Transfer timing question

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machowsk

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I've been brewing beer for about 1.5 years now and am trying my first batch of wine. I began brewing (is that the right word?) and everything was going fine. After about seven days I was supposed to transfer from the primary fermenter to a glass carboy, but unfortunately I had to go out of town for work and was not able to transfer until about day 11. By then the specific gravity read 0.998. The instructions state that 10 days after the first transfer I'm supposed to "stabilize and clear" by adding metabisulfite, sorbate and chitosan and topping it off with more water as necessary by which time the SG should be about 0.996. Since I waited so long to perform the first transfer and since the SG was so low when I transfered to the glass carboy, should I perform this next step early or should I wait the full 10 days?

Thanks in advance!
 
I assume this is a kit?

If it is, you can do it whenever you want, but I'd wait about 10 days. The reasoning behind this is that the clarifiers "bind to" the sediment in the wine and pull it out of suspension. You even stir the lees into it when you do this step, to help it clear. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but that's the way it works. So, I'd wait a little to let it settle, so you have some lees to stir up, I guess.
 
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