Extended Instructions for Making Wines from Kits

I try to rack only as often as necessary. Of course each racking looses some wine to I try to minimise this. No uncessecary racking. If the wine has been fermenting well under an airlock the head space is not problem and the wine can remain for a few weeks waiting for it to clear better so there will be less racking.

But if the wine is not fermenting or very little fermentation and you opened the carboy to test it, as I assume you did since you know the SG, then the head space is full of air rather than CO2 and you need to top up right away or rack into smaller carboys where you do not have to top up.

They are probably recomending a 5 gal carboy so you do not have to top up so much. This is where having a variety of carboys is very handy. Go from a 6 to a 5 and you will probably fill it and not need topping. I like to have some 1/2 gal carboys to take any overage or I put it in wine bottles, let it set in the fridge for a day or more and drink a bit of Neuvo Wine. Just decant of the sedement. In France you can buy Neuvo Wine.

Ray

Should I forget the norm and let them sit until day 28 as instructed, or should I rack and top off with similar wine? I'm mainly concerned because my

6 gallon carboy leaves way too much room below the neck. One other quick question...On day 30 is says to rack into a 5 gallon

carboy. Shouldn't this be a 6 gallon as in the start on day 1?

Nick- Racking at the end of primary fermentation really does two things - it gets the wine from a vat or plastic tub into a container that is more easily sealed (to prevent spoilage by exposure to air), and it removes the wine from contact with the gross lees (grape skins/seeds/stems, etc.). Following Jack's instructions, you don't need to rack again at day 7, because the wine is already in a carboy and (because this is a kit wine) you really don't have gross lees, since you are starting with just juice. Your lees are only yeast cells, and there is no special urgency to rack the wine off them. If you still have too much airspace after adding the gallon of reserved juice, by all means, top up with water or a similar wine.

Yes, on day 30 you do want to rack into another 6-gallon carboy. The instructions on day 30 currently (as of today, August 25) refer to a

6-gallon carboy - perhaps this was a recently-corrected typo? In any event, you want to rack into one or more containers that can be properly sealed (with an airlock). If you are starting from actual grapes or other fruit, you can sometimes get so much sediment that racking from a 6-gallon container to a 5-gallon container makes sense. In the case of kit wines, you shouldn't lose nearly that much volume, so it generally makes the most sense to rack into a same-size carboy, and top up with water or similar wine.

Doug

Ah...damn. I should have know better than to open the carboy. I only did it to take an SG to make sure the fermentation didn't stop. I'll top them up tonight with similar wines.

Again, I'll top up with similar wine and then on the day 30 rack, maybe then I'll go down to 5 gallon carboys.

Thanks!

Thanks for the detailed clarification and further insight into this initial process, Doug. I'll hold off racking and top up with a similar wine tonight. Yes, I agree with you that the first racking should be into a 6 gallon carboy and the link I listed must have been a typo. Even if it isn't, I can't see the harm in racking to the same size carboy if topping with wine.