Just a few questions

[Jnay]

Hi,

I'm all set to syphon my wine into the demijohns tomorrow morning.


Can someone tell me what I do with the airlock please?



From what I have read, I put the red/pink dung into the demijohn and then fit the airlock into
the hole in the bung, then fill the airlock half full of water.

Is that correct?

Also how far to the top do I fill the demijohn?
Is it a few inches or more?

I am leaving on Wednesday morning and I just want to make sure that everything is okay before I go into hospital .

I will be gone for five Amy's

Thank you

 

[jamesngalveston]

I have never seen a red are pink bung...does it have two holes are one.
You fit the bung in the carboy, fit the air lock in the bung, filled to the line with water.
I top off till i get to about 2 inches from the bottom of the carboy.
That way i can draw off a sample and not make a mess with wine spilling every where.

 

[Jnay]

I have never seen a red are pink bung...does it have two holes are one.
You fit the bung in the carboy, fit the air lock in the bung, filled to the line with water.
I top off till i get to about 2 inches from the bottom of the carboy.
That way i can draw off a sample and not make a mess with wine spilling every where.

Hi James Galveston ,

Thank you for replying.

The bung I have has just one hole in the top, I will try to put a photo of it up.

When adding the wine to the demijohn how far from the top of the demijohn do I stop please?






Thank you

 

[Rampage4all]

You can stop once it hits the small part of the neck usually about 2 inches from the top.

 

[jamesngalveston]

like rampage said about 2 inches. if you have to use a wine theif are turkey baster, you want spill any wine out, when you take your sample...

 

[Arne]

Hey James, can you edit the last post a bit? I can't quite figure out what you are saying in the last part. Jnay, if the bung is larger than the opening on the carboy, you can put the airlock in after you shove the bung in the carboy. If it is a close fit, I would put the airlock in, then put in the carboy, otherwise the next post will probably be how do I get the bung out of the carboy. BTW, it can be gotten back out. The headspace you want is probably going to depend on how low your specific gravity is. If it is down to 1.010 or lower you can probably get by with around 2 inches like the guys posted above. If the gravity is higher, I would give it some more headspace as you can get some violent ferment with the higher gravity. It will probably show up shortly after racking, tho. You get some extra oxygen mixed in and it can take off pretty good again. Also in the airlock instead of plain water I usually use some cheap rum I bought for that purpose. Others will use a k-meta solution. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[GaDawg]

I would not worry about topping up until after you degass

 

[Jnay]

Hi


I have one last question

I am just about to syphon my wine

What do I do with the raisins and elderflowers that are floating on top of the wine?

My guess is to just scoop them out with a sterilised slotted metal spoon, am I right?

Can I put these raisins and elderflowers in my composter?

Thank you everyone

 

[Boatboy24]

Go ahead and rack with them in there. You'll be left with a bunch of sludge in the bottom when you're finished. If you want to, you can sanitize your hands and squeeze the juice out of the raisins for later use. Store it in the fridge in a mason jar.

I don't see any issues with composting.

 

[Jnay]

Hi
I've syphoned the wine, fitted the bung and the airlock, the airlock came with a red top on it, do I leave that on or off when the wine Is fermenting, I say no cos where is the gas going to go but my partner says yes, please stop us fighting lol

 

[Arne]

Put the top back on. There are holes in to let the co2 out.

 

[Jnay]

Thank you

It looks like I've made chicken soup not wine!!!