First time!!!!!

[Lonnie]

ALRIGHT i did it!!!! my first racking, must to the glass carboy,yes i made a mess i think i only lost about 1/2 a cup on the floor and wall,,ok i went 9 days the Selection Merlot instructions said to check the S.G. after 5 to 7 days i hope i didn't mess up going 2 days lateranyway the S.G. was 0.996 and the instructions said it should be 1.010 or less, so i guess i'm ok, after racking to the carboy i put the stopper in and pushed the airlock in, filled it up half way with water then put the thimble shaped thing in and capped it am i alright,,,now my 10 day wait
Thanks a bunch for your help
Lonnie

 

[grapeman]

A couple little things Lonnie. It will be OK, but you should try to rack to the secondary a bit sooner in the future. You are pretty close to done fermenting at .996. You want a little fermentation left to go when you transfer to create a C02 cap and protect the wine from oxygen. Also if you go too far the shock of transfer can sometimes cause it to stall out at low SG such as yours and it might not finish totally dry(which you might like anyways). Also -especially in the summer- you might consider a solution of K-meta to put in the airlock. It gives a little more protection against unwanted bacterial growth in the airlock. From time to time with air pressure changes a little of the airlock water can get sucked in, so the k-maeta makes sure it is fairly sterile. Some people use a vodka or similar in the airlock also.


Good going

 

[joeswine]

the first racking session I did ,not only did I get very high from the drawning throught the hose,I had wine on the floor down my shirt splashes all around the work area,with time came learning and when I could the proper tools ,learning how to work very neatly brings down all the problems that come in contact with you your tools and your wine,first racking and sometimes evevn now I get a litte spillage

all of us have had the same problems,and to a smaller extent it lessons as you aquire the tools,time and skills to master this wonderful craft//

 

[OilnH2O]

Hmmm...

I wonder how many of us "learned" this process with gasoline... in the dark!

It's why I use an auto-syphon!

 

[jobe05]

I wonder how many of us "learned" this process with gasoline... in the dark!

Been there Done That!!!!! A few hundred times.....

 

[Wade E]

I have never made a mess in my cellar!

 

[joeswine]

OH WADE does that picture bring back events,did the same thing with a 6 gallon and was alone and could not stop the valcano from erupting put my hand on the top to no advale took it off and the flow was even worse remember I have my wine one benches and with the rotory in the bottle and the dril it was very hard for me to extend that tall what a mess,or the first time I tried my new and shinny electric transfer pump everthing was going great all set to go pumps 6 gallons of liquid in second anywere ,up down whatever,turned on the equipment and the 3/4 inch hose pops out of the carboy and like a snake wiggles all over mean while I couldn"t find the switch in my panic which I might add was only 1/16th of a inch from my finger and sharaz pouring out,what a mess learn't from that event in a hurry, but at least I don't get stoned just trying to go from bottle to bottle any more although it was fun

//jp

 

[grapeman]

Well it's about time you broke that room in proper Wade! However it is a sad thing to see all that liquid gold on the floor! At least it wasn't a really dark red.