First rack and still bubbling-is this ok

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John Olson

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I have a question-I am making a batch of cherry wine that was made from 20 lbs of frozen cherries,
14 lbs of sugar
7-1/4 tsp acid blend
1-1/2 grape tannin
6 tsp yeast nutrient
12 drops pectic enzyme
Beginning SG was 1.070 in my primary fermenter.
After two weeks the SG was 1.040 and then Racked it into a 6 gallon glass carboy. The wine was just under neck of carboy.
I added 1/4 tsp of sodium metabisulfite (equivalent of 5 campden tablets).
Placed air lock on and stored it.
Next day I found there was some aggressive boil over and the wine had bubbled through the air lock.
There was an approximate loss of about 6-8 onces of wine. There was still a decent amount of bubbling going on.

Should I add more sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite or is this process normal and the metabisulfite will eventually tame the yeast?

Thanks for any input.
 
I have a question-I am making a batch of cherry wine that was made from 20 lbs of frozen cherries,
14 lbs of sugar
7-1/4 tsp acid blend
1-1/2 grape tannin
6 tsp yeast nutrient
12 drops pectic enzyme
Beginning SG was 1.070 in my primary fermenter.
After two weeks the SG was 1.040 and then Racked it into a 6 gallon glass carboy. The wine was just under neck of carboy.
I added 1/4 tsp of sodium metabisulfite (equivalent of 5 campden tablets).
Placed air lock on and stored it.
Next day I found there was some aggressive boil over and the wine had bubbled through the air lock.
There was an approximate loss of about 6-8 onces of wine. There was still a decent amount of bubbling going on.

Should I add more sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite or is this process normal and the metabisulfite will eventually tame the yeast?

Thanks for any input.

Let it finish fermenting before adding sulfite. After it’s finished, if you want it to be sweet, add sulfite and sorbate, then your sugar.

Don’t use sodium meta, use potassium, the sodium is reported to have a bad taste.
 
Let it finish fermenting before adding sulfite. After it’s finished, if you want it to be sweet, add sulfite and sorbate, then your sugar.

Don’t use sodium meta, use potassium, the sodium is reported to have a bad taste.
At what point do I know that it is done fermenting?
 
At what point do I know that it is done fermenting?

When the SG (as measured by a hydrometer, not refractometer) is ~0.995 to 0.998 or lower, and has been there for a few days. This is basically the only way to tell. Bubbles are "for amusement purposes only."
 
Also, I cannot make sense of your numbers. How much water did you add? If you add 14 lbs of sugar to 6 gallons of water, you get a SG of about 1.090. In your case, the 20 lbs of cherries would take up significant volume, so I am guessing you used a fair amount less water than 6 gallons. Something seems off...
 
Also, I cannot make sense of your numbers. How much water did you add? If you add 14 lbs of sugar to 6 gallons of water, you get a SG of about 1.090. In your case, the 20 lbs of cherries would take up significant volume, so I am guessing you used a fair amount less water than 6 gallons. Something seems off...

The sugar was dissolved and made into a simple syrup by boiling 2 gallons of water then letting it cool to room temp prior to adding the cherries.
The cherries were crushed/puréed and placed into a 2 gallon jelly bag.
This was combined in my primary fermenter. Additional water was added to primary fermenter to total 6 gallons.
When I transferred to the carboy, the pectin enzymes had done a great job and reduced the cherry mash to one large double handful of mash.

The 6 gallon carboy was topped off until it was full. It was not 6 gallons plus the additional water from the cherries.
 

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