Regarding bottling: As an ex-brewer still possessing the old set up, i rack
carefully(minimal splashing) into a bottling bucket and bottle from there
via the spigot...


"Jeff" > wrote in message
...
>
> Initially I did 5 gallon batches of beer, and wine is a bit new to me.
> I have a couple of wines beyond primary right now, and need to rack
> them to leave the sediment behind.
>
> My racking cane is stainless and about 3' long, and the tubing is
> rather large ID. I used it to rack the 1st time, but it was unwieldy.
> When you guys rack from 1gal to 1gal jugs, what do you use and how do
> you go about it? For that matter, when you finally go to bottle, how
> do you get it into the bottle - rack again?
>
> My process last time was - stick the racking cane with spring on the
> end into the 1 gallon jug, and try not to tip it over with 2 feet of
> metal tubing sticking out the top. Use a turkey baster to pull the
> wine through the tube and start the siphon. Once the siphon is going,
> drop the end in the other 1 gallon jug.
>
> It just seems to be too much splashing and messing for a small 1
> gallon batch. I'm a bit afraid of oxidizing my wines. I don't have
> sulfite test kits, so my sulfite level is going to be a crap shoot
> anyway, and I'm not certain I can rely on it to prevent oxidation.
>
> FWIW these are fruit wines so far - Pluot and Tomato.
>
> Thanks,
> --Jeff