Rasins in the secondary

[bpowell88]

So I transfered a GSM to the secondary and decided to put raisins in this one since its a medium of the road kit.

Man is it bubbling! The raisins have filled the whole headspace and I had to remove some wine to allow for more space.

How long do you keep them in the secondary?

Thanks

 

[bpowell88]

Also, I'm not wanting to raise the alcohol % to something drastically higher, just wanting to add some body and mouthfeel

 

[jswordy]

Interesting - I always use raisins in primary. Sounds like the sugar has boosted fermentation again.

 

[Bartman]

How far along was it when you transferred it? Was it fermented to dry before you trasnferred it or was the S.G. around 1.100 or 1.200?

If it was dry before you added the raisins, the bubbling may be mostly CO2 gas coming out. Or it could be continuing fermentation - hard to say with the info you've given.

If it was dry when you added the raisins, I would leave them in until you rack again (probably one month or two months?). If it seems to still be fermenting, then I would remove them along with the gross lees in the next couple weeks.

How much/many raisins did you add?

 

[Thig]

So I transfered a GSM to the secondary and decided to put raisins in this one since its a medium of the road kit.

Man is it bubbling! The raisins have filled the whole headspace and I had to remove some wine to allow for more space.

How long do you keep them in the secondary?

Thanks

Did you stabalize with Sorbate, if not it is probably fermenting the sugars in the raisins.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Not to mention that the raisins can act as a yeast nutrient. I add the raisins to the fermenting bucket.

 

[bpowell88]

I had read that Joe was saying he adds them to the secondary. Cant remember why now that I think of it... the sg was under 1.0 when I added the raisins.. it could be co2 gas coming up, the raisins have plumped up which is forcing me to take out some wine to allow space... hopefully I dont have to take out too much! I figure Ill leave them in a week or so.

 

[Rocky]

bpowell, I plan to try them in a Valpolicella that I have on order. I will ferment in primary with the raisins that come with the kit and add chopped SunMaid red raisins in secondary. I plan to move from primary to secondary when SG = 1.020 or a little higher.

 

[bpowell88]

Maybe I should have chopped them for the secondary! The rate that they expand is astounding... I didnt even think about it before I put them in. How long do you plan on leaving them in the secondary?

 

[Loner]

Rocky .. When adding raisins to secondary do you just drop them in or use in a F/pack ?

 

[Rocky]

Loner, this will be my first try at this so I will be feeling my way through the process. You did give me an idea though. I was planning on just putting them in the carboy and filling it from the primary but I may put them in a bag, transfer from one fermenting bucket to another, add the bag and snap down the lid with an airlock installed. I will keep them in the secondary until the wine is dry, i.e. SG = 0.992 or so.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Rocky, this is how I add the raisins, chopped and rehydrated, then in a nylon drawstring bag.

 

[Tyroneshoolace]

I'm a little confused. Raisins in secondary? I just can't seem to understand why. Maybe JOES WINE mentioned it, maybe I have trouble reading all caps? maybe I have seemed to miss how this may benefit anything other than more sugar and/or nutrient.

 

[Rocky]

Tyrone, I think the idea is to give the wine more contact time with the fruit which should add to body and mouth feel. I am going to try it shortly and will report on how it works out. I am guessing that there will be a slight increase (probably 0.010 or so) in SG at the time of adding the raisins in secondary which will add about 1.3% to the ABV.

 

[Loner]

I think Pumkinman has the right approach. I've tried the toss em in primary. They swelled to the point I thought fermentation had stalled. I had to remove most of them to get it going again. It would have been a mess in a Carboy.

 

[Rocky]

Loner, I think you are right and the more I think about it, I plan to move to another fermenter, add the airlock, seal it and ferment to dry.

 

[Bartman]

Rocky, I'm not sure I follow this line of thinking. I have added raisins to both the primary at the start and in other cases, to the carboy after the wine had fermented dry. In neither case did I chop the raisins. They do plump up, but only with the liquid already in the carboy, so why would there be an issue with the volume increasing too much in the carboy? How much additional volume in raisins are you adding?

The main 'issue' I see with the raisins in the carboy after it has fermented dry, is it delays the degassing by some weeks as there seems to be some slow fermentation continuing after the raisins were added. Hard to know if the result is worth the effort and extra wait, but I trust that it is.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Bartman,
I give mine a fast chop and re-hydrate them for the following reasons:
I re-hydrate them first si they dont soak up several cups of must, I made that mistake the first time..lol
I chop them so they release a greater amount of sugars and nutrients, more efficiently, I want to get the most out of them.
I put them in a nylon drawstring bag so they are easier to remove with a lot less mess.
I have no problem with them re-hydrating or plumping, I don't know what anyone else was expecting, but if you put a hydrated food into a liquid, it tends to re-hydrate...lol!
Not saying that my way is the best or the only way, it just seems to make sense to me, and I've sampled the difference between two fruit wines, one with and one without, the raisins make a decent difference.
Do I believe that they can make a difference added to the secondary? Yep, but i feel that they will break down faster and more efficiently in the primary during fermentation.