Racking During Bulk ageing

[SPR]

Hi guys

I have lots of carbouys now full of wine and ageing. They have all had sulphites added at the last stage before storage and are all high end Winexpert etc kits.

I was intending to just leave these for 6 months or longer before bottling but having read posts am I supposed to rack and resulphite every 3 months or so or can I just leave them? I am mainly talking about big reds as the whites are getting drunk while I am waiting for these!

They are in glass 23ltr carbouys with sealed silicon sold bungs ?

Appreciate your experience and comments on this

 

[heatherd]

Hi guys

I have lots of carbouys now full of wine and ageing. They have all had sulphites added at the last stage before storage and are all high end Winexpert etc kits.

I was intending to just leave these for 6 months or longer before bottling but having read posts am I supposed to rack and resulphite every 3 months or so or can I just leave them? I am mainly talking about big reds as the whites are getting drunk while I am waiting for these!

They are in glass 23ltr carbouys with sealed silicon sold bungs ?

Appreciate your experience and comments on this

My typical process would be to rack at the beginning of bulk aging, leave them alone during aging and clearing, then rack prior to bottling.

However, if you have a stubborn batch that won't clear on it's own, racking may clear it.

I leave airlocks on the whole time.

 

[SPR]

Thanks Heatherd. So you don't add any extra sulphites or anything. Just leave well alone. That's what I Was thinking as I will probably filter before bottling. I was more concerned about it going off but hopefully sealed and should be ok

 

[FTC Wines]

SPR, I rack every 3 months in bulk aging, using a vacuum pump. At each racking I add a 1/8 tsp of K-Meta. Did this blindly for years. For the last 18 months I've used my Vinmetric 300 to check SO2 levels & have been very happy with my levels, rarely do I have to add more. Roy

 

[richmke]

What Roy said. Except that I am blind. I should put the Vinmetric on my Christmas Wish List.

 

[av8torx]

Hi, I'm a newbie as well. I am doing my first batch a winexperts Select Chilean Malbec. I am following the directions in the box. I am hearing that guys are aging their wines in a carboy for months before racking it again and then bottling The directions I'm following do not say to age in a carboy. What am I missing here? I do not want to have sediment in my wine bottles! Thanks Dave

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I also rack every 3 months and add sulfite as noted above. It gives you an opportunity to taste and adjust if necessary.

 

[sour_grapes]

Hi, I'm a newbie as well. I am doing my first batch a winexperts Select Chilean Malbec. I am following the directions in the box. I am hearing that guys are aging their wines in a carboy for months before racking it again and then bottling The directions I'm following do not say to age in a carboy. What am I missing here? I do not want to have sediment in my wine bottles! Thanks Dave

Take a look at this link to get a good overview: https://winemakermag.com/blogs/making-your-kit-wine-shine-redeaux

There is no magic bullet; since antiquity, wines have been aged for months before drinking. We have not figured out a way around that!

 

[barbiek]

I bulk age everything! Adding k meta every 3 mos even the quick dragon blood I bulk aged for 6 mos for the reasons Steve stated above and also don't really need to add clearing agent but I do anyway to get that sparkle

 

[Runningwolf]

My typical process would be to rack at the beginning of bulk aging, leave them alone during aging and clearing, then rack prior to bottling.

However, if you have a stubborn batch that won't clear on it's own, racking may clear it.

I leave airlocks on the whole time.

I agree with Heather. If there is only light sediment on the bottom that pretty much just looks like a light coating of dust why would you rack and reintroduce oxygen? This will only lead to Oxidation in some cases.At the onset of bulk aging, I would sulfite heavy and then leave it alone unless there was an incident where the bung fell off for a period of time or went dry.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Hi, I'm a newbie as well. I am doing my first batch a winexperts Select Chilean Malbec. I am following the directions in the box. I am hearing that guys are aging their wines in a carboy for months before racking it again and then bottling The directions I'm following do not say to age in a carboy. What am I missing here? I do not want to have sediment in my wine bottles! Thanks Dave

Your direction don't say to NOT age in a carboy, they simply want you to bottle the wine as fast as possible. There is a simple reason, the kit maker wants you to have an open carboy so you buy another kit. If they actually told you to NOT buy another kit for a year by letting the wine age, they would go out of business.

Marketing, not science.

