My 30 bottle wine kit has been in primary fermentor for 7 days. Just took a gravity reading and it is 1005. Should I rack it now as instructions say rack at 1010. Has the wine gone past this or has it not yet reached 1010. Thanks
Quick help please regarding wine gravity
- Thread starter jakejoe30
- Start date
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lupinehorror
Landlord.
if your hydrometer is accurate you'll have a slightly drier wine
lupinehorror
Landlord.
yup. it has passed 1.010. syphon away.
1010 seems high to me is it a sweet wine?
All the kits I've made have said .995 or lower.
All the kits I've made have said .995 or lower.
.995 should be the final reading after another 15-20 days according to instructions. Thanks
johncrobinson
Landlord.
Did you leave the sediment at the bottom behind when you transferred your wine ????
If you did that explains it.
Its not the end of the world.You will simply have to wait for the colony to rebuild itself.(or not,!!)
However i should warn you that by taking the wine off the sediment you may have given yourself a "stuck fermentation" , If so at sg1.005 you will have to make do with a slightly sweet wine.
If you did that explains it.
Its not the end of the world.You will simply have to wait for the colony to rebuild itself.(or not,!!)
However i should warn you that by taking the wine off the sediment you may have given yourself a "stuck fermentation" , If so at sg1.005 you will have to make do with a slightly sweet wine.
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johncrobinson
Landlord.
Transferring wine or racking as it is called off the sediment should ONLY
be done when the wine has well and truly finished fermenting.
Strangely enough before the advent of refrigeration premature racking was practiced in very hot countries to deliberately slow down fermentation,But not when the fermentation had got as far as in your case.
This is VERY different to transferring the whole contents of a plastic fermenting bin into demijohns once the initial foaming has died down.
be done when the wine has well and truly finished fermenting.
Strangely enough before the advent of refrigeration premature racking was practiced in very hot countries to deliberately slow down fermentation,But not when the fermentation had got as far as in your case.
This is VERY different to transferring the whole contents of a plastic fermenting bin into demijohns once the initial foaming has died down.
johncrobinson
Landlord.
Not really.
However what should not be done is to leave the wine sitting on the lees for months on end once the fermentation is finished,That WILL ruin the wine.
As always there are exceptions,For example the very finest champagne is allowed to sit on the yeast in bottle for several years.
To answer your second question:- Yes the alcohol content will be slightly lower but only slightly.
The main effect will be a sweetness to the wine due to some sugars left unfermented.
If the wine is kept covered and warm there may be a possibility of it kicking off again and fermenting to dryness.Its not very likely but it may happen.
My advice would be to have a taste of it and if you like it proceed to the next stage.Make sure you use the fermentation stopper/stabilizer that should of come with your kit (sorbate).
As if at a future date it starts to ferment in the bottles,they can burst.
A safe way to conduct a fermentation is to wait until the air lock stops bubbling then take a gravity reading it may be around 0.995 - 0.998 leave it for a week or so then re-check the gravity if it has dropped you need to wait until at least two gravity readings a week apart are the same.!!!!Then you can be sure its finished.
Eventually you will get a feel for when the fermentation has finished and you wont need to go through the above.
It is still a good idea to give it an extra week though after you think fermentation has finished though.
However what should not be done is to leave the wine sitting on the lees for months on end once the fermentation is finished,That WILL ruin the wine.
As always there are exceptions,For example the very finest champagne is allowed to sit on the yeast in bottle for several years.
To answer your second question:- Yes the alcohol content will be slightly lower but only slightly.
The main effect will be a sweetness to the wine due to some sugars left unfermented.
If the wine is kept covered and warm there may be a possibility of it kicking off again and fermenting to dryness.Its not very likely but it may happen.
My advice would be to have a taste of it and if you like it proceed to the next stage.Make sure you use the fermentation stopper/stabilizer that should of come with your kit (sorbate).
As if at a future date it starts to ferment in the bottles,they can burst.
A safe way to conduct a fermentation is to wait until the air lock stops bubbling then take a gravity reading it may be around 0.995 - 0.998 leave it for a week or so then re-check the gravity if it has dropped you need to wait until at least two gravity readings a week apart are the same.!!!!Then you can be sure its finished.
Eventually you will get a feel for when the fermentation has finished and you wont need to go through the above.
It is still a good idea to give it an extra week though after you think fermentation has finished though.
The instructions state if I want a sweeter wine I should transfer at 5 days from the beginning of fermatation when gravity is 1010. So I should have transfered all contents of bucket sediment and all?
johncrobinson
Landlord.
OK thanks for the likes BTW mucho appreciatio
To get down to the meat and two veg as they say
(1) since you racked it has it shown any further activity.
You may be in for a long wait.Since its already racked there is not much to do other than waite
If it re re-ferments then good otherwise
Drink it is my advice if there is no futher activity it cant go much wrong now.
To get down to the meat and two veg as they say
(1) since you racked it has it shown any further activity.
You may be in for a long wait.Since its already racked there is not much to do other than waite
If it re re-ferments then good otherwise
Drink it is my advice if there is no futher activity it cant go much wrong now.
It bubbled for about 3-4 days after it was racked. Another question. Do I add stabilizer and start degassing immediately. Or do I leave for a few days before degassing?
