sediment

[outbackmac]

Before we bottling we do a few few rackovers. Only one of reds has the sediment in the bottle. But i am glad to know that nothing is wrong with the wines.

 

[DryFly]

I am on day 22 of my first kit wine. I have racked the wine 5 times, however I still have quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of my glass carboy. I figured my wine would be clear at this stage. I have added the kmeta, sorbate, fining agents, and a vigorous 10 minutes of hand powered drill degassing. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Thig]

DryFly, racking 5 times in 22 days is excessive, you are going to oxidize it at that rate. A light dusting of sediment isn't going to hurt anything. And 22 days is not that long, that is still a very young wine. I would make sure the kmeta level is OK and then put it in a cool dark place and forget about it for 3 months.

 

[NorCal]

I am on day 22 of my first kit wine. I have racked the wine 5 times, however I still have quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of my glass carboy. I figured my wine would be clear at this stage. I have added the kmeta, sorbate, fining agents, and a vigorous 10 minutes of hand powered drill degassing. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Often time with winemaking less is more. Once fermentaion(s) has completed, rack it full, add SO2, put it in a cold dark place and don't touch it for a few months.

 

[DryFly]

Thanks for the input. I believe I read on here that you want to keep the wine off the sediment. That is why I have racked so many times. When I have racked I have racked from carboy to primary and immediately back to carboy. Counting each as a racking. Picture of sediment prior to last racking is below. Second and third picture is carboy after racking, degassing and pouring sulfite, sorbate, and other fining agents.

 

[David219]

So, that I understand...

You racked from the primary into your (probably only?) carboy at what hydrometer reading?

Then you racked back into the primary container, then back into your carboy (rackings 2 and 3) at what hydrometer reading?

After how many days, then, did you do rackings 4 and 5?

Usually primary fermentation takes 5-7 days, then "secondary" fermentation completes in another 7-14 days, which is verified by consistently stable hydrometer readings below 1.000 (usually below 0.996). You will find sediment drop for weeks...even months. I don't know that sediment at this time is as much of a problem as the dead yeast cell sediment in those first few weeks.

 

[barbiek]

Dryfly take a reading, set it in a dark cool corner, FYI after you rack the 1st time off the initial gross lees you can wait till you get 1/2" of lees accumulated before you do another racking usually about a couple weeks to a month. After you rack for the 2nd time you'll want to add a lil kmeta. And you might want to take a look at your racking process fi: What temp is it at when you rack? Has it been moved recently? Do ya have the tip on the racking cane? Is it elevated? I usually set my carboy on the table and leave at room temp for 12 - 24 hrs before I do the racking this gives the lees some time to settle to the bottom also using the drill mounted de gasser can also introduce oxygen to your wine not to mention all the rackings that you've done I would stir a pinch of kmeta in it and leave it be good luck

 

[DryFly]

RJS Austrailian Cab w/ grape pack

12/5/15: Began fermentation. Added oak and grapes directly to must.
SG: 1.090

12/12/15: Racked to glass carboy. Removed oak and grape skins.
SG: 1.006

12/17/15: Racked to plastic bucket and back to carboy. I was trying to eliminate what I thought were the lees/dead yeast cells.
SG: .998

12/25/15: racked to plastic bucket and back to glass carboy. Added sulphite, sorbate, degassed with drill, added kieselsol and chitosan, degassed with drill.

The whole time the wine has hovered around 72 degrees, has been elevated, and in the dark. I have a tip in the racking cane, but used the spigot to go from plastic bucket to carboy twice.

 

[barbiek]

Yea the racking on the 17th was not needed. ignore it for awhile make sure it's topped up. Did ya have the same reading for 3 days in a row? And what you thought was dead yeast cells was probably a lot of the oak as well

 

[ceeaton]

RJS Austrailian Cab w/ grape pack

12/25/15: racked to plastic bucket and back to glass carboy. Added sulphite, sorbate, degassed with drill, added kieselsol and chitosan, degassed with drill.

Now that you have added your clarifiers, you want them to settle down and compact a bit on the bottom. Ten or more days should be adequate. The whole idea is that it will help remove haze particles and some yeast and if it compacts really well, when you rack it next you will be good for about 3 more months. At that point I would rack it and add 1/4 tsp of Kmeta (or if you have a way to measure it, test the pH and there are tables that let you know what free sulfite level to aim for, depending on the pH).

If you are short on carboys, now sounds like a great time to take a few bucks and invest in another carboy. That will eliminate the double move each time you rack it and introduce less oxygen to the process.