Is it ready? (nube)

[gazzastrip]

Hi, I have a 25 litres of red wine in a big plastic bucket with a bubbler on the top. The instructions said 7 days and I am on day 11 and it is still bubbling every 8 seconds. I haven't done a density test yet, it was 1.080 at the start.

Shall I just keep going until the bubbling stops?

thanks!

g

 

[Coffee49]

It depends on the varietal, is it a red table wine or a merlot pinot type. I usually do a taste test when the bubbling is at 30 second intervals, looking past the early fizz taste you can get a taste indication if it should be racked again or stay a week or 2 more.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi gazzastrip - and welcome... The truth is that activity in the airlock does not tell you anything useful. Bubbles can be caused by a change in air pressure in the atmosphere in a liquid saturated with CO2 now forced to escape. A lack of bubbles can point to tiny leaks between the airlock and the bung or bung and vessel... The only reliable method of knowing when a fermentation has ceased is with an hydrometer. You are (as you know) looking for changes in density - otherwise known as "specific gravity". No change over three measurements over a week or two tells you that there is no more fermentation on going... whether that itself means that there is no more sugar left for the yeast to ferment will depend on the actual reading, but fermentation can stop for a variety of reasons even when there is a great deal of sugar remaining. You need an hydrometer. Counting bubbles might be fun... but it's not reliable and not useful. (in fact many seasoned wine makers only use an airlock in the secondary and loosely cover their primary fermenter with a clean cloth... No airlock, no bubbles... ).

 

[gazzastrip]

Thanks, racked means transfer to a second container. 30s interval taste test sounds like a good plan

 

[gazzastrip]

Thanks for that. I will open her up, find the density and have a wee taste. Very excited! It was a present and was probably a cheap pack. I don’t mind waiting.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Id ignor the timing in the instructions. I’d stir it rack everything into a carboy, lees and all. Then allow it to clear in that and then rack it off the lees only when it’s completely cleared. Then age in secondary and allow to clear some more before stabilizing and bottling.

 

[gazzastrip]

Hi, I have moved it into a second container. It’s gravity has gone from 1.080 to 1.010 in 14 days (its a 7 day kit). It’s still bubbling away and the evolution of gas was evident just by looking at it.do I just leave it to continue to ferment in this second container?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Yes, let it go until it clears.

 

[gazzastrip]

Really daft question but am I right to have not added any stabiliser or finings yet. (Just don’t want to screw it up)

 

[Seamonkey84]

Correct, no stabilizers until it’s done fermenting and it’s racked off lees (which I don’t do until it’s clear). I believe You can add the clearing agents once it’s dry/gravity is stable, but I just let my stuff clear on its own with time.