Winemaking Tutorial - Lesson Five

Secondary Fermentation

Now that primary fermentation - demarked by the vigorous bubbling - is over and the manufacturer's target specific gravity (SG) has been reached, it's time to rack the wine from the plastic fermenting bucket to the glass carboy.

  1. Start by cleaning, sanitizing, and rinsing the following pieces of equipment:
    • Carboy
    • Siphon rod (also called a "racking cane" because of the curved tubing at the tip)
    • Siphon hose (vinyl tubing)
    • Bung (drilled rubber stopper)
    • Airlock
    • If used, any other siphoning equipment (such as FermTech Auto Siphon, item # 2224)
  2. Make sure that the plastic fermentation bucket is in an elevated position relative to the floor, such as on a table or work bench. To work, siphoning depends upon air pressure and gravity. If you need to move the bucket to a higher position, be careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom.
  3. Remove any elderberries, if present.
  4. Remove any oak wood chips, if present. Place them in a sanitized sieve, and rinse well with clear water. Set aside to drain. Once the wine has been racked to the carboy, we'll put the oak chips back in.
  5. Use the siphon hose and siphon rod and gently rack the wine from the elevated plastic bucket to the glass carboy. Be careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom of the plastic bucket!
  6. For Wine-Art kits only. All other wine kits, go to step 7 below.
    • Add bentonite. For Wine-Art RED wine, no bentonite addition is necessary. Continue to next point. For Wine-Art WHITE or BLUSH wine, bentonite (packet #2) must now be mixed and added to the wine. To mix bentonite, either
      • A. In a clean 750 ml (26 oz) bottle half-filled with warm water, add bentonite and shake for 2-3 minutes OR
      • B. Pour 375 ml (13 oz) hot water into a blender, add bentonite and blend until mixed.
      Pour bentonite into carboy and stir vigorously for 2 minutes. Wait 15 minutes, and stir vigorously again for another 2 minutes.
  7. If you have oak chips, put them in the carboy with the wine.
  8. Place the carboy in an elevated area. Remember to lift the carboy with your legs (holding it close to your body), and not your back. You certainly would never want to admit to your neighbors that you hurt your back while making wine!
  9. Fill the airlock half-way with water.
  10. Attach the airlock in the bung (rubber stopper)
  11. Place the bung snugly in the mouth of the carboy for an airtight seal.
  12. Compare the level of liquid in the carboy to the bottom of the bung, and determine the amount of air space in between (this air space is also referred to as ullage). If the difference is between 1/4 and 3/4 of an inch (0.6 - 1.9 cm), great! Otherwise, you may need to add a bit of cooled, boiled water to bring the wine to the correct level.
  13. Walk away and let nature take its course! Your wine will continue to ferment. You may even notice little bubbles in your airlock as the CO2 escapes, but if not, don't worry.
  14. After about three weeks, take another specific gravity reading. Be sure to sanitize the wine thief, hydrometer and test jar!
  15. If SG is 1.000 or more, wait a few more days and try again.
  16. If the SG is lower than 1.000, proceed to the next lesson.

 

A hint - To add more body & flavor, you may keep the wine under an airlock (before the addition of bentonite) in the carboy for months! For best results, white wines can be held in secondary fermentation for 2-3 months extra and red wines for 6-9 months extra.

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