Have I killed it on racking?

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Níl_fhios_agam

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I just moved my first real home brew attempt into its secondary but just before I did I moved it and all the water in the air lock bubbler was pulled back into the brew:(

Now I am well annoyed.......can anyone put my mind at ease and at least tell me this has happened to them and all turned out well? Or is this certain infection.........

Also, on a small side issue, I moved at a little over 1.010 but it is recommened to move below 1.010, will this make much difference?
 
well i dont know what you made but,
dont worry all homebrew goes bad if you wate long enough ;)
thats why we have to add sulfites to stuff thats going to age along time,
if whatever you made was done fermiting the lack of food and presints of alcohol should protect it for a few months , if its beer age it 2 weeks or so and then drink it, if its wine just add some more sulfites and call it good and back on track
 
well i dont know what you made but,
dont worry all homebrew goes bad if you wate long enough ;)
thats why we have to add sulfites to stuff thats going to age along time,
if whatever you made was done fermiting the lack of food and presints of alcohol should protect it for a few months , if its beer age it 2 weeks or so and then drink it, if its wine just add some more sulfites and call it good and back on track

It was a rather pricey Pinot Grigio kit and it was on its 8th day, with still loads of fermentation to do.....I hope!
 
what do you mean by loads ? was it still activly ferminting ?
how did it suck back if it is ferminting


btw thats why alot of us put vodca in are air locks
 
in general you do not rack to a secondery untill the fermination has stoped and the yeast have falled and clumped and it has had some time to clear
 
what do you mean by loads ? was it still activly ferminting ?
how did it suck back if it is ferminting

After day 8 I need to move it from its primary fermentation carboy to its secondary one. When I went to remove the stop from the first carboy some air forced all the water in the air lock back down into the carboy, meaning the airlock was now empty.....in the carboy


btw thats why alot of us put vodca in are air locks

Isn't hindsight a great thing:eek:
 
well after 8 days of good fermentation there should be a good amount of alcohol in there to protect it.

was it still or actively bubbling?
its hard to brew by time lines. becase temp plays a huge factor
and if it cooler it will take longer
i have an Apfelwein going and after 10 days at 62 its still really chugging along
 
well after 8 days of good fermentation there should be a good amount of alcohol in there to protect it.

was it still or actively bubbling?
its hard to brew by time lines. becase temp plays a huge factor
and if it cooler it will take longer
i have an Apfelwein going and after 10 days at 62 its still really chugging along

There was still a bit of bubbling, it had slowed a lot. The SG was down from 1.075 to a tad over 1.010.......following the kit instructions for my first time, but I am taking notes for the next one!
 
well , i have not made much wine just a few johannisberg riesling kits
but i have made lot of mead perry cider and beer, and from what i know you dont rack till the bubbling has all but stopped,, if you rack to soon you will make it slowly ferment for a really long time . becase the wine lacks the protein to make more yeast cell and the bulk of the fermintaion force was racked away so its left up to the yeast that was in suspintion to finish up eating the suger.
it is my understanding that the primary resone for racking to a secondry is, that after fermention has stoped-slowed and you are wating for it to clear and all the last bits of yeast to fall ,, the the bulk of the yeast get hungery and start eating each other and that makes bad flavors ,, but that does not happon till the food is gone ( bubbling stopped) if it was not for the canablisum you could just ferment and clearfiy and age all in the same vesal ,, well you can if you have a conical fermenter you just dump the yeast out the bottom
 
hey what would you guess the temp was when you took thoes readings ? if thay where 70 or so you should have around 8.8% alcohol , that will kill most bugs
 
Níl_fhios_agam;757476 said:
I just moved my first real home brew attempt into its secondary but just before I did I moved it and all the water in the air lock bubbler was pulled back into the brew:(

Now I am well annoyed.......can anyone put my mind at ease and at least tell me this has happened to them and all turned out well? Or is this certain infection.........

Also, on a small side issue, I moved at a little over 1.010 but it is recommened to move below 1.010, will this make much difference?

Yes, this has happened to me as well as many others. My beer turned out just like it was suppose to and did not get infected. Using Vodka is a good idea.
I cannot say if moving at 1.010 will make a big difference (i doubt it will), but I can tell you that bubbles are just a sign of CO2 being released and are not a good way to tell if your beer is done fermenting. After 1-2 weeks, take a hydrometer reading 3 days in a row (or 1 every other day for 6 days). If all of these readings are the same, then the fermenting is finished.
 
I make quite a bit of wine, and it is different for wine than beer. You're getting conflicting information here, because "secondary" really does have a meaning in winemaking. In beer, there shouldn't be a "secondary" fermenter, it should be called a clearing tank because you rack the beer when finished to the clearing tank (or "bright tank"). So, you are confusing the "rules" of beer making with the procedures of winemaking.

In wine, primary lasts from 4-7 days usually, and is done in an open fermenter just loosely covered to keep critters out. This is when the fermentation is most active, and oxygen is good for the must at this time. The must is also often stirred, sometimes several times a day. When fermentation slows, (at about 1.010 SG or so), then the wine should be racked into a carboy with little headspace and then airlocked.

So, you did the right thing by moving it when you did. Don't worry about the small amount of water sucked back- it won't hurt the wine. I usually check the airlocks every few days, and just replace them if there are dead fruitflies in them or refill if they are low.
 
I make quite a bit of wine, and it is different for wine than beer. You're getting conflicting information here, because "secondary" really does have a meaning in winemaking. In beer, there shouldn't be a "secondary" fermenter, it should be called a clearing tank because you rack the beer when finished to the clearing tank (or "bright tank"). So, you are confusing the "rules" of beer making with the procedures of winemaking.

In wine, primary lasts from 4-7 days usually, and is done in an open fermenter just loosely covered to keep critters out. This is when the fermentation is most active, and oxygen is good for the must at this time. The must is also often stirred, sometimes several times a day. When fermentation slows, (at about 1.010 SG or so), then the wine should be racked into a carboy with little headspace and then airlocked.

So, you did the right thing by moving it when you did. Don't worry about the small amount of water sucked back- it won't hurt the wine. I usually check the airlocks every few days, and just replace them if there are dead fruitflies in them or refill if they are low.

Thanks! My head was ready to explode with all the conflicting info....all the wine making books/guides suggest moving in 7-10 days to secondary, so thats put my mind at ease.

I shall let you know how it turns out!
 
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