How often do you guys/gals rack?

Anyone on here that makes wine without kits? If so how often do you rack the wine when bulk aging? Guy at the store said I'm racking it too much but when it is still dropping sediment and clearing I thought that was a good idea, Ken

Everytime you rack you risk oxidation, however you also rack to help clear and refine the wine. So you can rack as many times as you feel is needed to get the desired results. Most wine makers I know rack on average 3 times.

It really depends. Some wines drop a ton of lees, some don't. Blackberry, for example, seems like it drops a ton of lees. Cherry, not so much.

What I do is rack at every 30-45 days each time there are lees 1/4 inch thick. I have a rhubarb wine in the carboy that I think I've only racked once or twice, since it cleared right away and isn't dropping lees. (It's from this spring). I have some wines that probably could be racked, since I haven't racked anything at all since about August, and I would guess that there are a couple that have a bit of lees.

A little lees won't hurt- but you don't want to leave the wine long term on thick lees. That will give you some off-flavors.

One thing you asked is how often we rack when bulk aging. Well, the answer is never if it's bulk aging. Aging is for when the wine is completely done, and just in the carboy aging instead of in the bottle aging. If it's still dropping lees, or not clear, it's not bulk aging.

I ferment in a plastic primary and then rack to a secondary. After the wine or mead ferments to dryness (usually about 2-3 more weeks) I rack once more and begin bulk aging. That's usually it but if there are a lot of additional lees (seldom), I may rack once more. If I plan to bulk age in an oak barrel, there's also an additional racking.

Yooper, I actually said that wrong, I leave my juice in the carboys for a year before bottling. I guess what I meant was over that year what is a reasonable amount of rackings,also a question for Tapias if you read this, what exactly does oxidation taste like? what type of flavor does it give the wine? I'm not sure if I ever tasted oxidized wine or if I have I havent realized I screwed it up, Ken

Oxidized mead tastes like a really NASTY cardboard-like flavour with a little nasty, soggy Wheaties thrown in. The actual taste of cardboard would be a step up in flavour from oxidized mead. Regards, GF.

KENfromMI said:

what exactly does oxidation taste like? what type of flavor does it give the wine?

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If you'd like to experience oxidation, drink most of a bottle of wine, recork it, and then allow it to sit on the counter for a week and try it again. Or put it back in the fridge for a couple of weeks and try it.

KENfromMI said:

Yooper, I actually said that wrong, I leave my juice in the carboys for a year before bottling. I guess what I meant was over that year what is a reasonable amount of rackings,also a question for Tapias if you read this, what exactly does oxidation taste like? what type of flavor does it give the wine? I'm not sure if I ever tasted oxidized wine or if I have I havent realized I screwed it up, Ken

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Once it's in the carboy aging, I don't rack it. It's basically all done, just aging. I might rack it once or twice, maybe even three times for something like blackberry wine, but only if lees are dropping and it needs it. By then, it's clear and all finished up. After that, I don't rack it until I rack it to a bottling bucket.

So while bulk aging, is it normal practice to leave an airlock on, or to cap/cork instead?

It doesn't really matter - the fermentaion is complete. Hopefully there's no residual CO2 and no bubble activity. I usually put on an airlock and cap it so the vodka doesn't evaporate. You can see the red airlock caps in this photo:

I'm making some wine using apple juice and grape juice, Is it true the lees on these type of simple wine isnt as bad?

summersolstice said:

It doesn't really matter - the fermentaion is complete. Hopefully there's no residual CO2 and no bubble activity. I usually put on an airlock and cap it so the vodka doesn't evaporate. You can see the red airlock caps in this photo:

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You put that pic up to make us jealous

Pronay said:

You put that pic up to make us jealous

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Yeah, and it worked, too! Gorgeous picture!

I usually don't cap off my carboys, just in case there is still some co2 trapped in suspension (I like to cold store them over the winter in the cellar). I just use a regular airlock. You can use a solid bung or cap without an airlock if you want to, but I never did.

At least the caps I have are far from sealing for my airlocks. Do your caps actually seal the airlock Yooper? I had them active fermentations before, and they just kind of change the key the airlocks sing in. More of a blip than a blurp

I always bulk age with a fermentation lock because I have tried bunging in the past only to discover an open carboy and a bung on the floor about 2 feet away- three months later

Also - if you have a late malolactic fermentation or want to make sure your red wine is completely degassed you need the carboy unsealed (ie. airlocked)

BTW - if the wine looked clear when you racked to a bulk aging carboy and you find a very fine sediment is falling to the bottom of the carboy - don't panic and don't worry about racking these are just polymerized tannins and polyphenols not dead yeast cells - they will not impart any flavour by sitting there (this won't happen with white wines)

Tusch said:

At least the caps I have are far from sealing for my airlocks. Do your caps actually seal the airlock Yooper? I had them active fermentations before, and they just kind of change the key the airlocks sing in. More of a blip than a blurp

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I haven't had great luck with those "carboy caps"- I had one that didn't fit well and I had some oxidation issues. I've had some that fit well, but I don't want to risk it again.