Ok I am a dumb ***. I need help

[west_end]

If something could go wrong yesterday it did!!! It's a long story so I will just give the pertinent information.

I have several carboys sitting around in various states of aging. I went to bottle a cab yesterday and grabbed the wrong carboy. The carboy I accidentally grabbed (and bottled) had not been cleared yet…..D'oh

Should I uncork it and slowly poor it back in to a bucket and then syphon it back to a carboy? This is so stupid.

I think I know what when wrong. I always toast the brewing gods before doing anything wine or beer related. It was early and I was in a hurry and did not toast them this time. I am sure the gods where angry

 

[jamesngalveston]

I would pour it back into the carboy, and let it clear.....
Next time, build a fire,roast a pig,then pray to the wine god to make up for when you did not.....

 

[Rocky]

I agree with James. The sediment will always be in the bottle and be a problem. I would uncork each bottle and pour it back into the carboy.

 

[jojabri]

Each of my carboys have a name, number and date of start on them. That name, number and date match my log book so that I don't get myself all mixed up. Also makes it easier to keep records of gravity readings. It doesn't take but a minute to write it down on a slip of paper and tape it to the side.

 

[bkisel]

The very first kit I bottled had to be returned to the carboy. 12 of the bottles were 1.5L so it wasn't to bad. Wine turned out just fine.

 

[Boatboy24]

A few of these helps with that problem:

http://www.sharpie.com/enus/pages/peel-off-china-marker.aspx

 

[dralarms]

I've had to return several back to carboys. Mainly because I was trying to bottle too fast and they were not clear. One was clear, tasted great, but had some co2 left so I had to get it degassed.

 

[shoebiedoo]

And for the love of Pete man, next time TOAST THE BREWING GODS!!!!

 

[WellingtonToad]

At the risk of taking top "DUMB" spot from you, there is an alternative.(just not a good one)
The only thing that will happen in the bottle is the wine will mature a bit faster and the sediment will drop out, in the bottle.

This leaves you with a couple of options:
1). Decant the wine when you drink it to remove the sediment.
2). Rebottle the wine, in one of two ways: a). as mentioned above. b). wait for the sediment to drop then rebottle.

So long as there is no ferment / MLF or other gas producing action to be completed then this is an option.
If still fermenting - get it back in the carboy

 

[cmason1957]

I put each recipe into a page protector, then put a loop of twine through the page hole. That goes over the top of the carboy. Now I have a full sheet of paper to take notes on and write whatever I need to. Before I do anything, I check that piece of paper. It is a system that works for me.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I put each recipe into a page protector, then put a loop of twine through the page hole. That goes over the top of the carboy. Now I have a full sheet of paper to take notes on and write whatever I need to. Before I do anything, I check that piece of paper. It is a system that works for me.

I do very similiar method - it works very well. I rarely miss a transfer because of it

 

[jojabri]

Great Idea! Too bad my kids have access to my areas, and I don't trust the 4 year old to not see paper and a rubber band as something to create some art with.

 

[tonyt]

I checked with the wine gods and they insist you sacrifice a bottle to me.
I suggest after returning the wine to carboy add a dose of K-meta to combat the oxygen.

 

[cimbaliw]

West End, welcome to the school of hard knocks. I've tried several methods of documentation from Google Calendar to a notebook. I've ended up using 2x4" key tags around the carboy neck. Because I am neurotic, I eventually enter the information into a simple database
I made w/ MS Access.

 

[jensmith]

I use a strip of masking tape. Date and contents. Plenty of space for some racking dates and sg. It peals off and resticks to the next carboy nicley. I keep a seperate notebook for the recipies and details in full.

 

[sour_grapes]

I do exactly as jensmith.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

I just put masking tape on each carboy that identifies the contents. All my records are on the laptop. It is very nice to be able to see your entire history, with all your key dates, in one simple spreadsheet. I color code all my future dates for racking, stabilizing, sulfiting, and bottling so I can keep up with everything by just glancing at my highlighted dates.

Also, I have had to return multiple batches to the carboys due to incomplete degassing. They all turned out fine.

 

[sour_grapes]

I just put masking tape on each carboy that identifies the contents. All my records are on the laptop. It is very nice to be able to see your entire history, with all your key dates, in one simple spreadsheet. I color code all my future dates for racking, stabilizing, sulfiting, and bottling so I can keep up with everything by just glancing at my highlighted dates.

I do this, as well. I use Excel to calculate when the next step(s) of the batch are scheduled to be completed. I then use the "conditional formatting" feature of Excel to automagically change the color of the boxes when the date in question has passed, thereby alerting me to take action.

 

[NoSnob]

I just put masking tape on each carboy that identifies the contents. All my records are on the laptop. It is very nice to be able to see your entire history, with all your key dates, in one simple spreadsheet. I color code all my future dates for racking, stabilizing, sulfiting, and bottling so I can keep up with everything by just glancing at my highlighted dates.

Also, I have had to return multiple batches to the carboys due to incomplete degassing. They all turned out fine.

I use the masking tape too but keep records in a small spiral notebook. The laptop has got to be great too but do you back up your records? I would be very wary of losing everything if (when?) my laptop crashed. I could probably reconstruct my 2-3 pending wines but man I would really hate to lose all my old wine log records.

NS

 

[dralarms]

I need somebody's excel file so I can keep a better log. Im not smart enough to write one in excel