Not Quite Ready

[cpfan]

So it's been 12 hours since I gently stirred the wine in the primary fermenter and remeasured the specific gravity. The airlock hasn't bubbled since then. Yesterday when I first tested it and replaced the lid and airlock, it started bubbling again almost immediately. If the airlock isn't bubbling does it mean the fermentation has stopped? Is this normal after stirring? Am I too impatient?

IMHO, visual signs of fermentation are mostly useless. In this cause your fermentation seems to have slowed so there is little CO2 being generated, so it's not pushing out the air-lock. The fermentation is probably continuing gently.

Steve

 

[Wade E]

Its probably stopped or is just at the end of fermentation and doesnt have the build up power to push the airlock any more.

 

[phermenter]

So it's been 12 hours since I gently stirred the wine in the primary fermenter and remeasured the specific gravity. The airlock hasn't bubbled since then. Yesterday when I first tested it and replaced the lid and airlock, it started bubbling again almost immediately. If the airlock isn't bubbling does it mean the fermentation has stopped? Is this normal after stirring? Am I too impatient?

Yes, you're WAY too impatient, like most new winemakers (including the me of 18 month ago). Mellow out and wait. Forget the airlock. It means almost nothing. The hydrometer means everything. Don't even think about bottling until it's 3 months past dropping the yeast. Then you'll have a feel for waiting.

Jim

 

[Zog]

Making progress... 1.000 today.

 

[Zog]

Day 19 and it is .998 which is the number called for in the instructions. This number is uncorrected for temperature, so in reality it's still .999 or so. Should I proceed to racking it into the carboy and completing the other steps called for?

 

[rawlus]

have you transferred from the primary yet? if not, now is the time to do it. follow the instructions the kit came with as each kit seems to have slight nuances in their procedural steps and additive schedules.

personally i usually move to secondary carboy around 1010

dont be too concerned about racking some of the sediment at this stage, you don't want to suck all the sludge off the bottom of the bucket, but you also don't want to leave behind too much good wine. so if you suck up a little cloudy wine, no worries, the next stages will take care of that. you have additional rackings ahead to deal with sediment, right now you're trying to maintain as much of the wine as reasonably possible - to minimize topping up later on...


different wines finish up differently, every ferment is different. it may only go down to 0996 or it may go down to 0992. thing is, when you get two or three days in a row of the same reading, it'll be pretty much finished and you can move onto the next step.... which will probably be clarification/stabilization.. which will prob be another racking. when you do that one, put a block under the edge of the carboy so that when it settles, it settles to one side of the carboy, makes the final racking before bottling or bulk aging easy to leave the last sediment behind.

good luck.

 

[Zog]

Thanks Rawlus. It's still in the primary. This is a Vino del Vida Valpolicella kit. According to the instructions I'm to keep it there (at 75 degrees) until it reaches 0.998. Once reached, then it is to be racked into the carboy and immediately I add sulphite, sorbate, then degas and finally add some clarifying agents. This is my first kit, so I'm trying to follow the directions.

Once I add the Potassium Sorbate isn't it true that fermentation will drop off pretty quickly? So, I'm not sure that the SG will drop much more at all. This is why I asked if I should keep it in the primary until the SG reaches about 0.9965 to adjust for temperature. It still seems to be dropping, although very slowly. I suppose it can't hurt very much to let it sit in the primary for a couple more days.