My 1st Go at Wine and RC 212

[FunkedOut]

Tonight marks the end of day 4 of primary fermentation.
I added the second half dose of Fermaid K just ahead of the 1/3 sugar break, at the end of day 3.

• Kit instructions say to allow 6-8 days before proceeding to step 2: secondary fermentation (rack to a carboy with airlock).
• Step 2 says to rack to carboy when SG reaches 1.020 or lower.

The way things are trending, the SG should hit 1.020 by the end of day 5.

* the entire timeline on this graph is 7 days

I'm thinking the right thing to do is ignore the calendar and listen to the hydrometer.
Am I thinking clear thoughts?

How low (SG) can I leave it in the primary and not risk oxidizing the wine?
Should I leave it in the primary for 6 days, and rack it dry?
Or rack it as soon as it hits 1.020 or some other magic number?

 

[G259]

Don't get too hung up on the EXACT time to move to secondary. If you can, a good time is 1.020-1.010, but I have had a couple ferment dry in the bucket (.990), and they turned out fine.

The question I ask myself is: 'Does the wine have a blanket of CO2 covering it?' If the answer is 'maybe', then I'm worried.

 

[Johnd]

I'm thinking the right thing to do is ignore the calendar and listen to the hydrometer.
Am I thinking clear thoughts?

How low (SG) can I leave it in the primary and not risk oxidizing the wine?
Should I leave it in the primary for 6 days, and rack it dry?
Or rack it as soon as it hits 1.020 or some other magic number?

You’re on track, let the hydrometer / SG be your guide at this stage, not time.

If you have active fermentation, your wine is fine to stay in it’s primary vessel, as it nears completion, we move it to a vessel where we can control air exposure as well as get rid of some of the heavier lees that have begun to settle out. Exactly when is your call, though the closer to “done” you are, the lower the chances of overflows / airlock foaming / volcanoes is. Some folks completely finish AF in primary, others rack at 1020, 1010, 1000, you get to choose.

 

[mainshipfred]

What I normally do is keep the lid loose until it gets to around 1.010 or below. Then I snap the lid and put in the air lock to make sure I have a CO2 blanket. I then let it go to dry or almost dry.

 

[FunkedOut]

Fermentation was very tame. It would’ve been fine in a 7 gallon pot.
The only pucker moment came when I added the Fermaid K.
That’s a great way to degas!

 

[FunkedOut]

On day 6, 1.020, and I racked into a 6 gallon carboy.
It's now day 9, still at 1.010. If the trend continues, this will probably be dry a week from now.
There currently sits 3/4" of fine lees on the bottom. Should this concern me at all?

I've read where it's recommended to rack off of the fine lees once they build up to 1/2".
Are these lees going to funk my wine in the next week?

My heart says to just wait until it's dry before racking again.
But I really don't know.

Does the height of the lees matter for a week or two?

 

[mainshipfred]

You should be fine to let it go, infact you may want to stir it daily to stir up the lees. You probably don't have 3/4" anyway. The lees get attached to the glass and there is probably only the appearance of 3/4" around the base.

 

[FunkedOut]

I have not done a thing to the wine, no stirring up the lees, no racking.
Here we are on day 18 since pitch, SG reads 1.001.
I can still see a steady stream of tiny bubbles working their way up to the surface. Airlock still gluggs a few time a minute.
But it is almost 3 weeks into fermentation. That 50% longer than everyone else.
I'm not worried. Should I be?
Should I consider stirring up the lees? Or just practice patience?

 

[Chuck E]

I have not done a thing to the wine, no stirring up the lees, no racking.
Here we are on day 18 since pitch, SG reads 1.001.
I can still see a steady stream of tiny bubbles working their way up to the surface. Airlock still gluggs a few time a minute.
But it is almost 3 weeks into fermentation. That 50% longer than everyone else.
I'm not worried. Should I be?
Should I consider stirring up the lees? Or just practice patience?
View attachment 54954

I usually stir my fermentations twice a day, but I also usually have a "cap" of skins to deal with. That said, your ferment is working its way down to dry; so I would say not to worry.

 

[FunkedOut]

I still have not done a thing to the wine, and it's bubbling away. Bubbling has slowed down a fair amount. SG is down to 0.997.
Tomorrow marks day 28 since pitched.

Either RC212 is way slower than EC1118, or I racked into the carboy too early.
At least there was a happy ending.

 

[FunkedOut]

I’ve had my struggles with keeping the stoppers in the carboy.
Ended up being, making sure they were dry and the carboy was dry was the answer....

