Cellar Craft Transferred to secondary...oops

[Jaggz]

I'm an idiot

Since the SG had reached just below 1.000 in only 7 days, and I knew that I was gonna be away for a few days...I decided to go ahead and transfer to the carboy for secondary fermentation. Prepped all the equipment and was ready to go...i was so proud that I was doing this today so that the wife & I could just relax tonight. Opened-up the spigot and watched as it started to transfer to the carboy. Pulled-out my phone to take a photo to send to my wife...about two seconds after taking the photo, the plastic tubing falls from the open spigot, spilling all over the place....carpet mind you

After a frantic clean-up...I continued racking...and topped-off the carboy...really hoping this isn't a sign of things to come!!!

 

[robie]

Congratulations, you have now joined the wine makers' famous - "it popped off" club, to which most of us already belong. Actually, there is no such club, but there certainly should be!!!

Try setting a carboy on a not-so-safe surface and have it slide off and all that is holding it up is the back of your shoulder. Of course when it hit the shoulder, it sloshed wine all over me. I had to practice contortion in order to get hold of it without letting it drop and break. And of course it was one of my glass carboys, rather than one of the Better Bottles. At least it didn't break. Too bad I couldn't have filmed this episode of mine.

My advice - don't use the spigot to rack the wine. You are puling wine off the bottom, so much of the lees are going to come with it. Also, if you have gross lees, it will very quickly stop up the spigot. Instead, get yourself an auto siphon.

 

[Dugger]

Yes, there ought to be such a club! A few years ago I was siphoning from a bucket to carbon and at the same time filling a sink to wash bottles; I got distracted, water started overflowing the sink, I jumped to turn the tap off, got my feet tangled up in the siphon hose and there was water and wine everywhere. Fortunately it was a concrete floor and a floor drain handy but I hated to lose some of that Barbaresco I was making. You learn from these mishaps!

 

[Boatboy24]

I've had similar incidents - we all do. One of my first rackings, I had everything set up. Full carboy on counter, empty carboy on floor, auto-siphon in place. When I went to start the siphon, I was completely focused on the full carboy, and watching the wine flow into the siphon. Little did I know that when "pumping" the siphon to get it started, I had lifted the other end of the hose out of the receiving carboy. Luckily, I heard the wine hitting the floor and got to it pretty quickly.

Is that what you'd call "splash racking"?

 

[robie]

That's splash racking to the 'nth degree! I have done that, too.

Similar to watching the wrong carboy and not noticing the receiving carboy is running over.

I always set the receiving carboy in a small round tub... some times it has caught the spillage, sometime not.

 

[tonyt]

Look on the bright side . . . You sent your wife a picture BEFORE you made the mess. I have a funny thought about you confessing to her about it slipping off but I cant share it.

 

[Jaggz]

Look on the bright side . . . You sent wour wife a picture BEFORE you made the mess. I have a funny thought about you confessing to her about it slipping off but I cant share it.

She actually took it pretty well...suggesting that I rack next time in the living room, so that when it gets on that carpet, she can replace it with new hardwood floors!

 

[Tyroneshoolace]

I've had similar incidents - we all do. One of my first rackings, I had everything set up. Full carboy on counter, empty carboy on floor, auto-siphon in place. When I went to start the siphon, I was completely focused on the full carboy, and watching the wine flow into the siphon. Little did I know that when "pumping" the siphon to get it started, I had lifted the other end of the hose out of the receiving carboy. Luckily, I heard the wine hitting the floor and got to it pretty quickly.

Is that what you'd call "splash racking"?

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I unfortunately have had this happen a few times and now have gotten a longer hose or use the allinone.

 

[Rocky]

Geez, Jaggz, that has never happened to me, mainly because I make all my wine in the basement. I have, however, gotten very adept at sucking up wine off a concrete floor. I use a variation of the "front leaning rest" position that I learned in the Army.