First Racking - Problems?

[Kirstin]

This is my first non-kit wine (Tea & Raisin - started Feb 10th). I hadn't thought about racking but was surfing net today and some sites suggested definitely need to rack after about 7 days to get off lees.

Well, it's been 10 days, so I racked and used a campden tab. Didn't take gravity but it is still very sweet (i'd reckon about 1060), and bubbler was going very strong before I racked.

That was this morning. Bubbler still isn't going.

Have I done something wrong? Should I have waited until bubbler was going slower? Was going at about once every 4-5s when I racked

:hmm:

 

[oldbloke]

The Campden will have stunned the yeast, but it'll get going again - give it at least 24 hours before panicking.
7 days is a very short time for first racking though. Some of my wines get to 7 weeks let alone 7 days before I even start thinking about it, and even longer before I do it.

 

[Kirstin]

Really? I left it 10 days... How then to tell when is a good time to rack?

 

[oldbloke]

You want Moley for this question really.

If the yeast is still eating sugar, it won't be doing autolysis, so no off flavours generated by that, so no need to rack to get rid of dead yeast. Maybe towards the end when there's not so much sugar left and plenty of dead yeast in the lees. I think this is why all the books recommend racking once the initial really vigourous fermentation is done and the stuff's just plodding along, and that can be as little as a week - or as long as a month, sometimes. But I think the risk is overstated and I rack a little as possible these days, as every time is an oxidation/infection risk itself.
If you have something in the recipe that if left in too long could generate bad flavours, say maybe too much bitterness from some tannins or something, maybe you want to get the wine off that - with tea and raisins I don't see that as a likely problem
With really pulpy stuff it's not a bad idea to get it off the pulp once it's mostly settled to the bottom, but it's rarely urgent as far as I know.

 

[Moley]

If making country wines with fruits or vegetables, then I would start things off in a bucket and then strain it to a closed fermenter after about 5-7 days.

If using raisins or sultanas I would probably strain it after about 14 days.

In either case, I certainly wouldn't use Campden tablets.

Other than that, I would never rack anything until about a week after all signs of fermentation have finished, which is usually going to be around 4-5 weeks.

 

[bobsbeer]

I tend not to rack off the lees as well. I use sultanas and raisins quite a lot. Don't forget with these it takes a while for the sugars to leach out as they need to rehydrate, which takes about a week anyway. I only rack when taking it off really pulpy lees, so don't worry. Some of mine can sit for a couple of months before I decide they are finished and move them on to clear.

 

[Kirstin]

Thanks all - that's been really very helpful :thumb:

 

[Kirstin]

Still a bit stuck on this one - the ferment restarted after about 24h, at about 1 bubble every 6 seconds. It was about one bubble a second before I racked it. The bubble speed still hasn't picked up in 3 days.

Should I add some more yeast perhaps? Or perhaps nutrient?

 

[oldbloke]

No, just leave it to get on with its thing. It'll get there eventually. It was probably about to slow down anyway.

 

[Kirstin]

Ok.. glad I asked... saved me some nutrient & yeast lol - will keep an eye on it and see how much longer it takes :grin:

 

[taxidiver]

Great forum this.
You can post a question and have the answer and be back brewing within a couple of hours.
:
Geoff

 

[Kirk]

Small point for Kirsten, you rack to get the relatively clear wine off of the lees at the bottom, you then let it continue fermentiing - so no campden tablet wanted.

As it continues fermenting in the nice new clean DJ it will drop some more sediment - lots of it will be dead yeast. If it is a lot then you may need/want to rack a second time.

The final racking is "usually" when the wine has completed fermenting. That is when you rack and start killing things off. Suspect you have read that someone racked and added campden tablets without realising it was at the final racking stage, it may not have been mentioned that other rackings took place - often not mentioned.

Usually at a racking you leave a lot of the live yeast behind so it appears to stop for a day or so. This normally results in you walking in every hour or so and wondering what is going on, or not going on.