Making BOMM in a two gallon fermenter

[dnitrof]

greetings: I made a must in a two gallon fermentation bucket 14 hours ago.
I like the idea of de-gasing in an open bucket. Followed instructions for BOMM, however was unable to take a SG reading (not enough depth in the honey must)

Questions are:
1: when would I put liquid in the air lock?
2: how long should the must remain in the bucket before first racking, I plan to rack in into a glass gallon jug.

Would welcome any suggestions…… Thanks

Dan Nitrof

 

[bernardsmith]

Hiya Dan. There is more than one way to peel a carrot and if you have a measuring cylinder and a dedicated baster AKA wine thief you simply fill the cylinder with the wine whose gravity you want to measure. I know brewers have apoplexy at the thought of returning a sample of their beer back to the fermenter but wine makers a) sanitize with K-meta; b) work with fruits at lower pH (more acidity); and c) have less fear of lacto-bacterial infections so you can be fairly relaxed about returning any sample to your main batch.
So.. when to seal the wine with an airlock? I would say when the gravity drops to about 1.005 - then you rack to a carboy - or some container that will have no significant headroom. And I guess what I am saying is that this answers both your questions - that first racking takes place at a gravity of about 1.005 and that racking is to move the wine from the primary to a secondary vessel - one where there is perhaps a cubic inch or so of headroom... (so that the wine and the bung are not in physical contact).

In the primary there is really no need to have a bung or an airlock - simply cover the bucket with a clean dish towel to keep out dirt and flies. You want to be able to easily stir the must, aerate the liquid several times a day (this is a wine , not a beer) and help expel CO2 dissolved in the liquid..That's how I peel my carrots.