Second Batch

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Riles_J

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This is my second batch of wine. The first one turned out great. I have another kit, a Syrah, this one has the grape skins. I started it in the fermenter on Jan. 1st. Fermentation took quite a long time to start, to the point I was just getting ready to get some more yeast as I feared it was bad. Well on about day 4 or 5 it started going and then it was bubbling away. Directions had me tranferring it to a secondary at Day 6-8 (below 1.02). I waited due to the delay in fermentation. Today I racked it into a Carboy and the SG was down to 1.004. I racked into my only 6 Gallon Carboy and I probably should have put it into a fermenting bucket. If only to save having to rack it an extra time, because the next step has me racking into my Carboy for Stablizing and Clearing. On to my questions:

1) Since I waited so long to transfer to a Secondary, would you bother racking it again or would you just do the stabilizing & clearing in the Carboy that I just put it in today? I will wait a week or two to see the SG is under 1.000 of course.

2) I had about a litre of wine left when I racked it into my carboy (guess I added a bit too much water in the beginning). Not being one to waste, I went ahead and filled a liter glass bottle with the left over. I put some tin foil over the mouth to give any air a chance to escape. Is this a bad idea and should I just dump it? I guess I would have to mix it back with the other wine in order to mix in the Sulphite and Potassium Sorbate, etc. As I write this, it is sounding like more work that it is worth and I guess I would be introducing another chance of contamination. Oh well, any thoughts?

Thanks.
 
Sometimes I go longer in primary and have a lower SG than the directions call for (never intentionally and I find results are always delicious) and rack right into my 6 gal Carboy. When your final SG is reached just watch the SG and make sure it is stable on secondary for a few days in a row before stabilizing and clearing.

When I stabilize and clear I always rack the wine back into my primary fermenting bucket. I find it much easier to drive off all the gas in the bucket than the Carboy. I use the drill attachment stirrer and love it.

When you do that I'd think adding the remaining liter you have left right to the rest of the wine and clear it all together. This way when you rack back into your Carboy you have plenty of wine and there will be no need to top off.

Good luck!!
 
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