Comments on: Racking off the Lees http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/ Your Winemaking Educational Source Mon, 25 Jun 2018 06:48:54 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 By: High Rise: Yeast’s Role in Aging Wine – The Grape Simple http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-35 Sun, 26 Mar 2017 12:10:56 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-35 […] becoming a mass of lees, or dead yeast cells. From here, a winemaker chooses to leave or remove (rack) them. Yet, they can play wondrous roles, altering textures and […]

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By: Matt Williams http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-34 Sat, 08 Nov 2014 15:39:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-34 In reply to farshid abdi.

Hi Farshid! You can rack the wine to a secondary container before it clears. The idea is to get off of a deep pile of lees before it breaks down and gives your wine off flavors.

Your wine will continue to clear over time and it may take a third or fourth racking to get the wine completely off the sediment that will continue to fall over the next month or two.

I hope this helps! -Matt

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By: farshid abdi http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-33 Wed, 05 Nov 2014 06:57:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-33 Hi

I just started the primary fermentation and 10 days is past. But sediments are not settled and so I can not go through second fermentation. Is there any thing wrong?
thanks for your help

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By: Matt Williams http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-28 Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:54:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-28 In reply to Skip O’Neill.

Hi Skip,

I don’t think 17 days will be too long. If it were my wine I would check the specific gravity immediately upon returning. If it is at or below 1.010 I would leave the wine in the primary fermenter to let it finish. Once fermentation completes I’d then rack to the secondary to begin the clearing process.

If you rack while fermentation is still going on and the specific gravity is less than 1.010 you risk shocking the yeast and winding up with a stuck fermentation.

I’ve made the assumption here that this kit did not include any fruit. If your kit came with skins and they’re in the fermenter now I would hesitate to leave them for that long. Likely it would be fine but there’s a chance that the skins can start to give off flavors and aromas in that 17 day window.

I hope this helps Skip! Thanks for the question.

-Matt Williams

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By: Skip O'Neill http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-27 Sat, 05 Apr 2014 16:34:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-27 I just started the primary fermentation with a Sangiovese wine kit and now have to leave town for a couple of weeks. Is letting the primary go for 17 days too long? I won’t be back from the trip and it would have been 17 days from the beginning of primary fermentation until I can rack to the secondary.

Thanks again for your insight and help.

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By: Matt Williams http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-24 Wed, 11 Sep 2013 02:46:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-24 In reply to LouHawk.

Hi Lou!

If you’ve just racked from your primary fermenter to the carboy you should still be in the middle of fermentation so the huge amount of CO2 is okay. During primary fermentation about 70% of the sugars are converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Primary fermentation usually lasts about 7 days with most kits.

After those first 7 days or so you rack into a secondary fermentation container, in this case a carboy, where the last 30% of sugars are fermented. This stage usually lasts 14 days or so.

One factor that can drastically affect the amount of CO2 in your wine is temperature. Ideally your wine should be between 72 and 75 degrees for most kits. Any cooler than this and your wine will tend to hold on to carbon dioxide.

If your kit didn’t come with very good directions let me know and I’ll see what I can put together for you.

Cheers!

Matt

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By: LouHawk http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-23 Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:14:00 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-23 First timer here doing Savignon Blanc from kit. I have a GIGANTIC amount of CO2. 1st rack from bucket into carboy and bubbling like crazy. How long should I let that bubble before next racking. I added oak chips as directed.

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By: Fermentation Has Begun - Winemaker's Academy | Winemaker's Academy http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-22 Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:47:50 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-22 […] the next few days the bubbles will continue to slow down up until it’s time to rack the wine. In another two to three days I’ll be testing the specific gravity of the must again to make […]

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By: Clarifying Wine - Winemaker's Academy | Winemaker's Academy http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-21 Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:47:19 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-21 […] left alone most wines will eventually clear up through racking. Also, over time the positive particles find negative particles, fall in love, and make a home for […]

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By: Checking the Specific Gravity and Racking | Winemaker's Academy http://winemakersacademy.com/racking-lees/#comment-20 Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:37:05 +0000 http://newwinemaker.com/?p=147#comment-20 […] Grape juice is more dense than water. Thus before we fermented the grape juice the specific gravity was over 1.0. As the yeast converted the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation, the density of the wine has been decreasing. A specific gravity less than 0.990 tells us that the primary fermentation has slowed down enough that we need to rack. […]

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