At a fork in the road with my secondary....

[BobCam300]

Need some advice about which road to take....

I'm making a kit, Selection Estate Lodi old vines Zin.

Starting SG was 1.13, and the primary was very active.

After 5 Days I was at 1.00, so I moved it to the secondary.

After 10 days in the secondary I was at .998, the kit shows a target of .996 or below.

So I left it....2 more days later I was still at .998....2 more days again and still at .998.

The weird thing is that all this time there still seems to be activity, even though the SG isn't dropping. Not visible activity but there is a small amount of gas moving throught the airlock.

The question is is it ok to Stabalize and Clear when the SG is at .998 or should I just continue in the secondary till I get below the target no matter how long it takes as long as there is some activity?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
BobC

 

[LayMeister]

Less than 3 weeks is not much time for wine. I would leave it at least another month or two in the secondary before I took another reading.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[BobCam300]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess my problem is I'm taking the kit instructions too literally.

I need to just be patient and let the wine tell me when to take the next steps.

Thanks again.
BobC

 

[BobCam300]

I did as suggested and left it in the secondary for a month.

There was activity through the airlock for about 3 1/2 weeks and just subsided a few days ago.

Checked the SG today and...you guessed it.....998, hasn't moved.

I went ahead and stabalized and clarified.

I'm guessing my hydrometer might be broke?

Or is it possible that .998 was just as far as it was going to go?

Thanks for any thoughts.

BobC

 

[wilserbrewer]

just a guess here, but .998 and .996 are pretty damn close. Is this a Swiss wine?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I think it's done. Regards, GF.

 

[BobCam300]

Thanks for the replies...

It just unnerves me that this batch was sitting in the secondary for 3 1/2 weeks giving off gas yet the sugar content remains the same.

Sorry, I'm new at this....

 

[Yooper]

With kits, there is a ton of co2 gas trapped in suspension. When you get to the "degas" instructions, you'll be amazed at how much gas is in there. It will off gas for ages, due to temperature changes mostly. Don't worry about it, of course, but you will often seen airlock activity.

 

[mrfocus]

Something that is possible is that it was a bit cooler during the night and it stopped fermenting at 0.998.