought of leaving wine behind!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
Jack

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi Jack - and welcome. Truth be told I have made one kit and am making a second kit even as we speak but I have made I don't know how many gallons of wine and mead from scratch. With kits, where possible, my advice would be to always go with the instructions offered by the manufacturer. They know the problems novice wine makers typically have and have designed their kits to remove those likely problems so that a) they don't have to deal with customers calling them up to complain and b) they do have to deal with repeat customers. But you said that you chose to deviate. OK.. but like with tennis - when you serve you need to be ready for the return. It's not clear that you are ready for the return... Here are my two cents - for what they may be worth:
1. Some yeasts produce off flavors when asked to stand on lees for a length of time but this length of time is typically measured in months and not days. If the manufacturer provides a specific yeast and suggests that you allow the wine to fully ferment in the primary it is a sure bet that the yeast and the lees are not going to make bad blood in the two weeks or so that the instructions suggest you let things stand. Moreover, those lees can provide all kinds of nutrients the yeast need and other compounds that add complexity to the wine.. But what is done is done and I am sure that there will be very little harm involved.

2. Leaving behind the lees is the cost of making wine. I understand that the idea of wasting wine is anathema to you (it is to me too) and so your plan is to collect the lees, cold crash 'em (a la brewing) and so allow the wine to separate from the lees and so add that separated wine to the secondary vessel. And your question is how long can you have that headspace in the secondary before it creates a concern due to oxidation. But you will find that the wine and the lees will separate after a few hours and that head space while the gravity is still dropping (so the yeast is still pumping out CO2) should not really be an issue (I use a bucket loosely covered with a clean dishtowel as my primary). I would argue that even as long as "overnight" should not be any cause for any loss of sleep. Which leads me to the second part of your second question.

3. do you need to seal the jar in the fridge with an airlock or ?? If I am right and you can expect 99% of the wine to be separated from the lees within a few hours and you have left a little headroom in the mason jar you are using then I would simply loosely close the lid and band of the mason jar.

But this leads me to my question - 4. If you were using a 6 gallon carboy as your primary and so presumably you left enough headroom to accommodate any active fermentation frothing and foaming AND you then racked this wine off the lees wouldn't there now be a lot more head room in the 6 gallon carboy and isn't the time when you are allowing the wine to clear bright before bottling the time when you really do not want any headroom (AKA air) between the surface of the wine and the bottom of the bung? In other words, - and I am a bit of a contrarian on this forum so others may not agree - don't you want the wine in this secondary to be right up to the neck of the carboy (which is probably a few pints higher than the 6 gallon mark on your carboy). My preference is to use a smaller carboy and use other vessels to handle the "extra" rather than inadequately fill the supposed sized carboy - if - IF, I say, I started out with the volume I was intending to bottle rather than I had started out with the volume I intended to bottle PLUS another few pints... (which is another reason why I prefer to use a bucket as my primary).
Anyway - Best of luck with your wine making. Keep us posted how it is going.. This is a great obsession (I mean hobby)..It's a hobby. I meant hobby..

 

[JackH]

Hi Bernard,
Many thanks for the welcome and input. Just to clarify on your point #4, my primary fermenter is a 9 Gallon Tuff-Tank with cheesecloth cover, so plenty of room to accommodate fermentation and oxygen input. At day 6, I racked from that to a 6-gallon carboy with minimal (3") headspace and airlock. My question about decanting and transferring from 6-gallon carboy to 6-gallon carboy applies to the next racking. Sorry that wasn't clear!

And any activity whose end result is a beverage that gives a nice glow is way more than a hobby in my book too!

 

[BernardSmith]

No no.. I understood your question about decanting.. but in my opinion 3 inches of head room is OK for beer (from grain to bottle in two weeks? ) but with wine you are going to be aging this for - what? Another six - eight weeks, perhaps longer? That is a fair amount of headroom when the yeast have stopped pumping out CO2.

 

[JackH]

I see what you are saying, and that makes a sound argument for the next racking to be from the 6 gallon to a 5 gallon carboy with as little headspace as possible while it ages/clarifies. Right now, it's still fermenting away in secondary with the 3 inches of headspace.

 

[BernardSmith]

and so you are likely to have produced another quantity of lees before you stabilize and begin to fine the wine

 

[Kantuckid]

I've seen no problem from headspace for a shortwhile. I do place a folded towel under my carboy to allow my siphon to remain the clear longer.I did buy the bracket they came out with after I bought my siphon, which helps to be precise in siphon placement.
If the headspace is worrisome then top off with a similar wine. The more you make the more that's around to do so. I read here that the last bit of cloudy wine placed in a mason jar and the fridge to settle saves some wine-that's what i just did with my last qt and a pint this week, placed in back of fridge to settle out. I was sort of out of btls too. Some kits will suggest more rackings than others.