Hey Matt, thanks for the update. With a current gravity of 0.990 I would say your wine has finished fermenting completely. You racked right on time at 1.010 too so well done.

Red Star makes good strong yeasts so it’s no surprise that it would ferment your wine in that amount of time.

Gnats in the airlock is no fun but at least the airlock was there to protect your wine from the gnats! They have been known to carry acetobacter which is a bacteria that turns wine into vinegar.

From here you can sit on the lees for up to a couple months or you could rack into another container, degas it, and add a clarifier if you want to bottle sooner than later.

Let me know how it goes or if there’s anything I can do to help.

Cheers!

Matt

Hi Matt! Thanks for the reply. The original SG was 1.085. Before the first rack(ing?) it was 1.010, and I just tested it and it was 0.990. There was about 1/4″ of sediment on the bottom.

I used Red Starr yeast – I forget the type, but I believe it was for red wine. Red package I think.

Oh, and I was a little grossed out to find a couple small gnats in the air lock. I’m not sure how bad that is… Thanks again!

Hi Matt, nice name 🙂

From what you describe it sounds like your wine has fermented quite well. The true indication of whether fermentation is over or not is whether or not your specific gravity is still changing. Over time fermentation slows way down and, as you say, may take up to three weeks to complete.

However, if you used an aggressive yeast and had lower sugar levels I could definitely see fermentation being completed after just five days. If you let me know what your original and current specific gravity readings are and what yeast you used I can help you determine if you had a fast ferment.

Your wine should be fine in the carboy for up to a couple months provided the head space isn’t too much (you don’t want a bunch of oxygen in there).

Even if you don’t have an original specific gravity reading you could pick up a hydrometer and take a reading now. That will tell us part of the story. Also, if you take two measurements a few days apart and they are the same then fermentation is definitely over.

I hope this helps Matt! Let me know about the gravity readings and yeast strains and we can work out where you are in the winemaking process. Congrats on your first batch!

Happy fermenting,

Matt

Hi Patrick, thanks for reaching out with your questions! It sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid wine making process from what you describe there. Here’s my answers to your questions:

1. Recently I looked into this for a D47 yeast but it should be comparable for other strains. By my math it required between 1.0-1.5 grams per gallon thus if you are fermenting 20-25 gallons the sweet spot is going to be between 20-40 grams. Six 5g packets puts you at 30 grams which is perfect. Well done!

2. Your degassing tool sounds fine. The only two things you need are to be able to easily sanitize it and that it agitates the wine enough to release suspended CO2.
3. Having the sugar on the lid isn’t a bad idea if you’re worried about pets or something messing with the lid. It may also hold it tight enough to keep flies out. It’s okay to keep your wine stored this way for about 5-7 days at which time I would expect it to slow down and move into secondary fermentation. At that point you’ll want to rack off the fruit (if there is any in there) and into a container such as carboys where you can attach an airlock.
4. No, you can use PET plastic carboy as well. Just be careful not to scratch the plastic when you clean them out. The scratches can become great places for spoilage micro-organisms to hide out.
5. My hydrometer goes from 0.982 up to 1.160 which envelopes the winemaking brix / SG range quite nicely.

Winemaking is easy to get hooked on! I’ve come to find that an empty fermenter is a very sad sight. Patience is definitely the hardest part of winemaking but if you keep your fermenter busy it’s a lot easier to pass the time.

I’m always happy to help Patrick. Cheers!

Matt

I confident this is a new addiction. Though my hands are shredded, the excitement of finally making some wonderful wine (PLUM for goodness sake!) made the 10 hr of stoning the plums no problem. I just want to get this right & can’t wait to run another batch. I’m DEFINITELY patient & willing to let this wine age out. 🙂 Thank you Thank you Thank you for your help.

I recommend racking every two months or when you see 1/2″ of sediment in the bottom of the carboy. You can bottle once you no longer see sediment collecting in the carboy.

Alternatively you could add a clarifier which will know out the sediment much more quickly. You have to be sure fermentation is over though as it will continue to throw sediment as long as it is fermenting.

Hi Joe, whatever juice you add is going to renew fermentation as you’re adding additional sugar. This is fine but expect an increase in activity after adding it. Since you’ll be in the carboy I would wait until the specific gravity is around 1.010 to add it.