Our wine has stopped fermenting (no more bubbles being produced) and is starting to clear, so we decided it was time to siphon it out, leaving the dead yeast sediment and grapes behind. It's finally starting to look and smell more like wine, though we haven't actually tasted it yet. Here's what we did for this step:
- auto-siphon and tubing
- second carboy or food grade bucket (carboy is easier so you can siphon straight from one to the other)
For part 4: Once fermentation stops and wine clears, rack*, add remaining pint of water (and more if needed) to fill to the top, and refit airlock.
*rack - this is a fancy term that means to siphon the liquid from one container to another, leaving any sediment (including pulp, raisins, dead yeast, etc.). This ensures that you will have a nice clear, pretty wine. Apparently it's also essential for not messing up the flavor, but again, no expert here. Most of the recipes I've looked at say to rack this wine every 2 months, then bottle after about 6 months. Once bottled, the wine should age about another 6 months before taste testing.
For step 5: Now we wait... Once the wine clears, rack again. We plan to rack once every couple of months for 6 months total, then bottle. We will keep you updated!
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