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A follwup topping off question.

Assuming you are using whole crushed grapes less stems and Lalvin K1 V1116 yeast and transferred most of the sludge (less seeds and skins) to a 5 gallon carboy secondary,,,, then How many 1 gallon secondaries should I prepare for topping off the carboy during racking (s) to wind up with 5 gallons at bottling ?

I read on Keller's site to move the sediment to the carboy when I transferred the primary to the carboy secondary. Apparently there is a lot of viable yeast in the sediment. Don't know if this made a difference but the carboy is producing 20 big "gaaaloooop" bubbles a minute in the airlock. The SG was 1.022 at 85F when the wine went into the carboy yesterday on Wed the 22nd.

BTW a newbie "DUH" I tried a neighbor's idea to use my 80 qt Coleman cooler as a primary.

36 hours after pitching the yeast I opened the cooler to punch the cap down and my once 75F must was now 95 F !! "DUH", coolers are good at retaining cold AND heat (smile,,,,) Left the lid open and covered with a towel after cooling things down to 85F with an ice pack. Temp stayed right at 85F - 87F. Now that it is in the carboy not sure what the temp is. The yeast did not seem to mind one bit.
Reply to
Kentucky
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K1V is practically indestructible...

You will probably need at least 1 gallon to replace what you rack out once it settles down because K1V settles pretty nicely. There are a lot more solids than you might expect in the first rack. It should finish up in a few days and start to settle down. You will be better able to predict how much you need then. The day before you rack take the carboy and twist it sharply to get some of the sediment on the walls to settle too.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

How long do you suppose this K1V can crank ?? It is Sept 3rd and it has slowed down a little but is still going strong. By my reckoning it has been in the carboy for 12 days now. Could the wine have gone into a second ferment ? I suspect the alcohol content is getting up there considering I started with a SG of 1.120 and went into the secondary at SG 1.022. What do you all think is going on ?

Reply to
Kentucky

K1 is a bayanus strain, i.e, stronger that regular wine yeast. Its alcohol tolerance is 18% so at your starting sg, it will most likely take the wine to dryness (sg 0.990 - 0.993). It's not a second ferment, it's still the primary fermentation only in a carboy - the vessel doesn't really matter to the yeast.

Pp

Reply to
pp

That's actually a good idea that I never thought of if you want to increase fermentation temps on small batches.

Bob

Kentucky wrote:

Reply to
doublesb

I'm surprised a yeast like that is still going "strong" after 12 days. Not saying there's anything wrong just surprised. BTW, if your a newbie, just make sure you top up after the airlock is done bubbling and you'll have great wine.

Bob

Reply to
doublesb

Thanks to all of you from this newbie. Sounds like I may wind up with some "pop skull" wine as we say in these parts. The carboy is now "gaalloooping" 3 - 4 times a minute. Looks like maybe the yeast are finishing up. Dumb question,, what is a good (simple) way to tell the yeast is really through with it work and it is time to rack the wine to a clean carboy ? ( I am going to try Joe's twister idea a day or two before I rack) Thanks again to all.

Reply to
Kentucky

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