moving a carboy just before bottling

I am doing my first kit wine, a vintners reserve chianti. Thank you all for the great advice so far. Today's question is one that has been buggin me as of late.

On Feb 7, I did the "stabilising and clearing" and it is remarkably clear at this point, only 8 days later. I can shine a flashlight on the carboy and see light through the wine. The sediment is quite deep, I'd say about an inch.

How dense is this sediment? Can I move the carboy (carrying it upstairs) on the day I intend to bottle it? Should I rack it into a different carboy for bottling? Should I move the carboy to the kitchen the day before I bottle it and just bottle from the carboy?

Does wine stratify in secondary?

Reply to
Duck Redbeard
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Generally speaking, wine is racked off its sediment several times before bottling.

There should only be a small dusting of sediment, before you bottle.

If you must bottle it soon, move it up the day before. Even in compact sediments some always gets kicked up when moving.

Reply to
Droopy

Duck Redbeard wrote: The sediment is quite deep, I'd say about an

Are you sure it's that deep? Sometimes it appears deep only because the sediment collects at the "bend "at the edge of the bottom of the carboy giving the appearance of depth....look again.

Reply to
jomuam

As far as moving, this also bugged me when I first started. If you have plastic carboys, move it a few days, I move 4 days in advance, since it will kick up more. Glass will not stretch and bulge when you pick it up, but the movement up the steps will be a lot. Suggest getting a "handle" for carboys if you can buy one, as I find that makes less movement of the sediment when carrying in that position versus, picking up.

If you have another carboy, racking to a clean one and bottling from there makes the last bottles a little less hectic for you. I used to always nervously watch both the bottle and the end of the hose as it sucked closer and closer to the lees in the bottom. If you rack clean, it's so much less stress (and we all need less stress). If you don't have a spare carboy, make the last two bottles "sludge bottles" that you don't mind what goes in them. When you let them sit long enough (months)then decant them prior to drinking to only pour out the good stuff. Gives you the most wine without the stress again. My sludge bottles typically have 1/4 inch lees in the bottom, and I drink them early.

Vintners Reserve is a good company, their Shiraz and Pinot Noir were great for me. This latest round for me was the Selection Estate Series: I have 3 of their kits bulk aging now. Oregon Yamhill County Pinot Gris, Oregon Yamhill County Pinot Noir and a Santa Ynez Syrah. Bottling is in July. I bulk age based on advice I got in this newsgroup, one benefit is "keeps me from drinking too early". smile.

H> I am doing my first kit wine, a vintners reserve chianti. Thank you all for

Reply to
DAve Allison

I'm assuming you added some type of fining when you say "clearing". This usually causes lees that are fluffier than yeast or tartrate sediment. It's more likely to be kicked up when the carboy is moved.

This concernes me a bit. The real test is to shine the flashlight perpendicular to your view and NOT see the light beam. If you're shining the light 180 degrees from your view point and see the light, there can still be a lot of junk suspended in the wine.

This would be my first choice, although I would rack and give it some more time before bottling.

bottle from the >carboy?

IMHO, not a good idea although the downside is just some sediment forming in the bottle. That's not the end of the world. To me, tt sounds like this wine still needs some time in secondary.

Andy

Reply to
JEP62

On 2/16/2006 8:19 AM, DAve Allison wrote: [snipped]

DAve,

I have a few carboy handles, the rubber coated metal kind that bolts onto the neck of the carboy in a semi-permanent fashion. All of them came with the warning that they were for carrying the carboy only while empty. I've also heard tales (but have thankfully never experienced this myself) of the neck of the carboy being snapped off while carrying it full with a carboy handle. I'd suggest caution supplemented by a lot of support from the bottom if you use this kind of handle to lift your full carboys. I use a milk crate, a cardboard box, or just lift the carboy from the bottom and sides when I need to move one. Even in the milk crate or box I always support from the bottom.

To the OP I suggest racking off of the lees and more time aging for further clarity prior to bottling.

Cheers, Ken Taborek

Reply to
mail box

As others have suggested you should rack several times until there is very little sediment a week or so after final racking. Then you can move to bottling place the day before or even that morning which is what I usually do.

As far as moving carboys around I would recommend getting a milk crate that carboy fits into. This makes it much easier and safer to move a carboy around.

Reply to
miker

Don't forget this is a kit and the first one the poster has made. As I remember from my kit days, there is at most one racking recommended in the instructions after the finings are added in. It's safer for a beginner to stick with the instructions rather than try to do too much and then blame the kit for resulting problems.

Pp

Reply to
pp

I don't know much about wine making, but from homebrewing experience I would not recommend lifting a full carboy by a handle, at least the type that goes around the neck of the carboy, as cracks in the neck can form from the stress, leading to the breaking the neck. The carboy and contents end up shattered and splattered on the floor. There are safer "haulers." One can be found at Maryland Homebrew.

DAve Allison wrote: Suggest getting a "handle"

Reply to
RomeoMike

OMG. I never got that warning paper when I bought my handles! Ghez!! THANKS SO MUCH for the information, saving me a potential mess someday. A carboy handle for carrying empty carboys, kinda useless in my mind. sigh. I'm off to the attic to get a milk crate!

thanks aga> > [snipped]

Reply to
DAve Allison

You can move your carboy... Bu give it additional time to clear. You may rack to another carboy after you let it sit for a couple of weeks if ou think there is excess sediment. I usually let Brew King/Wine Expert kits sit for a few months between step #4 and bottling.

See:

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Later, A. J. Rawls Anchorage, ALaska, USA

Reply to
A. J. Rawls

I thought my original post was in plain English, let me try again...

When I hold a flashlight up to the side of the carboy, shining the light into the wine, and then look into the flashlight lens from the other side of the carboy, I can clearly see the facets of the flashlight reflector. I am not seeing stuff suspended in the wine.

The reason the sediment appears so deep is because I am using a "better-bottle" carboy that has a big punt in the bottom. This causes the sediment to be deeper where there isn't a punt.

I intend to rack this around the 14th day of clarifying. It seems clear now (day 10) but I'm gonna wait until next week. I will likely bottle it around

21 days later. That makes a schedule of 7 days in primary, racked to secondary, clarified and degassed 15 days later, then racked to third 14 after that, then bottled 21 days after that.
Reply to
Duck Redbeard

English but vague.

You're doing it wrong. This really doesn'y show if the wine is clear or not. Hold the flashlight on the right side of the carboy and view it from the front. If you can see the light beam in the wine, it's not completely clear.

Andy

Reply to
JEP62

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