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Nick[_3_] Nick[_3_] is offline
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Default Extended Instructions for Making Wines from Kits

Someone claiming to be Doug wrote:
> <<...>>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
>


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.