 

[av8torx]

I plan on buying a new kits every 2 months anyway! I get bottles for free so that's not an issue. I wonder how long I should age my wine before I open the first bottle?

 

[SPR]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I have quiet a stash now ageing and from what I have read I think I am correct in saying that I can just add sulphite before putting into bulk ageing and then leave it sealed up unless I get lots of sediment dropping out? I think that sums it up

I am currently drinking Winexpert Australian Chardonnay which I have made as it's pretty good after a very short time while all the red ages as I am new to this and gagging to start enjoying it!!

 

[jgmann67]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I have quiet a stash now ageing and from what I have read I think I am correct in saying that I can just add sulphite before putting into bulk ageing and then leave it sealed up unless I get lots of sediment dropping out? I think that sums it up



I am currently drinking Winexpert Australian Chardonnay which I have made as it's pretty good after a very short time while all the red ages as I am new to this and gagging to start enjoying it!!

That Aussie Chard starts to get good after 6 months of aging. At 9 months, it's even better. Another few months should make it really shine.

There are very few things you can do to ruin a kit wine. Bulk aging (when done properly) isn't one of them. Don't be afraid to try it both ways - rack and dose every 3 months; and, dose going into bulk aging and when bottling only. I think the results will be the same.

Just remember to monitor your air locks.

 

[av8torx]

Hi, Lets just say I just follow the winexpert kit directions! Aging the wine in bottles. I'm doing a Chilean Malbec. I plan on doing extra sulphates in half the batch. I plan on aging 15 bottles for over 2 years. The kit says the sulphates that come with the kit would be enough if you drink the wine before 6 months. The local Beer Nut business says I/m good up to 2 years with the kit sulphate amount. I guess what I am asking is if I just bottle as per the directions how much sulphate should I add and how long should I age the bottles? Is that clear as mud?

 

[richmke]

Hi, Lets just say I just follow the winexpert kit directions! Aging the wine in bottles. I'm doing a Chilean Malbec.... The kit says the sulphates that come with the kit would be enough if you drink the wine before 6 months. ... I guess what I am asking is if I just bottle as per the directions how much sulphate should I add and how long should I age the bottles?

For a Malbec, you will want to wait a lot longer than 6 months to drink it.

Either: Follow the directions in Step 4 for extended aging (adding 1/4 tsp K-meta), or ...

At Step 5, bottling, do the following:
1) Rack 1/3 to a clean carboy
2) Add 1/4 tsp K-Meta
3) Rack the rest (leaving sediment)
4) Airlock the carboy
5) Wait a few days (let the K-Meta distribute)
6) Bottle

Wait at least 1 year (from the yeast pitch date), and then start sampling.

I prefer adding more k-meta at step 5 because I prefer racking off the sediment before bottling. Otherwise, you are likely to disturb the sediment during the bottling process (starting/stopping the flow with each bottle). That messes up your last few bottles. If you are going to rack before bottling, then you might as well dose it with k-meta at that time.

 

[av8torx]

Hi Quick question. I am on stage 2 on my winexperts malbec. I am at 0.998 SG I need to get it to 0.996 before proceeding to the stabilising and clearing stage. I tasted the wine right now and it tastes tart. Is that normal? I know I have a ways to go with the process. The grape juice right out of the box was sweet. Right now it just tastes like tart wine. I have been extra careful keeping everything sanitary. Thanks dave

 

[wineforfun]

Yes, it is normal. The wine is VERY young and barely dry.

It was sweet out of the box due to all the sugars in the grape juice. Those have now been converted to alcohol.

Keep moving forward, all sounds like it is going according to plan.

 

[Floandgary]

Stage 2, meaning you've racked to a carboy correct? With luck you've also racked over some yeasty lees. Just let it sit there and hopefully watch the airlock bubble away! When activity ceases for a couple of days, check SG. What temperature? Like to be @75-80F. Dry should be @.990-.992 . Let set for a few days then, if there's a fair amount of lees, rack over and stabilize. TART is normal at this stage. Back sweeten to your taste and commence aging!!! The aging process itself will account for a few points of sweetness. In a year from now it'll be quite nice! And yes I did say a year. That's my process anyway. Surprisingly I have gotten sediment even after 9 months..

 

[montanaWineGuy]

I'm a believer that if there is sediment on the bottom of your Carboy, then rack it. That junk don't help nothing and racking has little (or few or any) negatives.