Loss of wine due to racking

[The forager]

I’m new to wine making and will soon be racking a wine from the secondary fermentation. So demijohn to a new demijohn.

I’m wondering about losing wine due to leaving the sediment in the former Demi. Do I need to top the new racked wine up with water to reduce oxygenation in the new Demi?

 

[TkmLinus]

It is a good idea to top off, though I have never run into wine going bad if there is just a little extra headspace after racking. Depending on the wine you are making you could always top off with some store bought wine of the same style. You could add boiled water, but that will dilute your wine. When I make wine I try to make a little extra for topping off purposes. After primary I rack the bulk of my wine into a smaller fermenter and put the excess in a wine or beer bottle and place an airlock on it. That way I have extra topping off wine when it is time to rack. Good luck!

 

[The forager]

That’s a good idea to store the excess. I think I may use that method in future. Hate losing any of it after all the waiting.

 

[lukebuz]

Plus, who wants to water down their wine?? Keep an extra few bottles with bottle sized plug/airlock for backfilling.

 

[The forager]

I’ve just bottled some as an extra today. I don’t have an airlock for a wine bottle. Can I just leave the lid loosely tightened to avoid an explosion?

 

[TkmLinus]

I’ve just bottled some as an extra today. I don’t have an airlock for a wine bottle. Can I just leave the lid loosely tightened to avoid an explosion?

Maybe use plastic wrap with a rubber band to secure it? Is it still actively fermenting?

 

[The forager]

Ok I’ll do that. I’ll also try find some wine bottle airlocks for my future batches.

I don’t see any fermenting bubbles at the moment with this secondary fermentation but it’s only been 5 hours. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll see some bubbles in the airlocks.

 

[TkmLinus]

Number 2 stopper works great with beer or wine bottles and you can use a standard airlock with one. Rubber Stopper - #2 With Hole | MoreBeer

 

[The forager]

Great. Thanks so much for your help. I’ll look for those here (Ireland) and get a few.

 

[szap]

The kit manufactures stress removing head space but I have also read that extra head space is not a problem. I would not recommend water for top off. I have always used an low priced commercial wine which seems to work fine.

 

[The forager]

Thanks. I also read a sugar syrup to top up too. I have held some back when racking last night, as a previous poster mentioned, so I can top it up with that wine if need be. i have reduced headspace too, so will see how it goes.

 

[szap]

I have not read about using sugar syrup. I would think adding it during fermentation would produce a drier wine with a high ABV and adding it after fermentation would add sweetness to the wine.

 

[The forager]

I added some to a wine today, so I will see how I go with it. Trial and error. I don't mind experimenting as I go.

 

[HVCBrewing]

A small amount of water isn't going to have much flavor and body impact on a 6-gallon volume of wine. Some alternatives would be

• Fill the head space by adding sanitized marbles to the wine. This is safer to do with plastic vs glass carboys.
• It is also possible to recover some additional wine from the bottom of the carboy by pouring the sediment it into a smaller container (capped large mason jar) set it in the fridge for a couple of days allowing the sediment to settle and compact. This should leave wine on the top portion of the jar that can be poured off.
• Step down to a 5-gal carboy and 64 oz growler.

If you continue wine making and make more than you consume (Production Decision) - you should have topping up wine available.

 

[The forager]

A small amount of water isn't going to have much flavor and body impact on a 6-gallon volume of wine. Some alternatives would be

• Fill the head space by adding sanitized marbles to the wine. This is safer to do with plastic vs glass carboys.
• It is also possible to recover some additional wine from the bottom of the carboy by pouring the sediment it into a smaller container (capped large mason jar) set it in the fridge for a couple of days allowing the sediment to settle and compact. This should leave wine on the top portion of the jar that can be poured off.
• Step down to a 5-gal carboy and 64 oz growler.

If you continue wine making and make more than you consume (Production Decision) - you should have topping up wine available.

Thanks

 

[MilesBFree]

I’ve just bottled some as an extra today. I don’t have an airlock for a wine bottle. Can I just leave the lid loosely tightened to avoid an explosion?

Put a balloon over the neck and poke a hole in it with a needle.

 

[MilesBFree]

Thanks. I also read a sugar syrup to top up too. I have held some back when racking last night, as a previous poster mentioned, so I can top it up with that wine if need be. i have reduced headspace too, so will see how it goes.

I have done that a couple of times, 1:1 sugar to water (by volume), boiled.

 

[The forager]

I have done that a couple of times, 1:1 sugar to water (by volume), boiled.

Thank you. I kept some wine back, left the bottle loosely open and covered with cling film and an elastic band. So far all good. Topped up a gallon last week while racking.

 

[MilesBFree]

I was planning to do that last weekend with a batch of dandelion wine, but I only added gallon of water at the start so I had almost none left over.

Next time I may bump up the water to a gallon plus an extra quart (given I usually lose a bit due to what is lost with the lees). Plus a bit of extra sugar in the same ratio as the base recipe. Then put the extra in a jar as I rack from the primary fermenter.

 

[Jacob_Marley]

A small amount of water isn't going to have much flavor and body impact on a 6-gallon volume of wine. Some alternatives would be

• Fill the head space by adding sanitized marbles to the wine. This is safer to do with plastic vs glass carboys.
• It is also possible to recover some additional wine from the bottom of the carboy by pouring the sediment it into a smaller container (capped large mason jar) set it in the fridge for a couple of days allowing the sediment to settle and compact. This should leave wine on the top portion of the jar that can be poured off.
• Step down to a 5-gal carboy and 64 oz growler.

If you continue wine making and make more than you consume (Production Decision) - you should have topping up wine available.

Yes ... I keep a broad range of carboys/bottles etc for stepping down to the amount of wine available ... while always shooting for being able to properly fill the maximum number of largest vessels/carboys, for long term aging.
And the happy thing about this method ... is that the extra or overage that you really don't want to bother to put into a smaller vessel ... becomes the "gratuity" for the vintner to use for <ahem> additional quality control at the time of racking.