Racking?

[scubaman2151]

In my wine kit, the kiwi pear island mist one. It says you need to rack the wine into a carboy once the SG drops below 1.010, but then you let it sit for a couple more days and you dont do anything with it untill the SG raches .996 (i believe thats the number). My question, why cant you just leave the wine in the primary fermentor untill it gets that low?


The only thing I can figure is that you want to get the wine off the lees.


Scuba

 

[grapeman]

If it gets too low, it can stop finishing upon transfer. Also if it is still actively fermenting you get a CO2 cap of gas on top preventing oxygen exposure.

 

[Wade E]

Some wine kit manufacturers have you finish fermentation in the primary but you should always follow the instructions as to not void the warranty. Personally I like finishing in the primary and degassing with the mix stir on the drill in the bucket as its much easier to get rid of excess gas.

 

[Gelu Liber]

What should you do if you transfer to the carboy and then fermentation stops alltogether? I mean NO more air bubles at all.

 

[masta]

You only know it really stopped by checking SG with a hydrometer. Use this as your guide and not visual signs or bubbling in the airlock. 85-90% of the fermentation is often complete when you transfer in a carboy so the fermentation action of the wine will slow dramatically.


If the fermentation did stop there are ways to restart.

 

[Wade E]

At these hotter temps alot of wines are finishing quicker than what the instructions say and the airlocks on the primaries were still active from all the gas still stuck in there. There will b still a lot of gas in there now but maybe not enough to push the airlock.

 

[Gelu Liber]

I am afraid there is not enough CO2 in the top of the carboy. This is a concord batch from my own grapes and I do not want to lose it.

 

[Wade E]

As long as you are topped up properly you have nothing to worry about. Try to keepm the bung on it with airlock and not to open it unnecessarily.

 

[Trubador]

Hopefully this question isn't hijacking the thread, but I think it is related....there is a technique I read about on this board for a "buttery" chardonnay. It involves opening the secondary and stirring weekly for a month or so.


Wouldn't this expose the wine to oxygen after a few weeks of this, given that fermentation would have stopped and once the cap is placed back on the carboy, there would be no CO2 blanket for a month or so?

 

[dfwwino]

The buttery flavor in chardonnay is produced by malolactic fermentation. Therefore, you should add an MLF culture to your wine if you want the buttery flavor. Diacetyl is a byproduct of MLF and produces the buttery flavor, which is also the chemical added to popcorn to give it a butter flavor. Unfortunately, you cannot use MLF on most kit wines as it will produce off flavors (geranium). Battonage, or stirring on the lees, promotes a creamy body in the Chardonnay. If you gently stir the lees just enough to mix the dead yeast back into solution and don't splash, etc., you should have no problem with oxidizing your wine.This presumes that you keep the wine in a topped up carboy and only remove the airlock when needed to stir the lees.Edited by: dfwwino

 

[masta]

Great question and since the instructions call for adding K-meta, topping up the carboy first before starting this procedure and gently stirring you are not exposing the wine to enough air to cause an issue with oxidation.


Our kits tend to have a softer, more complex flavour profile than you might expect. We achieve this partly by carefully choosing our oak styles and the protocols for using them. By including the oak in with the fermentation (instead of after) we get a much softer profile, which includes some butter and vanilla notes, as opposed to woody or smoky characters.
Now you can’t do malolactic on the kits. It will end in tears if you try. However, there is a technique called ‘battonage’ that will help fatten up the finish of the wine, and give it a rich, creamy mouth feel. Here’s the deal:
<DIV align=left>
<UL>
<LI>Make you kit up as normal, and rack to the secondary carboy on day 5-7 as directed.
<LI>After ten days, ignore the instructions about fining and stabilising. Instead, add one-quarter teaspoon of metabisulphite powder to the wine, and gently stir it up with a sanitised spoon.
<LI>Get all of the yeast sediment in to suspension, make sure it’s nice and cloudy, but don’t splash or agitate.
<LI>Top up with some decent Chardonnay wine (this is better than using water for this technique). At three or four day intervals, go back and stir the yeast up again.
<LI>Repeat every three or four days for a month.
<LI>Let the wine settle for two weeks, rack it into a clean, sanitised carboy, and follow all the remaining instructions on schedule, omitting no detail however slight. </LI>[/list]
By stirring the yeast into suspension repeatedly you get the benefits of the amino acids they carry, along with a host of compounds—principally mannoproteins, which give they creamy aroma and mouth feel.
Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your kit.
Cheers,
Tim Vandergrift
<DIV align=left>Technical Services Manager Edited by: masta

 

[dfwwino]

Trubador,


If you want a Chardonnay with a buttery taste, I saw that George is now making the frozen MM juices available for shipment. You could order a MM frozen juice Chardonnay and after primary fermentation, innoculate the wine with a Malolactic culture, which is also available from George. Then you could obtain the benefits of both MLF and battonage and achieve a very nice, buttery, creamy Chardonnay.

 

[Wade E]

Great idea DFW!

 

[dfwwino]

Thank you Wade. Sometimes I can pull a good idea out of this decaying brain matter. In fact, I'm tempted to add another pail to my frozen juice order to give this a try.