...until I topped up and left 1” of headspace after degassing.

I had a stopper that I adapted a VacuVin that worked great.
After a week of that, I replaced the stopper with a solid stopper.
The 6.5 gallon carboy kept spitting the stopper out.
Both the universal kind and the rubber #7.

I’m guessing it’s the limited headspace being compressed by inserting the stopper created too high a pressure and that’s what is pushing the stopper out.

Anyway, this is what I’ve resorted to as even some tape was no match for the carboy.

 

[Johnd]

I doubt that your wine is degassed in one week with a vacuvin, which is probably why it’s spitting your stopper. A stopper with an airlock or waterless vented bung is a good option for several more months. When my wine is in carboys, there’s never a solid stopper in place, only my barrels have solids.

 

[FunkedOut]

sounds like i just made a messy bomb then...

 

[Johnd]

sounds like i just made a messy bomb then...

Kinda what I’m thinking. Be careful not to put your face over the bung when you cut those zip ties loose!!

 

[FunkedOut]

It already had a good amount of desire to get the bung out!
Thanks for the heads up and reading/posting so quickly, before my wine was all over my floor.

There's a 3-piece airlock on it now. I got tired of the vacuvin treatment.

 

[Chuck E]

It already had a good amount of desire to get the bung out!
Thanks for the heads up and reading/posting so quickly, before my wine was all over my floor.

There's a 3-piece airlock on it now. I got tired of the vacuvin treatment.

I use these: https://morewinemaking.com/products/silicone-stopper-breathable-carboy.html

 

[FunkedOut]

I grabbed one of those on a recent order. I plan to put it to use after I transfer from the 'clearing' carboy to the 'aging' carboy next week.

I left for the weekend and set the HVAC to 80*F since the house would be empty.
That 1" - 1.5" of headspace I left on this batch disappeared when the wine heated up!
I came home to find the airlock full of wine. Not a drop had spilled though.
I guess during that time, it's as if no airlock was present, since the wine level rose far enough to join the starsan in the airlock.
I basically had a small surface area of the wine exposed to air for a couple days.
Not worried about it. I will consider that my micro-oxygenation.

At any rate, after cleaning and recharging the airlock with fresh starsan, I decided to remove some wine to create a bit more headspace.
It is still what I call a bit boozy. The strong alcoholic taste is overpowering the rest of the notes.
If this game is anything like beer, that taste should mellow and go away after a few months to a year.
Anytime I make ~10% beer, it's got this taste that goes away after 6 months to a year.

Looking past that bit, the smell, the taste and the finish on this kit is fantastic! It's essence of Malbec.
Any Malbec fans should definitely give this kit a go.
I do not plan to add any oak whatsoever. Maybe I will regret that after the booze mellows out a bit.
But applying my beer experience with this tasting, I say let it ride.

Thanks for everyone's help on this maiden voyage.
I am really happy with this outcome and definitely hooked.
My second kit is on order, but that's another thread...

 

[FunkedOut]

Just racked to a carboy for aging.
I got a little schmutz when racking but it's very minimal. It will stay behind on the next racking.
Still feel like no more oak is the right choice; going with that.

I put one of those breather silicone bungs that @Chuck E posted. It's holding position well. I can only assume its working right.

Measured a pH of 3.27 today. Seems a bit low from what reading I've done. Tastes fine.
Anyone else measure kit wines and find this low a pH in the finished wine?

(I calibrated the MW102 just before measuring. This instrument has been super reliable and stability test on it proves it is still trustworthy.)

 

[Johnd]

That pH is low for a Malbec, since this is a kit, and presumably manufactured to produce the best tasting wine, and tastes fine to you, no sense messing with it.

 

[FunkedOut]

Update on the progress of this, my first wine kit.
I racked it (and added sulfite) today after the first 3 months of bulk aging.
I pulled some out prior to the racking to taste along side some store bought malbec that I enjoy and have been using to top up.

I can say that the boozeyness had mellowed out quite a bit and it's now out of the way to taste the rest of the wine.
Here's what I get from it: water, sour and the booze on the back end.
Granted it is wine, but when I taste the store bought wine, it tastes like in-your-face grapes, rounder and sweeter, with way more mouth feel and astringency at the end (which I enjoy).

Is what I am tasting here typical of a young wine?
Will this get better with age?
Or should I take action?

I was placing an online order to I added tannin complex and tannin riche to the cart.
I'll have those soon on hand, as well as some oak cubes that I can play with.