Newby question

[Jenny P]

I am making gooseberry wine, the gooseberries were contained in a mesh bag which I pulled from the liquid after 8 days fermenting in the primary and let drip. Then I put the wine into the second container. The thing is I don't think I strained it right when doing the transfer, I actually forgot to put it through a strainer. So it seems to me that there is a lot of "stuff" in the wine.

My question is, how long do I leave it in the secondary before racking into another container?

 

[jgmillr1]

The stuff is probably nothing much more than yeast settling along with a few bits of the fruit. No worries, it is completely normal. If it's done fermenting you could go ahead and add sulfites now. Minimize headspace to prevent oxidation.

As for how long, you're good for weeks or longer if you do the things mentioned above. I'd let it settle for a few weeks and then rack it. You can also look into fining agents like super kleer that will help drop yeast and help get it ready to bottle sooner.

 

[Jenny P]

The stuff is probably nothing much more than yeast settling along with a few bits of the fruit. No worries, it is completely normal. If it's done fermenting you could go ahead and add sulfites now. Minimize headspace to prevent oxidation.

As for how long, you're good for weeks or longer if you do the things mentioned above. I'd let it settle for a few weeks and then rack it. You can also look into fining agents like super kleer that will help drop yeast and help get it ready to bottle sooner.

Thank you, I don't know if it's done fermenting, there are still bubbles around the top and coming up through the airlock. Truly how do you KNOW it's done?? When I took the SB reading as I did the transfer it was 1.000.

 

[bernardsmith]

It can probably drop another 4 points or so before fermentation has ended. You might want to measure the SG for any changes over the next two or three weeks. It's considered "done" when the gravity has been stable over three measurements across a couple of weeks.

 

[Jenny P]

It can probably drop another 4 points or so before fermentation has ended. You might want to measure the SG for any changes over the next two or three weeks. It's considered "done" when the gravity has been stable over three measurements across a couple of weeks.

Thank you, I will leave it as is, and check the gravity every few days.