when to rack?

[jlb307]

The kit that I am making says to rack to the carboy "after 5 to 7 days" for secondary fermentation. Kind of vague.
Today is day 5.
How do you know when it's the right time to rack?

 

[bullinachinashop]

I rack when I get to 1.010 or less.
Bull

 

[Bithead]

Orfy talks about it here

 

[MalFet]

What do you hope to get out of moving this beer to a secondary? Unless there is a particular reason to move it into a separate vessel, you are probably better off just leaving it in the primary fermentor for 3-4 weeks, then bottle/keg.

 

[DoctorCAD]

What do you hope to get out of moving this beer to a secondary? Unless there is a particular reason to move it into a separate vessel, you are probably better off just leaving it in the primary fermentor for 3-4 weeks, then bottle/keg.

Since this is in the wine forum, we assume that the OP is making wine, not beer.

 

[winewit]

It will take about 5-7 days to get to a S.G. of about 1.010 to 1.020. You just don't want it to ferment all the way out.

 

[MalFet]

Since this is in the wine forum, we assume that the OP is making wine, not beer.

Gah!


...sorry...

 

[Bithead]

Doh!

 

[jlb307]

Thanks for the tips!
And for those who thought I was talking beer, hey, I've only got one batch under my belt, so that was still helpful stuff!

 

[ACbrewer]

jib - I've found this forum very helpful, also helpful to remember that humans have been making beer and wine for3K+ years, so it can't be that hard.

I agree that MalFet's "what do you want to do by racking" is a good question for Beer,

In the case of your wine kit however, I'd say follow the directions that came with the kit. If it doesn't say 'you should rack when the gravity is between 1.000 and 1.004' or something like that, then Bull's suggestion of 'if it is below 1.010' is good advice.

While you can be a little loose with the kits following their advice is generally agood idea because they have made that exact kit several times to keep it to get it 'right.'

Learn how to use the hydrometer it is your friend.

 

[truckjohn]

The usual directions of racking at 1.01 or 1.02 are aimed at those making wine from fruit - where you are fermenting on fruit mush..... You want strong active fermentation going on at that point because straining the giant pile of pomace out of the must aerates it.... Active fermentation will produce CO2 - which will drive out the oxygen that would otherwise cause infections and cardboardy oxidized flavors... The other reason is that big pile of fruit mush gets moldy if you let it sit too long..... so it needs to go.... The aim isn't to strain off the yeast at this point....

Fermenting a Juice kit - you don't have any pomace or fruit mush to worry about... so the main reason to rack it early isn't there.... except to get it out of a bucket and into a carboy.... If you have a good brewing bucket with a tight fitting gasket sealed lid - just seal it up and stick on the airlock.

My preference is to let it sit on the yeast lees until it clears - it seems like this helps clean up the flavors quite a bit.

Thanks