racking to much?

[jerry]

I always rack 3 times after the the secondary fermenter, even if the time between rackings are different and if there is no visual sign of sediment(lees). Am I racking to many times, exposing the wine to air and topping of to many times. I am very satisfied with the finished product doing it this way, but just wondering. PS I never use kits, I always use juice or fresh fruit.

 

[Tom]

There is no reason to rack if there is no setiment on the bottom. You nust keep your sulfites up. 1/4 tsp every 3 months. Fruit wines need 6 months aging so make sure you have enough sulfites.

 

[wctisue]

So WHY are you racking??? There should be a purpose to your racking. 1. Bucket to secondary. 2. Secondary to clear. 3. Maybe again if you bulk age for awhile and it drops sediment. More patience!!!


Wayne

 

[smurfe]

I agree, no reason to rack unless there is a reason, mainly it is still dropping solids. If you like it though, keep doing what you are doing. It's your wine and your experience. Don't let anyone spoil your experience.

 

[surlees]

Every time you rack, you expose your wine to air (oxygen) which causes some additional oxidation. Plus, each time you rack you lose some wine which means you have to top up your carboy with other wine or you leave a larger airspace for oxidation to occur. You should rack the fewest times possible to remove sediment prior to bottling.


The longer you wait to rack the more sediment will have dropped out. However, this has to be balanced with the fact that leaving too much sediment (lees) for too long may impart bad flavors to your wine.