Racking to secondary

[rrs26ja]

I should be ready bythis Sat to transfer from my primary fermenter to the glass carboy. My bucket does not have a spigot so I will have to siphon over using the cane. My question is how far do I stick that cane down into the bucket? I don't want any sediment right?


Thanks to all of you for your help, I know I have asked a lot of questions, but being this is my first kit, I want to be sure. I just purchased a bucket with a spigot from this site, looked eaiser.


Thanks
Ron

 

[grapeman]

A thought for you Ron is to keep a thread going on each batch you have questions about. This way we know what kit you are doing for the question and we can give you a more accurate and timely answer. We help with hundreds of questions and users, so we can't remember the specifics about each batch. By keeping all questions linked to a kit, we can just go back through the post and get a bit of history.


After a bit of searching I see this is a WE Barolo kit. Therefore you need to make it according to WE instructions. They have you leave the bulk of the lees behind on your first racking. When you are almost ready to rack, set a small block of wood under one side of the bucket. Do this a couple days ahead of time and the lees will seek their level off to one side. It makes it easier to get most of the wine out that way. If you don't have a racking cane bucket clip, you can use a clothes pin or wood clamp to keep the tip off the bottom. Transfer all the wine, but leave the lees behind. Good luck and have fun with your first transfer.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Good point about separate threads for each kit, Appleman. It also helps those who may try the same kit later and would have the same questions.
On the question of "how far down in the bucket do you stick the cane?" I like to keep the bottom of the cane well above the lees in the bottom until the very end. In order to do that, I start with the cane about in the middle and as the liquid is transfered, I lower it enough to maintain the siphon and finally get right down to the lees where the last liquid pools in the tilted vessel.

 

[rrs26ja]

I like the thread idea. Can you tell me how I go about doing that?

 

[AlFulchino]

good point Jack, i do the same when racking off the lees....the suction starts up near the top and then proceeds down w the removal of liquid......and i do the same w the bottling...usually the very bottom is saved for a glass of maybe a quick half bottle to take up stairs for the next dinner

 

[wctisue]

I'll throw in a slightly different perspective.
WE Selection Stag's Leap instructions say, "Leave most of the sediment behind." WE World Vineyard California Trinity Red instructions say, "Leave most of the thick sediment behind." So I stick the racking cane all the way to the bottom and suck out every bit of liquid gold (wine) I can. I don't tilt the carboy till the wine is near the bottom. I'm leaving the lees flat across the bottom of the carboy.


Are you using the cap at the end of the auto siphon? It is 3/4" thick. Most of the time the lees aren't much more than that.


Eight to fourteen days after adding the stabilizer and clarifier we "rack to clear". I would guess most of us rack the wine again before bottling. During both of those racking I try to leave all of the sediment behind. And yes I put this leftover in a glass, let it clear, and then drink it till it starts to taste gritty. Never want to waste a drop of our precious wine.


Wayne

 

[K&GB]

I like the thread idea. Can you tell me how I go about doing that?

Welcome rrs26ja! Just start a thread (topic) and name it after your particular wine kit, i.e. "WE Barolo", and then relpy to it with all future questions.


I see someone mentioned an auto-siphon. I learned early on, after several frustrating experiences with a regular racking cane and small diameter tubing, that an auto-siphon makes things lots easier. If you don't have one, I would make it my next purchase.

 

[grapeman]

I like the thread idea. Can you tell me how I go about doing that?

Welcome rrs26ja! Just start a thread (topic) and name it after your particular wine kit, i.e. "WE Barolo", and then relpy to it with all future questions.

And if it is a WE kit, put it under Winexperts Kit section, if something else, put it under that section. Remember if you can't find the post after a while, it will be easier to find if put in the kit brand section. You can also do a search on your own name and it will bring up your posts. If it has been quite a while, search on "Any Date"


- Any Questions?

 

[PolishWineP]

When we start racking and we're to leave most of the sediment behind, we start in the middle and then lower the cane as we go. You can see the lees as your wine level drops and can adjust the cane level as needed.

 

[wctisue]

I just watched George's video. http://finewinevines.com/120308_round4/Tips%20and%20Tricks/tips_1btn.html George deals with the sediment early in the racking and he too doesn't want to waste any wine.


Wayne

 

[PeterZ]

I'd be more concerned with losing wine than transferring lees. Since I rack several times before bottling, I don't worry about how much sediment I bring over on the first racking.

 

[admiral]

I'd be more concerned with losing wine than transferring lees. Since I rack several times before bottling, I don't worry about how much sediment I bring over on the first racking.

That makes a lot of sense to me. With my first racking from secondary I was way too cautious and left too much wine behind. Never again. Thanks for the advice.