Timing help??

[suecasa]

Hey there experts ... need some advice ...

I'm 4 days into a Coastal White in primary ... SG is at 1.030 today (start was 1.088). I'm trying to keep the room warm, but it's occasionally dropping the temp into the 60s since its been outside temps in the negatives ...

so that may effect my timeframes which I didn't take into account when starting this batch...

my problem is I leave for a 3 week trip in 10 days ... so where should I leave the process? Move to secondary when it reaches 1.010 and leave it there for possibly 4 weeks if it doesnt go dry before we leave?

If it does manage to reach dry ... should i just rack and airlock? add anything? try to degass?

Guess I'm just curious about which stages (other than long aging of course) will be a problem if they are allowed to go longer than necessary??

 

[MrKevin]

It will probably ferment down to .996 before you leave. then I would rack to secondary before going and put some vodka in the airlock (which should help with possible evaporation). Make sure the head space is as small as possible (less than 1/2 inch).

Kevin

 

[suecasa]

Thanks MrK ... so no additives at this time and just get off the gross lees?

 

[novalou]

Thanks MrK ... so no additives at this time and just get off the gross lees?

Rack to your secondary before you leave. No need to add anything yet. This will allow fermentation to finish and let's the lees settle.

Once you get back, rack, degas and add your sulfites, clarifying agents, ect.

 

[suecasa]

thanks again

just for future info ... is there a stage where you really can leave it too long? seems like most every suggestion is to slow down and wait to make things better ..

 

[novalou]

just for future info ... is there a stage where you really can leave it too long? seems like most every suggestion is to slow down and wait to make things better ..

Don't leave too long in primary fermenter. Once fermentation slows down, 7-14 days, rack to your carboy and keep topped up.

 

[botigol]

Don't leave too long in primary fermenter...

Exactly. Other than getting the wine off of the gross lees you have a lot of flexibility in timing. Theoretically, you could leave this type of wine with the fine sediment for a couple of years...'sur lie' aging, but that is a whole other subject. Seriously, once out of primary you are good to go so long as you keep the carboy topped up.

 

[suecasa]

thanks

so .. i'll rack out of primary and leave it under airlock ... next question..

we will be letting the house temp cool down since we'll be gone for 2+ weeks ... should I keep the wine room warm? or will it hurt anything to let it cool at that point ... probably will be 55ish in the house ... hate paying for heat when we aren't here to enjoy!!

 

[novalou]

so .. i'll rack out of primary and leave it under airlock ... next question..

we will be letting the house temp cool down since we'll be gone for 2+ weeks ... should I keep the wine room warm? or will it hurt anything to let it cool at that point ... probably will be 55ish in the house ... hate paying for heat when we aren't here to enjoy!!

It won't hurt a thing. The yeast will go dormant at that temp. Once you warm it back up the yeast will resume doing it normal thing.

 

[BernardSmith]

I understand that allowing wine to stand on the lees for a long time might allow off flavors and the like to develop as the yeasts break down but is a period of three or four weeks considered that critical? I am not asking because I have an answer. I don't. I am truly curious about what you all think.

 

[suecasa]

well .. i guess i had nothing to worry about! it's 0.994 today so i'm starting to de-gas .. have a week until leaving so should be plenty of time to get the gas out and get it stabilized to sit and clear while we are gone! .. always good to learn in the meantime though ... thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[novalou]

I understand that allowing wine to stand on the lees for a long time might allow off flavors and the like to develop as the yeasts break down but is a period of three or four weeks considered that critical? I am not asking because I have an answer. I don't. I am truly curious about what you all think.

3-4 weeks is not a significant amount of time. 3-4 months on the other hand.......

 

[saramc]

I understand that allowing wine to stand on the lees for a long time might allow off flavors and the like to develop as the yeasts break down but is a period of three or four weeks considered that critical? I am not asking because I have an answer. I don't. I am truly curious about what you all think.

In terms of kits many specify NOT to rack off any lees until a specific point, later down the road, but I would not consider that sur lie process, it has more to do with time frame of the kit and clearing. You typically do not have gross lees develop when working with a kit that does not contain grape skins.

Not all yeasts do well with sur lie methods, and finings used before aging will impact the outcome (from what I read).. Then you have
bâtonnage. www.brsquared.org/wine/Articles/surlie/surlie.htm & http://www.newworldwinemaker.com/articles/view?id=386

 

[saramc]

well .. i guess i had nothing to worry about! it's 0.994 today so i'm starting to de-gas .. have a week until leaving so should be plenty of time to get the gas out and get it stabilized to sit and clear while we are gone! .. always good to learn in the meantime though ... thanks for all the advice everyone!

suecasa...just make sure to warm the wine to about 75 for optimal degassing, and be aware it can take several days if not longer. But for clearing, the cool 55F environment is going to be fabulous. I would not be shocked to come home to a clear wine. I would just park it somewhere that will stay stable and not yo-yo up and down. I need to get my Coastal kit going, but cannot recall which one I picked--guess I should look. It was one of those eeny-meeny decisions because I was so undecided. Enjoy!

 

[suecasa]

i've been whipping and sucking (oo that just sounds wrong ) for a couple days with the heating pad around the carboy ... co2 is definitely starting to diminish.

sara .. i started a coastal red with the after christmas BOGO (it's well cleared and just hanging out .. i think it's going to be a nice table wine .. i will probably back sweeten a bit to some of it since my daughters still like it at least a little off-dry!) now i'm doing the white from the BOGO that they did a month or so ago.

I think i'll try some more tweaking on the "free" batches ... anyone have good ideas for additives or such for next time??