First rack - when? Getting nervous...

[baggybill]

Hi folks,

I've six demi's on the go from Easter Monday which is 14 days tomorrow.

Only one seems ready to rack off, no sign of activity and one bubble every ~5 minutes. Not clearing though. This is my Grape, Raspberry & Pomegranate Juice Wine. The others:

Wurzels Orange - starting to clear, no fizzing at neck, one bubble every 48 secs.

Atomic Lemon - not clearing, no fizzing at neck evident, 1 bubble every 14 seconds

Berry Teabag Wines - not clearing, lots of fizzing at neck, bubble every 8 seconds

Strawberry TC - not clearing, still fizzing away like mad, bubble every 5 seconds.

My first question is, do I wait on fermentation stopping completely (no fizzing at neck, bubble > 5 minutes)? I'm worried about time spent sitting on dead yeast etc. (14 days now)

Second question is, do I add a crushed Campden to secondary ferm demi?

No intention of long term storage of this first batch, trying to find a couple the wife really likes (and practise for me!) :-D

 

[Brewtrog]

I always do my first rack at least a month after start of fermentation, unless a large sediment is formed (e.g. rice wine). The CT is totally up to you, people say it helps prevent oxidation, but I've never added CTs to wine and have never had a problem (I do stabilise at the end with stabiliser)