Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Winemaking--Funny Things Happen When You DIY

OK. Has the wine bug bitten yet? It's so, SO FUN! Just a word of caution. If you like your wine a little fizzy and go ahead and bottle it, the first time you hear a loud pop, you might look around to see if a bird flew into your windowpane and fell dying underneath. But the second time you hear it, you realize you have a mess to clean up.

Racking is necessary to remove the wine from the spent lees (sediment, used-up yeast, seeds, etc.). You simply siphon from one jar into another. It's part of filtering to make a good clear wine but it requires height to siphon properly. So, while the wine's airlock bubbles away and the wine is settling out, you decide to place the 5-gallon carboy in a handy spot on the basement floor, out of the way, in a nice clean dark spot, only to find later that you can't lift the 5 gallon carboy to rack the wine into another carboy.

It's been fun. No, really, it's been FUN!

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