Racking from secondary

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

I thought there may be a general sticky but could not find it...

So here is my question:

On the 5th May 2013 I started a mango wine (from juice). Made into a barrel (22l). After 12 days the gravity dropped from 1.092 to 1.022 so I transferred to a secondary vessel (18.5l water bottle). So now there is ~4cm pulp at the bottom, bubbling has subsided to small bubbles and little to no activity in airlock.

Should I transfer this and get it off the pulp or just let it age on the pulp? The wine is pretty clear as far as I can tell. (It is a blue tinted bottle)

Cheers.

 

[Yooper]

Rack every 45-60 days whenever you have lees, or when you have lees 1/4" thick. Top up the wine each time you rack, with a similar commercial wine or some water if it's not too much water.

I use 1 crushed campden tablet (sulfite) for each gallon of wine at every other racking, to help prevent oxidation during transfers.

 

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

Oh right thanks Frau Admin.

As I have no (typo dammit) campden tablets would this be a problem?
Also not too keen on adding another commercial wine into the mix. So would racking it into some 5l bottles (with excess into a 2l for topping up later) be ok?

 

[Yooper]

Oh right thanks Frau Admin.

As I have non campden tablets would this be a problem?
Also not too keen on adding another commercial wine into the mix. So would racking it into some 5l bottles (with excess into a 2l for topping up later) be ok?

Oh, yes, you can always rack into a smaller container without any problem. If you don't have campden tablets, that's fine. It just helps prevent oxidation and helps preserve the wine- it's not crucial to use it.

 

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

Superb. Cheers Yooper.

Ok one last thing, slightly off topic. I did not want to start another thread. 3 months ago I made a JAOM and a MAOM. Both looked like they stopped and cleared up nicely. I then transferred to another carboy to clarify/age some more. Today I noticed that they both have started making bubbles again. Around 20-30 streams of tiny bubbles. No real change on the hydrometer though...

 

[Yooper]

Superb. Cheers Yooper.

Ok one last thing, slightly off topic. I did not want to start another thread. 3 months ago I made a JAOM and a MAOM. Both looked like they stopped and cleared up nicely. I then transferred to another carboy to clarify/age some more. Today I noticed that they both have started making bubbles again. Around 20-30 streams of tiny bubbles. No real change on the hydrometer though...

Maybe a weather front? I've seen bubbling in fermenters when the barometric pressure rises, or when the temperature rises, so that could be a possibility.

 

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

Maybe...I keep an eye on it over the next week just in case. Leave it to age in the carboy or bottle it?

 

[Yooper]

Maybe...I keep an eye on it over the next week just in case. Leave it to age in the carboy or bottle it?

I wouldn't bottle it until it's completely clear, and no longer dropping lees, as whatever is left in suspension will end up as crud in the bottle.

 

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

Ok I shall hijack my own thread as not sure if this was worth a new post.
As mentioned above I made a mango wine from juice. The 18.5l vessel was then split into 2 x 4.l and 2 x 5l bottles. Each ~1 uk gallon was bottled at different times.
So now my question. The last 4.5l seems weaker than the previous ones. So has anyone else found anything similar?
P.s. No extra clearings were used nor was any degassing carried out.

 

[Baalzamon-Moridin]

Maybe a weather front? I've seen bubbling in fermenters when the barometric pressure rises, or when the temperature rises, so that could be a possibility.

An update from this before. The damn stuff is clearly fermenting again. Bubbles have been going since the initial post. There is also a very thin layer of powder at the bottom. So far from the initial batches, honey takes the longest (still forming lees) whilst juice and sugar cleared at hit tops in less than 2 months. SO much so that my JAOM (dob: 01/04/2013) is still bubbling.